I Say Old Boy Isn't Paul Robeson A Great Singer Even When He's Singing About Killing His Neighbours

Theo Robertson

I recently saw THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME recently and was slightly disappointed by it , a fact not helped by Leslie Banks performance . Banks was supposedly a well regarded actor but it should be remembered that GAME was a very early screen performance from him . SANDERS OF THE RIVERS is a film produced and directed by the Korda brothers , two Hungarians who moved to Britain and became major players of British cinema in the 1930s . Looking through the cast list now it's probably not the names of Banks or Korda that'll grab your attention but Paul Robeson . If you've got a film called SANDERS OF THE RIVER and it stars a black singer you don't need a Masters degree in geography to see where the film might be heading

SANDERS OF THE RIVER is painfully dated in its social mores . Putting it in to context the British Empire was alive and well and if Britain hadn't conquered most of Africa then it would have been conquered by the French and who wants to be ruled by the French ? Or indeed the Spanish or the Americans ? There is a strong element of casual racism to this scenario but it's certainly no worse than those dreadful Tarzan movies and the dated elements do have an entertainment value to them that are unintentional . One thing that is genuinely shocking watching it now is the female African natives who are topless

As expected the production budget couldn't involve taking the crew to deepest Africa so to hide this fact the designers have stuck some African looking huts in a field in England and editor Charles Chrichton - who went on to become a highly regarded director - splices in some stock footage of African landscapes and wildlife trying to but not quite convincing the audience the locations are real . The story itself is very basic and involves Sanders mentoring Robeson's jolly good egg Chief Bosambo that rival tribes are causing trouble and need to be taught a lesson . Cue The Killing Song which involves " When the enemy comes be ready to fight . On in to battle make a lot of rattle mow them down like cattle ... "

Robeson himself supposedly disowned this film due to the racist stereotyping but looking this up on the internet there's some dispute about this and he perhaps had another reason for disliking it . Certainly it's difficult to believe before filming started that Robeson wouldn't be playing an African stereotype . That said Robeson is the best thing about the film and you'll remember The Killing Song for days afterwards . All together now " on in to battle , make a lot of rattle , mow them down like cattle ...

score 4/10

Theo Robertson 28 June 2013

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2821587/