CELEBRATING 70 YEARS! : GAME FOR VULTURES .. COLUMBIA PICTURES .. UK 1979 ..

 COLUMBIA PICTURES

Presents

GAME FOR VULTURES

RICHARD HARRIS as David Swansey
RICHARD ROUNDTREE as Gideon Marunga
JOAN COLLINS as Nicolle

RAY MILLAND as Colonel Brettle

DENHOLM ELLIOTT as Raglan Thistle 
SVEN BERTIL TAUBE as Larry Prescott
KEN GAMPU as Sixpence
TONY OSOBA as Daniel Batton
NEIL HALLETT as Tony Knight
MARK SINGLETON as Sir Benjamin Peckover

Assistant Director Gus Agosti
Edited by Peter Tanner
Art Director/Herbert Smith
Director of Photographer - Alex Thompson
   Music by Tony Duhig and Jon Field
      Screenplay by Philip Baird
          From the Novel by Michael Hartman
             Produced by Hazel Adair
                Directed by James Fargo

(c) 1979 COLUMBIA  106 MINS RATED 15

Joan with Richard Harris

David Swansey helps in the fight against the popular front by smuggling helicopters into Rhodesia. His mission then takes a dangerous turn as the African guerilla warfare escalates, then the violence and bloodshed engulfs everyone involved. Swansey teams up with the freedom figher Gideon Marunga, together they risk life and limb to win in the Games of Vultures!

This forgotten film was one of the last international co-productions and featured a great cast, however the script was uneven and the film hard to follow at times. The budget for the film was around $5 milion.  Joan only appears in a few scenes and she filmed this before 'The Stud'. Joan took many parts around this time to put food on the table and pay her children's school fees. It was of course 'The Stud' which put her back on the entertainment map, by time 'Game For Vultures', finally got a release in the UK, she was about to make 'The Bitch'..

Joan on set with daughter Katy

There is little info on this production, however I asked Richard Roundtree recently about the film, he was surprised anyone even remembered it. He enjoyed the experience as part of it was filmed in South Africa and he remembered a scene with veteran Ray Milland, whom he admired. He did recall an incident when he went to buy some beer in a store and that time there was racial segregation and white and black had seperate entrances and Richard was told to use the black entrance!  Richard recalled ..

Richard Roundtree

'' It was an experience thats for sure! I can say I was on a frollercoaster for a minute there. I had all three emotions surging through me. But I did not think it was worth a big scene. So I just laughed it off! But it wasn't the hah-hah funny kind of laugh!''

80's USA Video Poster

The film was due to have it's premiere in Johannesberg but then it was banned as the government cited the film as a threat to state security! The director James Fargo commented at the time..

'' We could not film in Rhodesia because firstly we would have been sanction busting. Secondly there are very real black guerrillas in the bush in Rhodesia and we would have a real security problem with unwanted extra's wandering in with real bullets! It's a movie in which there are no real bad guys or good guys, nobody really wins in the end and everybody loses like in the real Rhodesia''

Joan takes a break from filming with Richard Harris

The film was not a box office hit but it did do well on video in the 80's and has been released on dvd over the years.. However it was last released on dvd in 2006 frpm Mosaic and this release is not currently available.. Hopefully a blu-ray will be released at some stage...

2006 Dvd cover..