The Naked Prey

The Naked Prey
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Cornel Wilde
Produced by	Cornel Wilde Sven Persson
Written by	Clint Johnston Don Peters
Starring	Cornel Wilde Ken Gampu Patrick Mynhardt Bella Randels Gert van den Bergh
Distributed by	Paramount
Release dates	3 June 1965
Running time	96 mins.
Country	Rhodesia United States
Language	English, Afrikaans, Nguni languages
Budget	$647,649[1]

The Naked Prey is a 1965^[2] adventure film starring Cornel Wilde, who also served as director and producer, which was released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the South African veldt, the film is a wilderness survival story loosely based on the experiences of explorer John Colter, who was pursued by Blackfoot warriors through frontier Wyoming in 1809. The screenplay earned Clint Johnson and Don Peters an Academy Award nomination.

Plot summary

Wilde, whose character is never named, plays a professional safari guide leading two white men (Gert van den Bergh and Patrick Mynhardt) and their troupe on an elephant hunt through the African veldt during the colonial era. When the group intrudes on a local tribe's territory, some natives politely accost them, expecting to be bought off with gifts. Although the guide advises his client to be courteous, warning "they could give us a bad time," the client refuses to offer anything and insults the natives, sending them away empty-handed. Later, the tribe returns en masse, captures the entire party, and puts the captives to death, using various cruel and unusual methods. One man is covered in clay and roasted alive on a spit; another is tarred, feathered, and trussed, then chased and killed by all the women. The man who insulted the tribesmen is trapped in a ring of fire with a poisonous snake.

Wilde's character is spared until the last. He is stripped naked and then an arrow is fired into the air. Wilde's character then runs and once he passes the arrow is chased by one tribesman who must reach the arrow before the next tribesman can join in the hunt. With a combination of luck, cunning, and desperation, he eludes the warriors, killing several; finds food and water; and, after many days, returns to a colonial fort just seconds ahead of his pursuers. As he reaches safety, the man turns and exchanges a salute with their leader (Ken Gampu).

Although the story is violent, there are a few scenes of tenderness and humor after the man is rescued from drowning by an African boy, who travels with him for a day or two. As they walk along, he sings a nineteenth-century drinking song, "Little Brown Jug", and the child sings a song in his own language; they then attempt to sing each other's songs.

Production and critical reception

Setting

The Naked Prey was filmed on location in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). The initial version was set in the American Old West and more closely resembled the incident that inspired it; however, financial concerns persuaded Wilde to change the setting to Africa.

Cast notes

Wilde was an athlete; he qualified for the Olympic Games as a fencer in 1936 and remained in excellent condition. However, he was over 52 years old when the movie was shot and was sick during much of the filming, but pressed on, saying the illness added to his performance.

Five of the ten actors playing tribal hunters were cast together in the 1964 South African film Diamond Walkers.

In the original theatrical release there is a very long shot with Wilde in the mid foreground and way in the distance, a mile or so behind him, one can see a tiny Land Rover crossing the screen on the horizon.

Critical reception

The minimal dialog, richly realized African settings, and emphasis on making "the chase (and violent combat along the way) a subject unto itself, rather than the climax to a conventional story"^[3] distinguish Naked Prey as an innovative and influential adventure film.^[4] However, although it is considered a small classic today,^[5] it received mixed reviews at the time of its release. Robert Alden of The New York Times, reacting to the brutality of some of the early scenes, dismissed the film as "poor and tasteless motion-picture entertainment", but did acknowledge its "authentic African setting" and "effective use of tribal drums and native music."^[6] Roger Ebert, taking a different tack, called The Naked Prey "pure fantasy" of the "great white hunter" variety, adding disdainfully: "Sure, it's nice to think you could outrun half a dozen hand-picked African warriors simply because you'd been to college and read Thoreau, but the truth is they'd nail you before you got across the river and into the trees."^[7]

Other reviewers, however, were more enthusiastic. In Time, the film was described as "a classic, single-minded epic of survival with no time out for fainthearted blondes or false heroics" where "natives are not the usual faceless blacks but human beings whose capacity for violence the hero quickly matches."^[8] The Variety reviewer praised the documentary-style use of nature photography to show "the pattern of repose, pursuit, sudden death and then repose" that characterises the entire chase.^[9]

Later releases

The Naked Prey was released on DVD by The Criterion Collection in January 2008.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of African tribal chants, natural sounds, and occasional dialogue, in English and otherwise. There are no subtitles, and incidental music is mostly absent. It features Nguni tribal songs specifically recorded for the film. A vinyl LP The Naked Prey was released in 1966 on Folkways Records.^[10] It was re-released as Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey in CD form on Latitude/Locust Music in 2004.^[11][12]

Comic book adaption

• Dell Movie Classic: The Naked Prey (December 1966)^[13]

Cinematic influence

As teenagers, Joel and Ethan Coen shot their own version of The Naked Prey on a Super 8 film camera. They called it Zeimers in Zambia and cast a neighbor, Mark Zimering, in the lead role.^[14]

Mel Gibson's film Apocalypto resembles The Naked Prey in its plot and in several similar scenes. The scenario of a man being pursued by a pack of warriors who set out, one by one, after he has reached the point where a loosed arrow fell was seen also in the 1957 film Run of the Arrow.^[15]

Likewise, Robert Redford's movie, Jeremiah Johnson has a similar plot line wherein Native American tribesmen give chase often, individually, to challenge Redford's character (Jeremiah Johnson) to duel to the death. Similarly, he signs off with the chief from a distance at the end of the movie.

Cultural influence

The progressive rock group Coheed and Cambria was originally named Shabütie after the African chant from the film. Shabütie translates to "Naked Prey".

In popular culture

In the first scene of the Mad Men season 5 episode, "Far Away Places", Abe coaxes a distracted and reluctant Peggy to go see the film with him. His pitch: "You're resisting a chance to see Cornel Wilde naked? I heard he wrestles a boa constrictor. Sounds pretty dirty."

The 266th episode of Cheers is titled "Bar Wars VII: The Naked Prey".

In the movie Where's Poppa?, the main character's brother, (played by Ron Leibman,) is regularly mugged while taking a shortcut through NYC's Central Park. In one mugging, the group of muggers refer to The Naked Prey, as they strip him and then chase him. Garrett Morris plays one of the muggers.

See also

• Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films
• The Most Dangerous Game
• Naked Fear

References

External links

• The Naked Prey at the Internet Movie Database
• The Naked Prey at AllMovie
• The Naked Prey at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Naked Prey in the New York Times
• The Naked Prey Variety review