Bwana Devil (1952)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Arch Oboler

Writer:

Arch Oboler (writer)

Release Date:

1953 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

A lion in your lap! A lover in your arms!

Plot:

British railway workers in Kenya are becoming the favorite snack of two man-eating lions. Head engineer...

Plot Keywords:

Lion | 3 Dimensional | Jungle | Monkey | Attack

Cast

Robert Stack	...	Bob Hayward
Barbara Britton	...	Alice Hayward
Nigel Bruce	...	Dr. Angus McLean
Ramsay Hill	...	Major Parkhurst
Paul McVey	...	Commissioner
Hope Miller	...	Portuguese girl
John Dodsworth	...	Sir William Drayton
Patrick O'Moore	...	Ballinger
Patrick Aherne	...	Latham
Edward C. Short		(as Edward Short)
Bhogwan Singh	...	Indian Headman
Paul Thompson
Bhupesh Guha	...	The Dancer
Bal Seirgakar	...	Indian Hunter
Kalu K. Sonkur	...	Karparim
Miles Clark	...	Mukosi

Directed by
Arch Oboler

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Arch Oboler		writer

Produced by
Arch Oboler	....	producer
Sidney W. Pink	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Gordon Jenkins

Cinematography by
Joseph F. Biroc
William D. Snyder		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
John Hoffman

Sound Department
Don McKay	....	sound

Special Effects by
Henry Maak	....	special effects
Russell Shearman	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Homer Plannette	....	gaffer

Music Department
Gordon Jenkins	....	musical director
Fred Neff	....	orchestrator

Other crew
O.S. Bryhn	....	3-D technician
Milton Gunzburg	....	natural vision supervisor (as M.L. Gunzburg)
Ramsay Hill	....	technical advisor
Bhogwan Singh	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Gulu Productions
• Oboler

Distributors

• United Artists (1952) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

The Lions of Gulu (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

79 min | Germany:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Anscocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Democratic Republic Of Congo

Company:

Gulu Productions

Trivia:

Arch Oboler traveled to Africa in 1948 to make audio recordings of native peoples. While in Africa, Oboler met William D. Snyder, a 16mm cameraman with his own industrial filmmaking company in Fargo, North Dakota. During their travels throughout Africa, Mr. Snyder shot the African footage that appears in Bwana Devil.

Quotes:

Dr. McLean: I've seen more game in the streets of Glasgow.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in C.O.D. (1981)

Fairly good action-adventure in Africa fare

Bwana Devil is reputedly the first major studio, full length feature filmed entirely in the 3D process. Supposedly producer Oboler went to Africa to shoot a different movie, but after hearing the tale of two man-eating lions, terrorizing railway builders, decided on this one. It's a good story too, almost Hemmingway-like; fear, redemption, the great white hunter and all. It's the telling of the story that seems to drag, almost as though filming in the new process was too weighty for the crew. The action scenes are stiff, almost too staged. But these technical problems appear small in light of the film's dramatic conclusion.