Something of Value

Throughout most of Sidney Poitier's career as an actor that primarily appeared in race relations dramas, he played African- Americans whereas, in this one, he actually plays an African, a Kenyan in fact, named Kimani Wa Karanja.

As children, Peter (Rock Hudson) and Kimani grow up doing everything together. But as adults, the Black East African 'boy' is fit only to carry his White East African 'bwana' friend's rifle for him, something neither of them really understands though (naturally) Peter is slightly more accepting of it. When Kimani's father (Ken Renard) is imprisoned indefinitely for following a custom deemed barbaric by the ruling class of British colonists, he runs away to join a criminal gang (led by Juano Hernandez's character) that later becomes an insurgency group dubbed Mau Mau; read your history if you're unfamiliar with the real back-story.

Predictably, Peter and Kimani will inevitably meet again on opposite sides of the law. The movie also features the comely Dana Wynter as Peter's love interest come wife; their relationship parallels that of his aunt Elizabeth (Wendy Hiller) and Uncle Jeff (Robert Beatty).

Jeff and two of their children are murdered during the Mau Mau Uprising. Walter Fitzgerald plays Peter's father, who had been a friend of Kimani's dad and whose knowledge and skills help to end the revolt.

Michael Pate plays a White settler that reflects the colonists' racism; William Marshall plays the Black leader that organizes the revolution starting with a meeting in Nairobi.

Richard Brooks directed and adapted the screenplay from Robert C. Ruark's novel of the same name.

This movie is really something of value.Rock HUdson's character says "we steal their earth and their religion,we 've got to give them something of value instead".Actually,Richard Brookes applied to Africa what he 'd done two years back with "the last hunt" where the white men killed the buffalos and starved the Indians.They even despised their belief by killing even the White animal.

Preceded by "Simba" an English movie starring Dirk Bogarde the screenplay of which

shows a lot of similarities with "something of value' Brooks 's work seems nevertheless superior ,because it has very strong scenes:Poitier,smashing the mirror with disgust after the killing,the informer killed on the barbed wire by the other prisoners;the old man ,afraid of thunder.This last scene may seem naive ,nay insulting for the natives ,but it was fifty years ago.People who criticize the movie should think about it:in 1957,it was a courageous movie,as "the last hunt" was.

Thoughtful people around the world have despaired for Africa, the most abused and exploited continent on our globe. The year that the film version of Robert Ruark's novel Something Of Value came out, the first colony of British Africa, the Gold Coast became the independent Republic of Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah. When we see film like Leonardo DiCpario's Blood Diamond come out fifty years later, you have to wonder whether Africa's many problems will ever be solved in the lifetime of most of us.

Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier play childhood friends who grew up side by side in Kenya colony. But race and racial politics have driven them apart as Poitier has joined the nascent Mau Mau movement whose mission it was to kill all the white settlers and drive them from their part of the continent. Hudson who believes the races can peaceful exist together in the Kenya colony and soon to be independent country wants to reconcile with Poitier. The film concerns his attempts to do so.

Some very good supporting performances by Dana Wynter, Wendy Hiller, Ivan Dixon, and William Marshall are in Something Of Value. Best scene in the film other than the final confrontation with Hudson and Poitier is Hudson's father played by Robert Beatty successfully breaking down Mau Mau leader Juano Hernandez into giving up his cohorts. Beatty's knowledge of the Kikuyu tribe culture comes into play here.

The white racist attitudes are exemplified by Michael Pate whose Australian accent makes him sound the most authentically African or the closest to it among the white cast members.

Sad to say this most authentic of African stories is still very relevant today as seen by the critical and popular acclaim that Blood Diamond received in 2006. Hudson, Poitier, and the rest of the cast do some of their best work in Something Of Value.

Just watched this Rock Hudson-Sidney Poitier movie on YouTube. After casting him in The Blackboard Jungle which was a success, writer/director Richard Brooks then put Poitier in this drama about the uprising of a Kenyan revolutionary group called Mau-Mau of which Kimani Wa Karanja-Sidney's character-is forced to join after seeing his father (Ken Renard) uphold a custom that involves a murder resulting in his arrest by English colonialists. Hudson plays Peter McKenzie whose family had long settled in Africa and he himself had befriended Kimani when they were kids but that could be no more because of the unfair social rulings. I'll stop there and just say that this was quite intense and had plenty of moments where you wondered how certain things came to be and how some characters like a Joe Mattson (Michael Pate) came to hate someone much different from him. In a standout performance, Juano Hernandez is powerful as Njogu, who forces Poitier to take an oath that he himself never took. Others worth mentioning include: William Marshall as the Mau-Mau leader who's the one that gets Kimani to initially join, Ivan Dixon as Lathela-loyal gun bearer, Samadu Jackson as a witch doctor, Frederick O'Neal as another Mau-Mau leader named Adam Marenga who often wants to shoot first before any negotiations, and Barbara Foley as Wanju-wife of Kimani. Besides the players I've already cited, here are the other people of color in the cast and the parts they played: John Akar-Waithaka, Myrtle Anderson-Mwange wife, Carl Christian-cook, Kim Hamilton-Kipi's wife, Darby Jones-wine steward, Ike Jones-askari (a policeman), Anna Mabry-a midwife, Juanita Moore and Tommie Moore as tribal women, Paulene Myers-Kikuyu woman, Morgan Roberts-Chief Hinga, Madame Sul-Te-Wan-another midwife, and Paul Thompson-Kipi. Also featuring compelling supporting performances by Wendy Hiller as Peter's sister Elizabeth and Dana Wynter as Holly, Peter's wife. In summation, I highly recommend Something of Value.

Sidney Poitier is excellent in this study of Kenya's fight for independence and backlash against their former oppressors. William Marshall, Michael Pate and Wendy Hiller are superb in poignant supporting performances. But, Rock Hudson is terribly miscast, and his character too good, even beyond sainthood. And the focus on his character ultimately throws the movie off-balance. Still worth watching though, but it's a bit of a shame since the elements of greatness are all here, but the result is thought-provoking but unsatisfying. 7/10.