Watch Africa: Texas Style! For Free

Waste of time

Best movie ever!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Africa: Texas Style finds Hugh O'Brian and Tom Nardini over in Africa after the rodeo season has finished. They are there at the request of John Mills who has an idea to give up cattle ranching in Kenya and go in for domesticating the native animals there. Though they eventually might wind up food on humankind's dinner plate, the species will be preserved. Mills sees this as the best way to satisfy both his needs and the survival of some Africa's game animals. There are a lot of points of view expressed here.One of those is that of fellow rancher Nigel Green who raises cattle and is not looking to go into a new business. Curiously enough Mills accuses Green and his cattle of doing exactly what in a few hundred westerns the cattlemen accuse the sheep of doing, leaving the ground barren and eroded.O'Brian is there for his roping skills and Nardini is his hazer in rodeo events. Roping a wildebeast or a zebra is a whole other proposition.I'll leave the zoologists to debate the points of view the film has. For viewers it's a nice look of Kenya post independence and the acting is just fine. Looks at the Masai tribal culture is also interesting.This will not rate with The African Queen or King Solomon's Mines as an African adventure, but it's pleasant enough.This also served as a pilot for a short lived TV series where Chuck Connors and Ronald Howard play the roles that O'Brian and Mills do.

This is about the quality you'd expect from a TV pilot film – even one that received a theatrical release – which means that, for most of us, it's pretty dull viewing. A past-his-sell-by-date Hugh O'Brian plays Jim Sinclair a brawny Texan cowboy clad in white and with a Native American sidekick (Tom Nardini) to prove just what a decent, honourable chap he is. That doesn't prevent him from nicking Adrienne Corri from her stiff-lipped fiancée without a moment's hesitation, however. Sinclair also takes Samson, an orphaned black boy under his wing. Samson, of course, is Africa, a vulnerable waif in need of guidance and aid; he's cute as a button, but serves no real purpose other than to pad out the running time which, at 109 minutes is about 108 minutes longer than it really needs to be. John Mills obviously fancied a holiday in the sun back in '67, because there's clearly nothing about this project in terms of artistic or creative merit that could have attracted him, and his character, like little Samson's, serves no real purpose other than to admire Sinclair. He even manages to bag a freebie for daughter Hayley by having her make a 30-second cameo appearance in the first five minutes, the sly old dog. Only Nigel Green as a bullish Saird-Efrikan adds any kind of spark to the proceedings, but he isn't on screen long enough to redeem this dud.

Snooze. This is just a TV pilot film for the Ivan Tors series 'Cowboy in Africa.' O'Brian and Nardini play Texas cowboys who are hired by local wildlife caregiver Mills to corral big game as part of a wildlife saving effort. O'Brian is the real Texan, while Nardini is actually a Navajo. The bad guy is a South African hunter-rancher at odds with Mills. He's played by Nigel Green who offers the only lively performance in the lead cast. There's little humor, characterization or strong drama. But there are a few good points: 1) some excellent animal scenes, especially one with a rhino that gets up close and personal 2) A cameo in the first scene by Hayley Mills. Her light, bewitching presence in thirty seconds of screen time makes one long for her to remain throughout, but sadly she's gone in a flash. She always works well with her father John Mills and it's too bad they couldn't associate in this film. Oh, well. Otherwise this film is a bland time-killer.

Animal adventure show producer Ivan Tors ("Flipper," "Gentle Ben," "Sea Hunt") had great success with his other African film "Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion" which served as the pilot for the TV show "Daktari". The feature film "Africa -- Texas Style!" served as the pilot for his TV show "Cowboy in Africa." "Cowboy in Africa" is a much better title since the film borrows heavily from the John Wayne's "Hatari," and is basically the story about ranchers, range wars, poachers, and cowboys (doing it "Texas Style!") with the element of the protection of African wildlife thrown in. Not as fun or with as much comic relief as most of Ivan Tors other work. Watch for star John Mills' daughter Hayley Mills in a quick cameo at the airport. Not a bad film at all, and if you are a fan of the above mentioned works, it's worth a look.