ianlouisiana Review of Call Me Bwana

Call Me Bwana (1963)

Miss E. went from "La Dolce vita" to this.Presumably she had a sense of humour.

[6/10 · 7 March 2018]

She certainly seems to be enjoying herself to be fair. Mr Hope,taking a page from R.Hudson's superior "Man's Favourite sport", is an "expert" waiting to be found out. He pretends what we Brits back in the day called "An old Africa hand" on the strength of a memoir written by his uncle,and is tasked to recover a NASA satellite that has gone off piste and landed in the African jungle. The Russians are also looking for it,this time a foretaste of a R.Hudson film 20 - odd years later. But the Russians are genuine experts. So much for plot. Like most of Mr Hope's films,"Call me Bwana" is merely a vehicle for his gagging routines. That will either encourage you or turn you off. It has a lot of 1963 mildly political jokes (remember "The First Family" record Album?) that may mistify anyone coming across it today. Miss Eckberg doesn't have much trouble stealing the film,Mr Hope looks a little bit tired of it all. The Africans pretty much outsmart everybody which was novel for its time. I saw this at the "Odeon" Kemp Town before it became a more niche venue. Nowhere near so bad is it's made out to be without challenging "Some like it hot" in the 60's comedy stakes.