LIONS APPEAR IN AMAZING PUCTIRE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19267, 2 January 1931, Page 10

LIONS APPEAR IN AMAZING PUCTIRE

“ AFRICA SPEAKS ” FULL OF WEIRD INCIDENTS.

The death of a native under the claws of a charging lion, and the subsequent revenge of the Hon hunting warriors, Hfe in a pigmy village, herds of strange and weird animals. “ duck-billed ” women, a plague of locusts and hundreds of other wonders encountered on a fourteen months’ trip through the heart of Africa were recorded by the Colorado Expedition’s sound cameras to make up the amazing picture, “ Africa Talks,” which commences tomorrow at the Theatre Royal. A private screening of the picture was given this morning. The leader of the expedition was Paul L. Heifler, and the claim that nothing in the film was faked cannot be doubted by anyone who sees the picture. Most of the distance was covered in a motor-lorry, and the difficulties met with in negotiating some of the difficult portions of the route would alone make a thrilling story. From Lagos to the Indian Ocean the journey occupied fourteen months, and covered 14,000 miles.

In securing pictures of Africa’s beasts of prey in their own haunts the camera men apparently put personal safety last. They had several narrow escapes, and on one occasion, in the lion country, the second camera was able to photograph a lion in the act of overtaking and striking down one of the native boys who travelled with the expedition. The lions then turned their attention to the camera men, and as they were some distance away from their rifles they had to rely on their revolvers, fortunately, with success. The incident is vividly recorded in the picture.

In accordance with the old law of a death for a death, the villagers held a meeting, and the native hunters, a band of privileged and fearless warriors, set out. The camera men were permitted to accompany them only' on solemnly promising not to use their rifles. The natives, clothed in a fantastic headdress made from lions’ manes, their chief being distinguished by a huge mass of ostrich feathers, formed a ring round an area where a lioness was known to be lurking. After successfully dispatching the beast with their long-bladed spears, they were unexpectedly attacked by her mate, who brought down one of the huntsmen before the spears got him. Herds of trumpeting elephants were the first animal of note met with, and soon afterwards the expedition was amongst the Ifi tribe of pygmies, whose friendliness they bought with salt, a rare commodity in the jungle. For the benefit of the cameras the chief came out of his jungle darkness, where photography would have been impossible, and posed with his two wives in a convenient clearing. It was on the huge grass plains that most of the animal life was seen. Big herds of zebras looked strangely unreal with their striped coats*. The terrific heat could be guessed at from the waves distorting the middle distance of the scenes, and the announcer stated that the temperature at the time was 130 degrees iiji the shade. Then followed a big herd of giraffes looking impossibly clumsy but moving at surprising speed. This was also lion country, and the announcer said that every year hundreds of thousands of zebras, gazelles and giraffes were killed by the lions. One interesting spot recorded by the cameras was a sunken lake where flamingoes covered a tremendous area of water and when frightened rose into the air in a huge cloud of fluttering wings. Lake Victoria was skirted as far as the Ripon Falls, where the Nile River is born. A herd of “ white ” rhinoceros was met with. One of the prettiest sights of all was a tremendous herd of impalla, an unusual member of the family. At certain times and lor no known reason they run round leaping gracefully as high as fourteen feet in the air.

The expedition was here overtaken by a plague of Abyssinian locusts, and it is claimed that this is the first occasion on which such a visitation, and the devastation it brings about, have been photographed by a movie camera. The locusts came in myriads, forming a cloud that darkened the sky, and when they settled they covered everything and made a six-inch deep carpet over miles of ground. Animals could be seen running madly before the advancing hordes, and inside the tent from where the cameras were operated the impact of the flying creatures against the canvas walls was like a heavy hailstorm. All these and many more extraordinary sights are included in ‘‘Africa Talks”; and throughout the picture the kinds of animals met with and the various incidents are clearly described by the leader of the expedition. It is a remarkable production, more gripping than any fiction, more so because, the onlooker realises that every amazing incident really happened as he sees and hears it.