Folks,

While we were building the Connection Bookshelf, we found this DVD on offer.:

Robert Ruark; African Adventure, Safari Hunting. Filmed in 1954. Narrated and featuring Robert Ruark. Harry Selby and Andrew Holberg guide Ruark to a 110 pound elephant, black rhino, leopard and a huge 49" buffalo as taken as well as other species. The film was shot in black and white and is excellent for it's day but is notthe same quality as modern high definition cameras. It is a rare chance to see what a safari in British East Africa was like during this era'.

Guys, it appears there's only one copy available (although they can probably order more) and I'd have bought it myself if I thought it'd ever survive the postal service to Africa........... so instead, whoever gets on the link below first will get it!

On the subject of the bookshelf, we're stil building it and will be for some time, but you'll already find the complete works of Thomson, Ruark, Capstick and Boddington and we'll be adding a shed load more.


you'll find the DVD right at the bottom of this link: http://www.shakariconnection.c...book-collection.html

I ordered that DVD. Very good. I enjoyed it emensely.

Brett

Brett,

I have to admit I'd never heard of it and would buy it in a heartbeat if I thought for a moment it'd get here without being stolen.........

Safari Press is selling it.

Rowland Ward in South Africa also has it

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Safari Press is selling it.

I bought one from Safari Press about 3 weeks ago, but haven't watched it yet.

Andrew Holmberg is still alive and lives in the South of Sweden.
He must have some stories to tell,

Bror von Blixen Finnecke was his godfather...

The guy that sells on Amazon also sells them on ebay

Copies of this are also available on www.videoscreams.com

There was quite a lengthy thread on here a couple of years ago, and we finally found that source. At the time, I don't believe it was available anywhere else. You can get a copy there for $12, or combined with a second choice for $14. Videoscreams is a really oddball source for mostly obscure horror films. They have no search function, so it is hard to find what they have, but go to the Classic Science Fiction section of their main catalog, and it is listed alphabetically under African Safari. The order number is Q347.

I remember from the other thread that this hasn't beemn available since the fifties. These are copies of old film transfers, so the quality is pretty bad, but very interesting anyway. I suspect they are the same ones being offered at $29.95, so take your pick. If memory serves, when this subject was discussed before, some evidence came forth that there was only one copy of the original film left, and it's whereabouts was questionable. There may never be a high quality version available. You should get one while they are available.

FWIW, I've just heard from the seller and he tells me he has 10 copies available.

From the Safari Press web site:

AFRICA ADVENTURE
DVD9967

Price: USD $ 29.95
Data: DVD, running time 1 hour, 5 minutes
ISBN: DVD9967

Available Now

This movie, made in 1954 and narrated by Robert Ruark himself, gives a picture of safari hunting in British East Africa (BEA) at the time of the Mau Mau Emergency. Ruark arrives in BEA via Cairo and Addis Ababa in an Ethiopian Airlines propeller plane. Noteworthy is the fact that a passenger departs the plane with a rifle in hand! There’s a lot to be said for a simpler time without terrorists and terrorism!

Once in Nairobi, Ruark and his wife, Virginia, meet with Harry Selby and Jack Block, the owner of Kerr & Downey, to plan their safari. At Harry Selby’s advise Andrew Holmberg was hired by Ruark to protect and maneuver the cameraman in the right positions so the best possible film could be made. Soon the party is off with a few trucks and a crew of twenty natives, heading toward the NFD. Early on it becomes obvious to the viewer that the safaris of old where long, drawn-out affairs. Ruark’s safari goes from Northern Kenya to Uganda to Tanzania and then back to Kenya, and while the film does not say how long this all took, two months is a fair estimate. Ruark and Selby look for a large tusker in the Liasames/Merille area and they succeed in finding a 110-pounder that is shot on camera. Thereafter, around Isiolo, the safari looks for a black rhino; a charge and kill are shown on camera.

The safari moves to Uganda next, but the hunters have no luck there, so it is off to Masailand where John Sutton replaces Andrew Holmberg. Here we get to see what safari life was like. We see the mobile tent safaris of old that were entirely self sufficient and even bread was baked in the bush. Virginia and Robert Ruark shoot sand grouse and then look for a large buffalo. RR brings home a whopper of no less than 49 inches in spread. Finally Selby, Sutton, and RR bait for a leopard that they manage to get. All in all, four members of the Big Five are shot on camera.

PLEASE NOTE: This footage was made more than fifty years ago, and it is in black and white. Although professionally edited and provided with a good sound track, it is not up to modern standards of color film with high definition cameras. If you seek that, do not buy this DVD. If you want to see what a safari was like in BEA in the mid-1950s and care about authentic footage, this film is for you. We here at Safari Press are nostalgic and score it an eight out of ten, keeping the above caveats in mind.

Not Sold in Bookstores

https://www.safaripress.com/pr...d=956&cat=302&page=1

This was my Christmas gift to myself this year. I have just finish reading the books by Ruark and the dvd will be good to see. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!