The first time I saw "Hatari" was on a Boy Scout excursion to New York City during it's original release year of 1962. I had no idea at the time who John Wayne was, let alone any of the supporting players in the movie, but I did like wild animals. What young kid doesn't? Since then of course, the Duke has moved on to that big rodeo in the sky, as his legacy survives in the many fine Westerns and war films in which he appeared. "Hatari" in some ways might be considered an African Western, replete with sidekicks, drinking and pretty women, with a fair share of action adventure as the Hatari gang captures wild game for America's zoos. As such, the film doesn't have a whole lot of story line going for it; it's more of a series of vignettes of Wayne's character Sean Mercer rallying his men on to collect giraffe, zebra, leopard, buffalo, rhino and a proverbial barrel of monkeys. Though in this case it's a tree full of monkeys thanks in large part to a clever design masterminded by Pockets (Red Buttons), complete with a red and white silver rocket and a huge fish net. The fact that it worked makes it worth the price of admission alone.

In between the animal chases, director Howard Hawks sprinkles his movie with comic interludes like the goat milking scene, the ostrich roundup, and the kissing demonstration that the pretty photographer Dallas (Elsa Martinelli) plants on Wayne. Of course, Red Buttons has his share of comic moments as well, though at times his timing seems forced, especially when he nags his partners to retell their versions of the monkey capture.

I must say, my admiration for the film's players rose a considerable notch when I learned that they did all their own work in capturing the large game. The rhino scene in particular left me wondering how the animal didn't severely injure itself, much less the occupants of the jeep chasing him down.

Some dozen years following the film's release, I had the pleasure of going on a photographic safari of my own to East Africa. The locales mentioned in the movie such as Arusha and Manyara were on my itinerary, though by that time Tanganyika no longer existed, having merged with Zanzibar to form the new country of Tanzania. Along with wild game locations in neighboring Kenya, that trip remains the highlight of my travel abroad.

As others have noted in their postings, I would highly recommend "Hatari" as solid family entertainment, although John Wayne does let loose with a 'hell' while wrestling the buffalo into the transport cage. It must have been one of his milder curses that survived the final cut.