The Naked Prey (1965)

****

A group of rude white colonialists on safari in Africa plunder elephants for their ivory. They also happen to piss off a particular tribe of natives along the way. So, they are routinely captured by the tribesmen and tortured to death. The chief conjures up creative ways to finish off each of his prisoners. One white hunter gets costumed as a chicken and then chased down by village women who beat him with rocks fastened to the end of sticks. Another white hunter is basted with terra cotta then barbequed into human pottery, while yet another is tied down face-first in a ring of cobras.

And then there is the last white hunter, the one who tried to keep his buddies from dishonoring the tribesmen in the first place. The chief offers this man a fighting chance. He’s stripped naked and given a running head-start. Then one at a time, the tribe’s best lion hunters chase him down with their spears. Problem for the tribe is that the white man miraculously kills the first lion hunter who comes after him. And then the race is really on.

With outback skills in full effect, actor Cornel Wilde not only stars in this classic action-adventure, but he’s also the producer and director of the film. None of the weekend warriors on the Discovery Channel have anything on this dude. As a kid, I initially watched The Naked Prey aired on network television right after Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and hardly realized which was supposed to be fact or fiction. Of course, even Tom Brady isn’t white enough to enjoy the champion’s luck that this fugitive employs in his harrowing escape. But still, this one is well worth watching, a dozen times over.