A fine action-adventure film, This is highly memorable for its gorgeous photography even though it is obvious set bound and not done on location. Lots of stock footage is used impressively (particularly one involving a waterfall that does seem like they were actually shooting there), and it's amazing how the use of real animals in the footage is mixed with the older footage from some other Columbia films of the 1950s that I'd already seen. At one point, the nanny with the past, so the ascends, is lying down as a huge, thick snake crawled over her and she doesn't even cringe. She's with her charge, the 11 year old Jenny Agutter, in Guided by Anthony Quayle to get out of Harm's Way, already having had an encounter with near-death in the opening scene where native Egyptians invade the big city, practically killing everybody in sight but leaving the beautiful blonde woman alone.
Shots of various African animals are utilized, including alligators in the Nile as well as a charging rhinoceros whom Agutter encounters. The scene with someone shooting a gun upward just to make the zebras run browser unnecessarily cruel. Shots of African natives doing their traditional dance seems like footage I've seen before, possibly in either "Beyond Mombasa" or "Odongo" from the mid 50's, so the film isn't exactly the most original although there wasn't home video with the time to compare. Lots of blue screen backdrops gives this a phony look, and an unintentional lab as natives shoot at obviously previously film footage of charging elephants. But even with these little flaws, the film's very entertaining, and Syma is a nice, feisty heroine. A passable time filler that may not be as good as other films of this genre or realistic historically, but isn't a disappointment either.
Shots of various African animals are utilized, including alligators in the Nile as well as a charging rhinoceros whom Agutter encounters. The scene with someone shooting a gun upward just to make the zebras run browser unnecessarily cruel. Shots of African natives doing their traditional dance seems like footage I've seen before, possibly in either "Beyond Mombasa" or "Odongo" from the mid 50's, so the film isn't exactly the most original although there wasn't home video with the time to compare. Lots of blue screen backdrops gives this a phony look, and an unintentional lab as natives shoot at obviously previously film footage of charging elephants. But even with these little flaws, the film's very entertaining, and Syma is a nice, feisty heroine. A passable time filler that may not be as good as other films of this genre or realistic historically, but isn't a disappointment either.