Rampage (1963)

A world famous big game trapper (Robert Mitchum) is commissioned by a German zoo to capture The Enchantress (a rare tiger/leopard hybrid) living in the Malaysian jungles. He is accompanied by a wealthy big game hunter (Jack Hawkins) and his attractive mistress (Elsa Martinelli), an enchantress who comes between them. Based on the novel by Alan Caillou and directed by Phil Karlson. It's impossible to look at RAMPAGE without comparison to Hawks' HATARI! which was a big hit the year before. They both deal with trapping jungle animals for zoos, John Wayne in HATARI! and Mitchum here and they both have the same leading lady, Elsa Martinelli. However, where HATARI! was an amusing romp, RAMPAGE is darker in tone. Phil Karlson is better known for more urban dramas like 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE and HELL TO ETERNITY but he keeps it exciting and the exotic Malaysia jungles are breathtaking as shot by cinematographer Harold Lipstein (HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS). A middle aged Sabu shows up as one of the safari guides. There's a strong Elmer Bernstein score too. The one aspect that most likely wasn't an issue in 1963 but in 2010 is disturbing. The film's finale has a wild jungle cat on the loose in the streets of Germany. As she's being hunted, all I could think of was how she was kidnapped from her natural environment and here in a world alien to her, she is the enemy?