Also available on DVD from Papua New Guinea Association of Australia
The story in a nutshell: A small expedition led by Steve McAllister (Chips Rafferty)
walks towards Paradise Valley, beyond the Sepik River, where an Australian adventurer
Sharkeye Kelly (Reg Lye) claims to have discovered oil. Running time: 93 mins
If the video has been removed from YouTube (again), watch it here
The French called it "L'Odyssée du Capitaine Steve" (Captain Steve's Odyssey), the Americans "Walk Into Hell". We called it "Walk Into Paradise" because it was about New Guinea, and New Guinea to us was Paradise - and these days every time I want to relive my time there, I watch it, so, please, YouTube, don't take it down again!
The hero in this 1956 French-Australian production was well known Australian actor “Chips” Rafferty who was also well known in the Territories of P&NG for mistaking a puk puk for a pek pek. Shooting began in New Guinea in June 1955 and took place over twelve weeks. The unit was based out of Goroka. Every scene was shot twice, once in English, once in French - although I fail to visualise "Chips" Rafferty uttering a single word in French, except for perhaps "Merde".
As an aside, after an American producer had purchased the film for distribution in the USA, it did poorly there, so he renamed it "Walk Into Hell", which increased its earnings dramatically. Nothing new there!
