The 1953 Universal International action/adventure drama directed by Budd Boetticher, starring Jeff Chandler and Anthony Quinn, scored by Henry Mancini, this would be great. Big film in it's day I'm sure, I became aware of it through a 16mm tech print belonging to my brother, it's a hell of a film featuring a great cast including Earl Holliman, Peter Graves, Scatman Crothers and Jay C. Flippen. Jeff Chandler heads a crew of American miners on some exotic island, trouble brews then erupts when he sets his sights on some native tail (Susan Ball), the two have a secret encounter and are are ratted out by the local jungle snitch who reports back to tribal leader Anthony Quinn. Knife fight ensues, Chandler is getting his ass kicked due to the weird and unexpected drops and kicks of Quinn until he throws up his dukes and takes care of business yankee style with a couple of well placed one/two punches.
If the score to this film were to see the light of day I would be one of the first to purchase a copy. Lots of tribal, ritual, ceremonial scenes and a lot of great percussion, the kind of stuff Mancini was so expert at supplying back in the day when bongos were king. The main title is knockout.
Love the scene early on in the film when the miners are welcomed to the island with an invite to a jungle feast, food, drinks, dark haired beauties, ritual dancing, lots of tiki lights and grass skirts, the whole nine yards. Anthony Quinn eyeballs Chandler suspiciously while eating fruit with a knife. The two make eye contact and you know it's going to hit the fan.
Great film by a great director.
_________________ "I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy
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