First of all, the guys who made this did fantastic arduous work in traveling to Africa with primitive hand-cranked movie cameras capturing footage of wildlife in their natural habitat and "primitive" tribes in their daily lives, which as so often shows them to be remarkably well adapted to their surroundings and no more primitive than most Americans (given recent events in 2021, probably less so). I suspect that in the 90 years since, the almost unimaginably huge animal herds, as well as the Masai and pygmy tribes visited, have fared less well.
It's also historical in showing the cavalier attitude toward documentaries then prevalent. Large chunks featuring the two white explorers were obviously shot in Los Angeles with equipment more sophisticated than was available on their trek, with local black men recruited to take their shirts off and play "native." The narration of the African scenes somehow manages to avoid any overt racism, just an air of condescension toward Africa, "the land of savagery and dangerous adventure where nature shows no mercy and deadly beasts of the jungle are supreme!" Yup, the whole continent had no cities or cars or schools, just naked people running around being chased by wild animals.
Speaking of racism, it does turn up in the phony scenes shot in L. A., one where the explorers give a "native" some salt, and he gobbles it up by the handful for some reason, and another with a lion supposedly killing a "native," which is then used as unnecessary justification for startling footage of Masai warriors actually hunting a lion with spears. There was probably a more interesting story behind the real hunt.
OK, so this is what the American public wanted back then. It was a big hit and the New York Times reviewer called it "the most thrilling of travel pictures that have come to the screen."
There seem to be only 50 minutes left of the film's original 75, at least on the copies readily available. If you don't think you'll be too offended by the narrator's lame jokes or by scenes of lions killing and eating their prey, 50 minutes will give you a lot to think about.
It's also historical in showing the cavalier attitude toward documentaries then prevalent. Large chunks featuring the two white explorers were obviously shot in Los Angeles with equipment more sophisticated than was available on their trek, with local black men recruited to take their shirts off and play "native." The narration of the African scenes somehow manages to avoid any overt racism, just an air of condescension toward Africa, "the land of savagery and dangerous adventure where nature shows no mercy and deadly beasts of the jungle are supreme!" Yup, the whole continent had no cities or cars or schools, just naked people running around being chased by wild animals.
Speaking of racism, it does turn up in the phony scenes shot in L. A., one where the explorers give a "native" some salt, and he gobbles it up by the handful for some reason, and another with a lion supposedly killing a "native," which is then used as unnecessary justification for startling footage of Masai warriors actually hunting a lion with spears. There was probably a more interesting story behind the real hunt.
OK, so this is what the American public wanted back then. It was a big hit and the New York Times reviewer called it "the most thrilling of travel pictures that have come to the screen."
There seem to be only 50 minutes left of the film's original 75, at least on the copies readily available. If you don't think you'll be too offended by the narrator's lame jokes or by scenes of lions killing and eating their prey, 50 minutes will give you a lot to think about.