Sands of the Kalahari (1965)

After a small aircraft crashes in the Kalahari Desert, one of the seven passengers decides that his survival chances would increase if he would eliminate the other men in the group.

Director:

Cy Endfield

Writers:

Cy Endfield (screenplay), William Mulvihill (novel)

Stars:

Stanley Baker, Stuart Whitman, Susannah York

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Stanley Baker	...	Mike Bain
Stuart Whitman	...	Brian O'Brien
Susannah York	...	Grace Monckton
Harry Andrews	...	Grimmelman
Theodore Bikel	...	Dr. Bondarahkai
Nigel Davenport	...	Sturdevant

Storyline

A small airplane crashes in the sweltering deserts of southern Africa hundreds of miles from civilization. As parallels are drawn between the stranded group of seven passengers and a nearby pack of savage baboons, one of the men's survivalist nature gets the better of him, as he decides his chances of survival would be better if the other men were eliminated one-by-one.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | africa | baboon | survival | desert | 

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Taglines:

The strangest adventure the eyes of man have ever seen!

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were originally scheduled to play the roles that went to Susannah York and Stuart Whitman.

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Goofs

The diamond area warning sign said "Trespasses will be prosecuted" not "Trespassers will be prosecuted".

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Quotes

Brian O'Brien: I see, the gun makes the king, and the king gets the girl, huh?
Mike Bain: You've got a one-track mind O'Brien. Thank God the whole human race doesn't think like you.

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Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'A' rating.

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Connections

Referenced in Pitch Black (2000)

User Reviews

Why didn't it get the recognition it deserved?.....A masterpiece of rarely equaled epic proportions

For those who believe that films no one remembers are without a doubt mediocre, look no further than the "Sands Of The Kalahari" - it may surprise you. It is beyond me how such a brilliantly crafted adventure masterpiece drama such as this was allowed to slip through people's fingers upon its release and escape to the forgotten dungeons of no return! For a film that hasn't been in print for 30 years, it is worthy of the title of greatest forgotten film of all time.

How could such a film, directed by the talented British director Cy Endfield (who brought you great monuments of cinema such as Zulu), with such breathtaking cinematography, famous British and American actors such as Stanley Baker, Stuart Whitman and Suzannah York, playing such complicated characters in a poignantly original story, filmed beautifully in Widescreen Technicolor of the 1960's have been treated in such an unjust manner is beyond our galaxy!!!

The "Flight Of The Phoenix" was a very similar film (equally as brilliant), yet received so much critical acclaim and box-office success upon its release. Geez it must have been James Stewart. Yet we have all noticed this: That if a film is not successful in America, then it isn't successful anywhere. Why? Because no other country in the world puts so much emphasis on advertising their films. It is why absolute garbage such as "Spiderman" robs people of their income and takes the throne as the biggest box-office draw of the year. But is this correct for such an 'explosive, action packed, predominantly CGI infested, plot less' mediocre effort in modern Hollywood film making? People have forgotten what a real film constitutes.

I have already forgotten Spiderman - except for its title! But "Sands Of The Kalahari" has lived in people's memories ever since it came out, due to it's brilliant execution and powerful story telling. Unfortunately not many have had the pleasure of seeing it, for it has been out of print for many years.

I am the proud owner of a copy of this survivalist killer of a film and every time I just want to sit back and escape our Predominant modern Hollywood world and watch a great achievement in the art of film making, I put in a film like "Sands Of the Kalahari" - a film that unlike most of the so called 'films' we see today, should have been embedded into our memories long ago as a 'classic'!

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 1965 (UK)

Also Known As:

Sands of the Kalahari

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Joseph M. Schenck Enterprises, Pendennis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1