David Challinor

It's a wild one but I'll try - as a child in the 1970s I'm SURE I viewed a film on tv set in Africa in the 1800s about two (or three?) English gentlemen who are caught by a hostile African tribe. Rather in the vein of 'A Man Called Horse' it was pretty harrowing stuff about natives meeting 'civilised' Man. I remember the film's opening to be brutal - one of the men is tarred and feathered and killed. The other is stripped naked and allowed to run for a few minutes before a team of tribesmen try to hunt him down. For YEARS I thought this role was played by a bearded Alan Bates - of course, confusion has set in following another film I saw in my teens, Women in Love - but after re-reading his film biog following his death at Christmas I realised I'm mistaken. I have no clue as to a title or any stars, except that in late 1960s/1970s let-it-all-hang-out mode the chased white man is naked for some time (!). Until eventually, after several near misses he escapes all but one of the tribesmen. As the best hunter starts to near, our hero reaches the outskirts of a small African town and civilisation. He is saved - but can you name this film!!!!!

[ 20. February 2004, 16:04: Message edited by: DB7 ]

DAVID RAYNER

This sounds very much like THE NAKED PREY, filmed in Panavision and Eastmancolor in 1966 and starring Cornel Wilde in the title role.

Angry Hector

Yep, I would have to say "The Naked Prey" is the film you are after and in my opinion, it is a masterpiece. I watched it recently for the first time in about 20 years and gee it hold up well. The sort of film that has been sadly ignored for too long.

viennese

Yes, it is THE NAKED PREY.

Cornel Wilde must have run cross country, because he had that marathon-runner physique and style.

I can't remember exactly what caused the major misunderstanding that led to the African blood-feud with the white explorers. There was a long elaborate gift giving, food eating scene which the white guys somehow messed up...and suddenly it's world war three .

Hackett

Wilde was an Olympic Fencing team member and at the time of his death working on a sequel to "NAKED PREY". He Directed (and did just about everything else as was his want) a great war film "BEACH RED" 1967. "NO BLADE OF GRASS" was filmed in England and followed his ecological and antiwar path of these and his latter prodjects.

BGB

I would agree that this film is the NAKED PREY, and if my memory serves me right the other white man to be killed at the start of the movie was Gert Van den Bergh, who went on to play the part of Lt. Joseff Adendorff in ZULU.

Brian Brandt

I recall that there is one scene early on in 'Naked Prey' when Wilde is running (well, O.K., running takes up about 90% of the movie), when a spear thrown by a pursuer lands a few feet from him. The look on his face isn't acting. One of the 'natives' hired for the movie got caught up in the thrill of the chase and came close to killing him.