Hatari (1962)

I thought Hatari was a very good film, politics aside it was true entertainment. That is what I look for in movies just sit back and enjoy.
Andy

This flim has always held a special place in my heart because it is the only time I saw John Wayne live. I was fifteen and in the front row when he came on stage doing a promotion tour for this film. Red Buttons was also there.

That must be a great memory!
HATARI! is among my Top 3 Wayne films. Partly because of Africa (I guess it's maybe the best film describing the magic of this continent), partly because of Hawks. Besides the technical aspect (Hawks was a sort of a motorhead, he even constructed a race car in the late 20's) - building those special vehicles for filming at high speed on rough terrain - Hawks managed something unique: this special feeling of a group that really is a family. That film could run for 4 hours and still would never be boring. In the 70's Hawks replied to historian McBride: 'Yes, I like to be around them too.' (Speaking of his film characters in HATARI!).
I met Hardy Krüger 5 years ago. I wanted him to be the narrator of my Sam Peckinpah documentary. He is a though, honest and adventurous man - great character. He likes to tell the story how he drank Wayne under the table: When they first got together, Wayne played the old 'let's check this young turk out..' game and planned a long night at the bar with Kruger. Kruger had great respect for Big John (naturally) and did some investigation beforehand. Before they met that night he drank a lot of oil because someone had told him that it somehow helds back a lot of alcohol in the stomach. It worked and Wayne was impressed!

I'm still looking for BIG GAME HUNTING WITHOUT GUNS, the 1961 35mm or 16mm making of - featurette.
Nobody? You can get A LOT from me for that one, just want to make a copy, no need to sell it to me...

Some behind the scenes shots from my archive:

Quote from badger

i thought this was an ok film - it was a film all the family could watch although i couldn t help noticing the number of cigaretttes jw was smoking. it had a lot of humour in it and i loved the scenes with the baby elephants. it looked as though they were all being well looked after as well. the only bit of the film i didn t like was the ending - i don t know what i was expecting but i thought it was a bit feeble - all in all though 7/10 for me

Does anyone know why there was so much smoking in Hatari? I know it was made in a very different era, but whenever I watch the movie I can't get over just how many cigarettes there were.

i love this movie saw if the fist time a few years ago and have loved it ever since

I also enjoy Hatari, it is so much better and enjoyable than Reap the Wild Wind that I watched the other day.

I find it like Rio Bravo and Rio Lobo, a movie I can watch without paying that much attention to it, my computer being next to my TV

i enjoyed the movie not a great movie but watchable.is it true that john wayne got one of his crew on the picture.showing him shooting a elephant. The film shows a laughing Wayne shooting a shackled elephant the villagers brought in for him to kill, because Wayne wanted a trophy to take home and their were no wild elephants in the area and he also couldn't get a permit. So he paid villagers for a zoo elephant.i cant believe that is true.

As much as I enjoy this film, does anyone know if it might have been sponsored by a cigarette company? Never seen so much smoking in all my life. I'm surprised the elephants weren't lighting up!

Ringo - think about it. JW would NEVER shoot a chained animal under ANY circumstances, as that just wasn't in his makeup. Also, the story tha I've heard through the years is that it was, in fact, shot in the wild. The scene that has with the one coming too close and trumpeting angrily, is supposedly the one that he shot (outside the scene). Of course, I've been wrong before, and my memory could be a bit fuzzy...

you could be right tennesseean,with the many books i read about john wayne i have never read that he shot an elephant.it was on another site that they said he did.i know there are loads of people out there who wants to destroy the image of our hero.i even have friends who dont like john wayne or what he stands for.

I read somewhere that the elephant was charging and that was why Duke shot it-dont' remember the exact circumstances tho, but it wasn't any type of "setup" as I remember.

Along the same lines, (forgive me if this has been mentioned) Duke's double on the film, Ted White, shot either a tiger or lion-again memory's a bit fuzzy-that was set to attack one of the actors. A newspaper ran an article on how John Wayne's stuntman saved someone, and it Duke got peeved. He didn't like them mentioning he used a stuntman in some of the scenes, and I guess blamed it on White leaking the info. he said Duke never used him again in any of his films. The interview was in one of Tim Lilley's fine books.

Could be sour grapes on White's part, as Duke was fiercely loyal to folks and expected the same from them. He kept Bruce Cabot around in nearly EVERY movie he made in the 60's and early part of the 70's to make sure he was taken care of...no one would give Cabot work.

It's sad that we can't get the stories straight from JW himself, as you KNOW he'd tell you straight up what went on!!

The guns are one of the reasons I like the movie.

I am trying to recall if they used a hidden marksman to shoot the swinging bottles in the contest between Kurt and Little Wolf (I can't believe I remembered the names my memory is so lousy).

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