The score, of course, is by Malcolm Arnold and is one of the few scores by him where the sheet music still exists.

With native flutes and drums, the music sounds at times like a continuation of Arnold's score to The Lion, though lighter in tone. Its main theme is a bold 12-note fanfare and a secondary love motif is based on a triad figure. Most cues refer to one or the other.

After the titles sequence, about 30 minutes goes by without any music, but once the score kicks in, there seems to be a lot of it.

I wouldn't say it ranks up there with The Lion or The Roots of Heaven, but it's still choice Arnold and I'd sure love to hear a Chandos re-record of it someday.

The film itself is a kind of miniature or poor man's Hatari! But in terms of wit, intelligence, and action, it often surpasses Hatari! By 1967, most wild game herding was done from trucks as shown in Hatari! because doing it from horses often got the horses killed from horn wounds. But the film really shows you captures using horses and it's pretty amazing. The character played by Hugh O'Brien is a real macho He-Man, there are shots looking up at him from the deepest pit they could dig, but the character also shows moments of depth too. The film often surprised me with its ability to pull off its contrasting tones of seriousness and silliness.

Unfortunately, the VHS of the film is no longer in print, but after seeing it again, I have to recommend it both as film and a score for those who were wondering if it were otherwise.