Sands of the Kalahari – 1965 | 119 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Adapted from the novel by William Mulvihill, this piece of mindless psychological hokum is well-crafted and never sinks into sensationalism but herein lies the problem, whilst entertaining it lacks many of the thrills one would have expected with such an adventure film.

A flight to Johannesburg is delayed due to a technical fault. UN diplomat Dr. Bondrachai (Theodore Bikel), one of the stranded passengers, hires a small private plane. Joining him on the charter flight is divorcee Grace (Susannah York), engineer Bain (Stanley Baker), elderly grizzled German Grimmelman (Harry Andrews), also the unctuous Dutch pilot Sturdevan (Nigel Davenport) and his co-pilot. Shortly before take off the group are joined by crooked game-hunter O’Brien (Stuart Whitman). En route, the plane encounters a cloud of locusts that clog the plane’s engines and force the pilot into making a crash-landing that kills the co-pilot. Abandoned and hundreds of miles from civilization, the survivors are forced to seek refuge from the perils of the Kalahari Desert, and immediately find shelter from the sun in the caves, make their first sighting of the desert’s pack of wild baboons, but more importantly they find a water supply. As the self-appointed leader of the group, Sturdevan tries to rape Grace before eventually yielding after she refuses to respond to his threats. Sturdevan leaves the party and heads out alone into the desert seeking aid.

O’Brien takes over as leader and provider to the group, and becomes the focus of Grace’s amorous advances. As his survivalist instinct increases, at gunpoint, O’Brien forces Bondrachai to leave the group and seek his own path, and when Grimmelman refuses to do likewise, O’Brien kills him – observed from afar by Bain. Whilst their internal feuding is taking place, Sturdevan has reached the coast but the authorities consider him to be a stranded diamond smuggler and refuse to believe his claims of having crossed the desert. Brondrachai similarly comes across good fortune when natives find him dying of thirst.

Back at the caves, Bain tries to convince Grace of O’Briens betrayal and suggests she help him to steal his rifle. Bain overpowers O’Brien and throws him into a desert hole, but a rainstorm during the night enables him to escape. Whilst O’Brien hides amongst the rocks and caves, a rescue helicopter arrives to pick-up the remaining survivors – but O’Brien ignores their pleas and chooses to stay – having killed the alpha male baboon, the baboon troop gather around O’Brien to accept him as their new leader.