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Grandier?
Simon


Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 95
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Hi
Does anyone remember this film/drama?

Years ago when I was a kid (roughly 35 years +) I remember seeing a drama/film on British TV, about someone who was captured by some 'Zulu' type natives. He overpowered his captors and legged it, and as I recall, the programme ended with him approachinng a fort with a Union flag fluttering on it.

I wonder if this was based on Grandier, who claimed he was captured by the Zulus and later escaped (even though historically they most likely let him go)

Cheers

Simon
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Sawubona


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1179
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Simon,
The movie of which you speak sounds an awful lot like Naked Prey. Starring Cornel Wilde (?), it's about a European (presumably English) who is captured by Zulu-like natives and for entertainment and/or training for the troops is released with a head start and chased throughout the rest of the movie by a dwindling band of warriors.
An excellent movie, it's more likely based on the real life experience among the Blackfeet of an American trapper named John Colter. Colter was offered the same opportunity and eventually made it to safety by hiding in a river and breathing through a hollow reed. Check it out on IMDB and I'll bet you find the synopsis sounds familiar.
The film is noteworthy in its almost total lack of dialoge!
Regards
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Sawubona


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1179
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Just checked it out myself on IMDB. Among the few "stars" in the Naked Prey are Ken Gampu who played Mantshonga in Zulu Dawn as well as in Dingaka and Curt Van De Bergh (sp) who, of course, played Addendorf in Zulu. It's a small world, eh?
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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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The movie is indeed THE NAKED PREY, which is due for release soon as a special edition DVD on the Criterion label. The appearance in the cast of Gert (NB!) Van Den Bergh is no coincidence: there are several other fellow "Zulu" personnel involved in the film behind the cameras (compare the credits and you'll see what I mean) and at least one of the indigenous African actors in PREY also featured in "Zulu": John Marcus.

The film is, as Sawubona says, excellent and well worth getting hold of. In fact, I showed a (censored) 35mm film print of it to my students just a few months ago!
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mike snook 2


Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Posts: 920
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I remember this from my childhood and have been keen to see it again (to no avail) ever since - so good news about a DVD release. From a personal perspective it will an interesting test of what my judgement of a good film was like when I was small!!

Regards

Mike
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Simon


Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 95
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Hi,

Yeah that sounds about like it, I was only about 7ish when I saw it but it's stuck in my memory. The story about John Colter sounds reminiscent of 'The Run of the Arrow' staring Rod Stieger.

Cheers for the info

Simon
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Sawubona


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1179
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My apologies to Mr. Ven Den Bergh for my hatchet job on his name and my thanks for the correction as it is of course "Gert"! Anyone know if "Gert" is a given name in Dutch or Afrikaans, a nickname or an abbreviated form of a longer name and if the latter, what the full name is? Just curious...
And incidentally Sheldon, when is your next book signing or lecture in New England, specifically in East Rochester, New Hampshire?
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Haydn Jones


Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Gloucester
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HI All

Sorry to be gruesome but is "Naked Prey" the same film where a guy gets coated in mud and roasted alive over an open fire or am I getting it confused with something else? I remember seeing this chilling scene at quite a young age and it has stayed with me all these years. If it is one and the same film then I too look forward to the DVD release as I have not seen it since. Might as well re-acquaint myself with my nightmares!

H
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Simon Rosbottom


Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 287
Location: London, UK
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Yes it is. Same with me too.

_________________
Simon
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Haydn Jones


Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Gloucester
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Simon

Thank you.

H
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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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Haydn, that's the scene that was cut from the print I showed! Evidently it was too much to be given an 'A' certificate from the British Board of Film Censors in 1966, though it was intact when I first saw it on TV as a child in the 70s.
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Haydn Jones


Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Gloucester
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Sheldon

That is interesting - thank you. It has certainly stuck in my mind over the years. Do you have any idea as to when the DVD might be released?
(Must also say that Zulu used to give me bad dreams too! I used to imagine they (the Zulus) were clambering over our bottom hedge!!!!!)

H
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Sheldon Hall


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 377
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The disc was released on 15 January (it retails in the US only, but is available via UK websites like Amazon). A CD of the soundtrack (mainly African tribal music and songs) is also available, but the DVD seems to include an isolated score as well as an audio commentary and the story "John Colter's Escape" read by actor Paul Giamatti. There is also a booklet with articles including an interview with the director/star, Cornel Wilde. Can't do better than that!
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Haydn Jones


Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 124
Location: Gloucester
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Sheldon

Most helpful. Thank you.

H.
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Steve Moore


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 47
Location: West Midlands
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Hi, many thanks for info. Remember seeing this as a tender youth when we stayed (hid) in the cinema after a school trip to see something educational. Stayed with me ever since, and so now its ordered from Amazon US this morning.
Cheers Steve
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Grandier?
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