Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

tavm 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.

moonspinner55 Rock Hudson stars as the son of a white farmer living in East Africa near Nairobi circa 1950; he's as close as a brother to Sidney Poitier--portraying sort of a slave-cum-porter--until the laws of the domineering British interfere with the black people's superstition-laden ways of living. Poitier becomes part of a bloodthirsty revolt against the oppression of his people, eventually pitting him one-on-one against his friend. Robert C. Ruark's book of racial upheavals and issues (loyalties, betrayals, and injustices) has been adapted well for the screen by writer-director Richard Brooks, although Hudson's character doesn't have many dimensions (and he looks too old to be boyhood pals with Poitier, anyway). The scenes of violence are hard-hitting, yet Brooks' lumpy way of laying out this complicated story occasionally turns the proceedings into high-pitched melodrama. A romance sub-plot between Hudson and pretty-but-piqued Dana Wynter doesn't provide enough substantial release from the horror and strife surrounding them, and Poitier's final scenes are geared towards narrative action and not character motivation. A mixed-bag, but certainly not uninteresting. **1/2 from ****

tynesider This film examines the post-war struggle for Kenyan independence resulting in the State of Emergency set up during the Mau Mau uprising against white settlers and African 'collaborators' in the 1950s, at a time when British Colonialism was in retreat. Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier are childhood friends who become enemies when Poitier joins the violent Kenyan revolt, and Wendy Hiller and Walter Fitzgerald play white settlers trying to come to terms with change, unlike the Robert Beatty and Michael Pate characters who support the status quo and regard the Africans as inferiors. The Mau Mau build-up is handled well, as is Poiter's gradual disillusionment with white rule, while finding it difficult to accept the violence of the Mau Mau. The Juano Hernandez character who administers the Mau Mau oaths is strongly influenced by his tribal religion and this provides the rather unconvincing reason for his change of heart and ultimate betrayal of his fellows. The vulnerability of the British settlers in the bush is evident and the degree of of violence, whether implied or shown, is unusual for the time (the picture was given an X certificate in the UK by the British Board of Film Censors which meant you had to be at least 16 to see it), and the story moves at a steady pace as directed by Richard Brooks. Interesting too for Miklos Rozsa's most unusual music score, using African rhythms and chants. An unusual film and worth seeing.

dbdumonteil 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 whichshows 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.