Lou Varricchio

Meticulous in detail, this 1981 British mini series captures the simple charm and romance of Elspeth Huxley's novelized, true-to-life memoir of colonial Africa before World War 1. Despite the racial clashes, most of the pioneers got along with the natives and relied upon their knowledge of the local land and weather to survive. A curious note that has nagged this reviewer for years: Huxley never appeared to identify the specific variety of "flame tree" (of which there are several so named in Africa) but it appears that it's most likely the Nandi flame tree or African flame tree (Spathodea campanulata) that is the magnificent flowering tulip-tree which not only inspired the book's title but so magnificently colors the scenes filmed in this excellent, well-acted frontier saga set in old Kenya.

One of my all time favorite adventure, fantasy movies of the 1950s by the best sci-fi Hollywood team of the era, George Pal and Byron Haskin. Set in the Amazon country, it was filmed in California, Panama and Florida and made good use of these landscapes to evoke menace as well as the oppressive Brazilian jungle setting. The film provides the back story missing in German author Carl Stephenson's classic 1930s novellete, titled "Leiningen Versus the Ants". From some accounts, Stephenson died in 1954 the year the film was released. However, the author's biography is sketchy and he may have lived until 1969. No matter, it is a superb film of its genre.