Hell for the Yanks is Paradise for the rest of us
03 November 2007
WALK INTO HELL Hell, a two-star rated adventure movie filmed on location in PNG and released in 1957, concerns the cultural clash between Australian adventurers and local tribespeople.
Steve McAllister [played by Chips Rafferty] is despatched to supervise construction of an airfield for an oil company. Steve’s hopes for peaceful co-existence with the natives are dashed when white hunter Jeff Clayton [Pierre Cressoy] thoughtlessly kills a sacred white bird.
The highlights include a skin-crawling snake attack and an authentic tribal singsing. Love interest is the beautiful expat medico, Dr Dumarcet [Françoise Christophe].
Fred Kaad, known to many of our readers, plays himself in the supporting role of a District Officer. Rafferty both starred in and produced Walk Into Hell, which, in Australia, was released under the more benign title Walk Into Paradise.
But the scenes of bare-breasted women, axed from the US version, were mercifully left uncut for Australian audiences.
Australian documentary producer, Bob Connolly, says: "It's an entertaining film and an important one.
With its cast of freebooting prospectors, taciturn patrol officers, fiercely loyal native police and the awesome spectacle of 5,000 warriors massing in full bilas, the film is a priceless window back to a frontier era."
Walk Into Paradise, which contains wonderful footage of PNG highlands people and scenery even though the plot is predictable, is available for $40 from the PNG Association at PO Box 1386, Mona Vale NSW 1660.
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