The Southern Star

An American comedy adventure; An impoverished Yankee geologist searches for a priceless diamond in Senegal. When his partner and the diamond vanish, the geologist is blamed for the crime, and a hunt ensues. Paint-by-numbers direction, poor dialogue, gratuitous photography of African wildlife in cutaway shots, but the cast make the best of it. George Segal shines. Orson Welles plays it wearily and fey with an upper-class English-London accent. Ian Hendry is impressive as the nasty hunter and Ursula Andress is gorgeous in resourceful support. All in all, the photography is good but the plot is preposterously simplistic.