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Franco is away from the camp after he agrees to repair the industrialist's antiquated sawmill, where he and
Patricia share a romantic interlude in the hayloft. When the Major, who had pressed his own unsuccessful suit with her, finds out, his ensuing rage pushes the POWs to put their plan in motion
477:
A lot of it was inspired by that joke about Italy having the thinnest book of war heroes. The
Germans were always bailing them out and had no respect for the Italian soldiers. The Italians were tired of being made to feel inferior by both the British and the Germans. Tony Lo Bianco called the film
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leaves Enzo unable to continue, so Franco proceeds alone for days, sometimes catching a glimpse of the Major across the canyons. At night they engage in shouted banter with one another, inflaming the Major's envy of Franco's mountaineering skill and jealousy over
Patricia. At the summit, the Major
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Succeeding on his sixth breakout attempt, Franco steals a jeep and makes his way through the Kenyan countryside to a small village, crashing the jeep to avoid hitting another truck stuck in the road. After an initial misunderstanding with the occupants, an industrialist and his daughter, Patricia
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When the
British catch up with him, Franco goes quietly. Standing before the Major, he taunts the commander for failing to conquer the mountain, further vexing him. Franco is put into solitary confinement. The demoralized commanding officer of the Italians, Enzo
589:
Mount Kenya is 17,000 feet. It's easy to get up to 12,000 or 15,000 feet, but you have to do it in three or four days, you can't just do it all in one day. You get mountain sickness and die. The guy who died was a local, so he should have been more
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s review similarly finds the film "efficiently directed and often gorgeous to look at," but with an "ultra-traditional narrative, easy masculine camaraderie, and uncomplicated wartime bonding," like some "artifact of simpler, less cynical times."
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immediately, with Franco, Enzo, and Kist making good their escape. Once over the wire, however, Kist betrays the
Italians and flees but is quickly captured, revealing their plan to the Major, who prepares to give chase up the mountainside.
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after its
Toronto premiere: "Donald Shebib has mounted the proceedings in presentable fashion and the performances are agreeable enough, but it's the unbeatable locations that provide the greatest diversion here", going on to fault the
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and planting the
Italian flag there before returning to the camp, a feat that will also humiliate their captors. Franco agrees with the proviso that he makes his own descent from the other side into Italian-occupied
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fodder but for which there is no room in the modern theatrical marketplace: "mid-range fare, spelling a video/cable/TV fate", with the possible exception of the
Italian market where it might do well theatrically.
291:, said to be one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb. The camp is staffed mainly by African subjects overseen by a few British soldiers and their commander, the
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out of an intended twelve, getting up to "about 15,000 feet", Shebib remarking that he had to train and get into shape before he could direct the film. One of the crew,
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685:-laden script as "devoid of ironies or complexity", the sort of "passable but instantly forgettable wartime" action film that was once reasonable
315:), Franco fixes their truck and stays for lunch. He resembles Patricia's late husband, and his intelligence and charm leave an impression on her.
970:"Filmmaker Rick Ridgeway's Stock Climbs : The Ventura mountaineer's exploits have given rise to a career making adventure documentaries"
299:), who lost both his wife and child to the war. One of the Major's preoccupations has been attempting to ascend one of Kenya's forbidding
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but contemporary
American audiences no longer have the patience for this kind of "muscular, relatively innocent, wartime adventure."
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Robert
Montgomery presents "No Picnic On Mount Kenya," a drama of three Italian POW's who escape from a prison camp in Africa
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has Franco in his sights and implores him to halt. Franco buries the flag and surrenders, returning to the camp a hero.
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The film is available for streaming in the US on the mountaineering and climbing films website mntnfilm.com and
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was shot entirely on location in Kenya. Njeri Karago "had a place" near the main location.
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as being about Italian honor, "a person caught between personal good and the common good."
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is a reasonable, if anachronistic, simulation of the "great POW epics of the past" like
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in film studies and human resource management before becoming a producer at RHI (later
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was released on VHS, but does not appear to have had a DVD or Blu-ray release.
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are played by Titi Wainaina, Jacob Otieno, Konga Mbandu, Lenny Juma.
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as having a premiere date set for September 15, 1994 at the
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Robert Montgomery Presents "No Picnic on Mount Kenya."
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was billed as the "highest altitude film ever made."
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661:VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
627:Toronto International Film Festival
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892:Sandler, Adam (November 4, 1993).
798:DiGeorge, Pat (16 November 2011).
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1375:Climbing and mountaineering films
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1053:"The Ascent (1994) [VHS]"
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850:. November 22, 1953. p. 63.
772:Weisberg, Sam (16 October 2013).
968:Doll, Pancho (August 25, 1994).
894:"Feature fever hits vid's Cabin"
864:Katz, Richard (25 August 1998).
830:. November 2, 1953. p. 41.
1355:Films directed by Donald Shebib
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844:"Television log for the week".
363:Tony Lo Bianco called the film
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413:John De Veillers • Major Quinn
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410:Mark Ingall • Sergeant Thomas
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520:Robert Montgomery Presents
488:Background and development
443:Oby Obyerodhyambo • Mathew
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533:Cabin Fever Entertainment
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952:No Picnic on Mount Kenya
950:Benuzzi, Felice (1989).
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579:No Picnic on Mount Kenya
502:No Picnic on Mount Kenya
437:Rory McGuinness • Andrew
64:No Picnic on Mount Kenya
425:Kenneth Mason • Stewart
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529:Hallmark Entertainment
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462:Themes and inspiration
428:Nigel Kynaston • Carlo
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83:(executive producers):
1287:The Little Kidnappers
1255:By Reason of Insanity
1191:Good Times, Bad Times
674:reviewed the film in
612:Release and reception
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567:Principal photography
556:Filming and marketing
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434:Leslie Cardillo • Ugo
386:• Major David Farrell
362:
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295:Major David Farrell (
668:2.5 stars out of 5.
619:was reported in the
282:British East African
1319:Down the Road Again
1199:Goin' Down the Road
930:HumaneHollywood.org
683:national stereotype
440:Asiba Asiba • Kimbo
419:Jon Freeman • Paulo
416:Joe Valadez • Guido
301:southern approaches
262:British East Africa
249:is a 1994 American
197:September 1994
174:in association with
1360:Films set in Kenya
1177:Films directed by
1088:. 31 December 1993
827:Detroit Free Press
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16:1994 American film
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1024:"The Ascent 1994"
975:Los Angeles Times
655:Critical response
622:Los Angeles Times
380:• Franco Distassi
348:Mountain sickness
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171:RHI Entertainment
87:Robert Halmi, Jr.
67:by Felice Benuzzi
33:Theatrical poster
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1120:. Retrieved
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1001:"The Ascent"
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804:Liberty Lady
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800:"The Ascent"
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778:Hidden Films
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746:. Retrieved
743:mntnfilm.com
742:
739:"The ascent"
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218:Running time
190:Release date
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79:Njeri Karago
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53:David Wiltse
1223:Second Wind
687:double-bill
571:Mount Kenya
396:Rachel Ward
313:Rachel Ward
289:Mount Kenya
266:Mount Kenya
154:Irwin Fisch
124:Rachel Ward
72:Produced by
39:Directed by
1350:1994 films
1344:Categories
1303:The Ascent
1247:Heartaches
1141:The Ascent
1058:Amazon.com
720:References
702:The Ascent
666:The Ascent
642:The Ascent
617:The Ascent
606:The Ascent
592:climatized
561:The Ascent
493:The Ascent
483:Production
471:The Ascent
469:described
404:Supporting
398:• Patricia
365:Wop on Top
246:The Ascent
222:96 minutes
160:Production
146:Ron Wisman
49:Written by
22:The Ascent
1279:The Climb
1239:Fish Hawk
545:The Climb
384:Ben Cross
297:Ben Cross
162:companies
143:Edited by
114:Ben Cross
1327:Nightalk
1144:on IMDb
1116:TV Guide
1085:Apple TV
695:TV Guide
649:Apple TV
507:Camp 354
285:POW camp
235:Language
151:Music by
102:Starring
59:Based on
1207:Rip-Off
1122:16 June
1092:17 June
1064:16 June
1037:16 June
1032:Cengage
1006:Variety
981:19 June
935:17 June
905:18 June
899:Variety
877:16 June
871:Variety
809:19 June
783:13 June
748:16 June
677:Variety
511:Nanyuki
330:Somalia
238:English
227:Country
201:1994-09
199: (
1330:(2022)
1322:(2011)
1314:(1996)
1306:(1994)
1298:(1993)
1290:(1990)
1282:(1986)
1274:(1984)
1266:(1983)
1258:(1982)
1250:(1981)
1242:(1979)
1234:(1977)
1226:(1976)
1218:(1973)
1210:(1971)
1202:(1970)
1194:(1969)
664:gives
629:, but
600:zebras
497:memoir
456:askari
392:• Enzo
205: (
515:Kenya
509:near
454:Four
1124:2020
1094:2020
1066:2020
1039:2020
983:2020
937:2020
907:2020
879:2020
811:2020
785:2020
750:2020
710:and
525:UCLA
371:Main
355:Cast
272:Plot
207:TIFF
251:war
1346::
1113:.
1102:^
1082:.
1055:.
1030:.
1026:.
1015:^
1003:.
991:^
972:.
960:^
928:.
915:^
896:.
868:.
802:.
776:.
758:^
741:.
728:^
651:.
583:K2
513:,
499:,
268:.
1170:e
1163:t
1156:v
1126:.
1096:.
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1009:.
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