The film: Re-released on DVD this summer as part of Paramount's John Wayne Collection, Hatari! was, along with Mogambo and The Naked Prey, among the best of a steady stampede of Africa safari films put out by Hollywood in the 1950s and 60s. Despite having no plot to speak of and suffering from some weak acting, its easy pacing, thrilling action sequences and wonderful location work make for great matinee family viewing.

The script was written around the Oscar-nominated wildlife footage that director Howard Hawks (Only Angels Have Wings, The Big Sleep) and cinematographer Russell Harlan (To Kill a Mockingbird, Rio Bravo) caught on location in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), and the story was assembled back in the US, but somehow it all fits together nicely.

John Wayne is the head man (or Big Bwana as everyone likes to call him) of a small company that captures animals for the international zoo trade, and the film comprises several episodes of high-speed capture expeditions that, according to Hawks, were all carried out by the cast themselves. Whether or not this is true, it's hard to pick out any stunt people here, and Wayne especially is frequently visible lassoing animals, from zebra to giraffe, while perched on the front of a speeding truck, and at one point even trying to wrestle a rhino. (It's said that many of his sequences had to be dubbed to cover up his off-colour language during these scenes). These animal chases, which occur frequently throughout the film, keep up the momentum of Hatari! (which means 'danger' in Swahili) and manage to make the running time seem a lot shorter than its potentially soporific 157 minutes.

That the cast had little in the way of a storyline to work with probably accounts for some uneasy performances, with German Hardy Kruger looking especially self-conscious, and the multitalented comedian Red Buttons (above with Wayne) hamming it up no end.

The two romantic asides, one for Wayne and one for Buttons, are completely unbelievable and poorly handled, but it's really the animals and the striking African backdrops that are the stars of the show. Also a highlight is Henry Mancini's score, from which the tune Baby Elephant Walk was covered by many a bandleader and arranger - most notably Quincy Jones - and which helped make the movie's soundtrack a top seller in its day.

The extras: This new edition of Hatari! is just a repackaging of the DVD that Paramount released in 2001, again with only a trailer as an extra. The transfer is wide screen-enhanced and is reasonably clean, if not outstanding, and the mono soundtrack does the job well enough.