Black Exodus

Mister Moses is a quasi-Biblical, African melodrama in which Masai tribes men appear to be following in the footsteps of the Israelites. Forced to abandon their ancestral village by the construction of a British dam that will soon inundate their homes, the Masai head for dry promised land under the leadership of a conman named Moses. Moses is Robert Mitchum, a diamond smuggler and quack doctor who peddles muscle tonic to the natives, packs precious stones in his stethoscope, and conducts his exodus with the unholier-than-thou sneer of a rascal who interprets Mosaic law as the survival of the fittest. Mitchum looks most comfortable when he climbs aboard an elephant called Emily and terrorizes the bureaucrat in charge of the sluice gates of an artificial lake, whereupon the waters part.

Filmed in Kenya, Moses too often skips over the dignified Masai and the glorious scenery in order to study the breed of wildlife Hollywood knows best. One cat is Ubi (Raymond St. Jacques), a troublesome tribal hipster who has lived in Harlem, and can spout such phrases as: "You goofed it, daddy." Ever wary of what Ubi may do, Mitchum scarcely can find any time for Carroll Baker, who speaks a few words of Swahili rather competently and lets the rest of her lines fall where they may. Actress Baker behaves in a manner befitting a missionary's daughter who aspires to become a sex symbol, but in movies as forced, synthetic and flaccid as Mister Moses, one false image more or less need not be held up to undue scorn.

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