Call Me Bwana (1963)
A returning moon capsule goes off course and lands in Africa where a little-known tribe finds it. Washington sends Matthew Merriwether to recover it—thinking he's an expert on the region—when in fact he's no such thing. However, a foreign power sends Secret Agent Luba to try and acquire the capsule for itself and, when Matthew and Luba reach their destination, they find that the tribe believes the capsule to be sacred and won't give it up.
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How sad is this?
Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.
Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
She certainly seems to be enjoying herself to be fair. Mr Hope,taking a page from R.Hudson's superior "Man's Favourite sport", is an "expert" waiting to be found out. He pretends what we Brits back in the day called "An old Africa hand" on the strength of a memoir written by his uncle,and is tasked to recover a NASA satellite that has gone off piste and landed in the African jungle. The Russians are also looking for it,this time a foretaste of a R.Hudson film 20 - odd years later. But the Russians are genuine experts. So much for plot. Like most of Mr Hope's films,"Call me Bwana" is merely a vehicle for his gagging routines. That will either encourage you or turn you off. It has a lot of 1963 mildly political jokes (remember "The First Family" record Album?) that may mistify anyone coming across it today. Miss Eckberg doesn't have much trouble stealing the film,Mr Hope looks a little bit tired of it all. The Africans pretty much outsmart everybody which was novel for its time. I saw this at the "Odeon" Kemp Town before it became a more niche venue. Nowhere near so bad is it's made out to be without challenging "Some like it hot" in the 60's comedy stakes.
I'm surprised this one received such negative reviews. Despite an outlandish climax and a few gauche touches here and there, I thought it was Bob Hope's funniest film since "Son of Paleface" (1952). I particularly enjoyed the amusing tilts at some Very Top People. The support cast is great too. Lionel Jeffries is on hand to hand out some delightful extra mayhem, while Orlando Martins has a royal time as the tongue-in-cheek Chief of the Ekele Tribe. I'll readily admit that Anita Ekberg is a bit of a disappointment, but I guess she can't be persuaded to take all (or most of) her gear off all the time. A pity!
If you read the other reviews here, you'll be told about how bad this movie is. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm not going to argue with the other reviewers. I just want to say that I had fun watching this film, and that's really all the justification I need. (I use movies as a springboard to the imagination anyway). I thought Hope was funny enough, and I liked the supporting players, all memorable to me. The plot was silly, but it wasn't boring. Everyone comes off as a buffoon, the Americans, the Russians, the CIA, the KGB. Even the Africans were funny, but not in a demeaning way. I've seen this three or four times over the years, and I've always looked forward to seeing it again.I doubt, though, that people born after the 1960s would think much of it. It succeeds for what was intended, but it's very much a movie of its time. I was six when it came out, and I still remember what was going on in that era. I "get" the jokes in the film that were aimed at then-current events and people. On the other hand, just as I can enjoy and appreciate comedies made decades before even my generation, people whose experience is only of today might broaden their horizons and get a kick out this when they simply want to personally relax and have a little fun.
Wow...it's bad. A witless comedy that has Bob Hope, as a phony great white hunter, roped into finding a downed US space capsule in Africa. He's joined by smart spy Edie Adams and smart Russian spy Anita Ekberg. Hope has chemistry with neither lady. He bounces unfunny one-liner after unfunny one-liner off them (Ekberg appears to not be getting any of it) to no avail. A dismal comedy even among the very dismal comedies Hope made in the 1960s. Directed, unimaginatively, by Gordon Douglas and featuring a lot of rear screen projection and, for some inexplicable reason, a golf game between Hope and the young Arnold Palmer! The jerky editing, fast motion and goofy sound effects are for naught. Unfunny in-jokes (directed at Bing Crosby, JFK, Sinatra, etc) abound in this awful movie.