The Last Lion

Not to be confused with The Last Lions.

For the Churchill biography, see The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill

The Last Lion
Directed by Elmo De Witt
Written by Wilbur Smith
Based on novel Uit oerwoud en vlakte by Sangiro
Starring Jack Hawkins
Production
company
Kavalier Films
Release dates
 1972
Running time
 90 mins
Country South Africa
Language English

The Last Lion is a 1972 South African action film directed by Elmo De Witt and starring Jack Hawkins, Karen Spies and Dawid Van Der Walt.[1] The screenplay was written by Wilbur Smith, one of his rare original screenplays.[2] He used a similar story later on in his novel A Time to Die.[3]

Plot

Ryk Mannering, a terminally ill American millionaire, goes to Africa on a final hunting expedition to track down and shoot a male lion. This lion has always eluded Mannering, who has killed more than 80 lions, and become obsessed with the animal.

Mannering hires a private doctor to keep him alive, and pays a local hunter to track down the lion. When Mannering ruthlessly kills a lioness with cubs, he infuriates both the hunter and the doctor. But he drives them mercilessly to hunt down the male. In a fit of delirium he kills his quarry – and then collapses and dies himself.

Poster tagline

"For one it will be the last kill!"[4]

Cast

Production

The film was based on a 1921 novel Uit oerwoud en vlakte by South African author Sangiro (a pen name for Andries Albertus Pienaar (1894 - 1979). The novel had been the subject of a plagiarism action by German author Frits Bronsart von Schellendorf.[5]

Release

Copies of the film are preserved at the National Film, Video and Sound Archives, Pretoria, South Africa. www.national.archives.gov.za

The film has been released on DVD in February 2011.

References

  1. ↑ "The Last Lion". BFI.
  2. ↑ "Wilbur Smith - Worldwide Bestselling Author". wilbursmithbooks.com.
  3. ↑ "Wilbur Smith - Worldwide Bestselling Author". wilbursmithbooks.com.
  4. ↑ "7h941 LAST LION 5 LCs '72 Jack Hawkins, Karen Spies, it will be the last kill for one!". emovieposter.com.
  5. ↑ "Sangiro, Pseudonym of Andries Albertus Pienaar". Stellenbosch Writers. Retrieved 25 July 2016.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.