Mogambo (1953)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screenplay)
Wilson Collison (play)

Release Date:

9 October 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

Actually filmed by M-G-M on safari...amid authentic scenes of unrivalled savagery and awe-inspiring splendor!

Plot:

Victor Marswell runs a big game trapping company in Kenya. Eloise Kelly is ditched there, and an immediate attraction happens between them...

Plot Keywords:

Safari | Camp | Anthropologist | Zoo | Gorilla

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Victor Marswell
Ava Gardner	...	Eloise Y. Kelly
Grace Kelly	...	Linda Nordley
Donald Sinden	...	Donald Nordley
Philip Stainton	...	John Brown-Pryce
Eric Pohlmann	...	Leon Boltchak
Laurence Naismith	...	Skipper
Denis O'Dea	...	Father Josef
Samburu	...	Themselves (as Samburu tribe of Kenya Colony)
Wagenia	...	Themselves (as Wagenia tribe of Belgian Congo)
Bahaya	...	Themselves (as Bahaya tribe of Tanganyika)
M'Beti	...	Themselves (as M'Beti tribe of French Equatorial Africa)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Asa Etula	...	Young native girl (uncredited)
Bruce Seton	...	Wilson (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
John Lee Mahin		(screenplay)
Wilson Collison		(play)

Produced by
Sam Zimbalist	....	producer

Cinematography by
Robert Surtees		(director of photography)
Freddie Young		(director of photography) (as F.A. Young)

Film Editing by
Frank Clarke

Art Direction by
Alfred Junge

Makeup Department
Colin Garde	....	makeup artist
Maude Onslow	....	hairdressing (as Maud Onslow)

Production Management
Roy Parkinson	....	unit manager
Stanley Goldsmith	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cecil F. Ford	....	assistant director (as Cecil Ford)
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director
John Pellatt	....	assistant director: gorilla footage (uncredited)
Peter Price	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Sash Fisher	....	sound recordist (as A.S. Fisher)
A.W. Watkins	....	recording director
Hugh Strain	....	sound assistant (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Tom Howard	....	special effects
Bert Monk	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Bunny Allen	....	stunt double: Clark Gable (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cecil Cooney	....	camera operator
Skeets Kelly	....	camera operator (as Graham Kelly)
Neil Binney	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Freddie Cooper	....	camera operator: gorilla footage (uncredited)
Stephen Dade	....	additional photographer (uncredited)
Jackson Drury	....	camera operator: gorilla footage (uncredited)
Kelvin Pike	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Jack Whitehead	....	director of photography: gorilla footage (uncredited)
Doug Wolf	....	camera operator: gorilla footage (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Helen Rose	....	costumes

Other crew
Joan Bridge	....	Technicolor colour consultant
Angela Martelli	....	continuity
Bunny Allen	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Frank Allen	....	researcher (uncredited)
Frank Allen	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Yakima Canutt	....	director: gorilla footage (uncredited)
Eva Monley	....	production coordinator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Loew's (produced by) (as Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm Technicolor & 16mm prints)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1954) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1954) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1954) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1980) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Government Officials of Kenya Colony  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless co-operation made this motion picture possible (as The Government Officials of: Kenya Colony)
• Government Officials of Tanganyika  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless co-operation made this motion picture possible (as The Government Officials of: Tanganyika)
• Government Officials of The Ugandan Protectorate  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless co-operation made this motion picture possible (as The Government Officials of: The Uganda Protectorate)
• Government Officials of The Republic of French Equatorial Africa  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is grateful beyond measure to, whose limitless co-operation made this motion picture possible (as The Government Officials of: The Republic of French Equatorial Africa)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U (passed with cuts) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:Atp | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (PCA #16530) | Canada:PG (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:U (video rating: 111m) (2004) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1954) | Netherlands:18 (re-rating) (1954)

Filming Locations:

Democratic Republic Of Congo

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Gene Tierney was first choice for the role of Linda. She dropped out due to emotional problems which were now interfering with her work.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: During the gorilla footage - shot separately from the rest of the film - the gorillas are shown eating pineapples, which, while being grown in ZImbabwe and Cote d'Ivoire, are not native to the region of Africa in this movie.

Quotes:

Eloise Kelly:Look, Buster, don't you get overstimulated with me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Angela (1995)

Soundtrack:

COMIN' THROUGH THE RYE

Unusual John Ford

This is a strange, but good picture coming from John Ford. It's not about the usual themes he normally tackles, it lacks the usual supporting cast from a Ford film. Yet it is a good piece of movie making.

In a biography of John Ford by his grandson he said that Gable and Ford were friends for years, not particularly close, but friends nonetheless. Whenever they were together Ford and Gable talked about working together. Finally Gable got MGM to get Ford for his next film and it was Mogambo.

I like Mogambo because it was the start of a trend in Hollywood to show some realism when dealing with Africa. To this day there are people in the United States whose knowledge about things African were gained from Tarzan movies. African Queen, King Solomon's Mines, and Mogambo were all shot on location and all show the native Africans in reality. I was a kid at this time and my first bit of education about Africa came from Ramar of the Jungle. This is light years better.

Gable was criticized for reprising a role he did 20 years earlier in Red Dust. The plot line stays the same, but in Red Dust, Gable is the hard-nosed manager of a rubber plantation in Malaya. Gable as Vic Marswell here is a world weary and cynical game hunter and safari guide. Both portrayals are very good and very different.

By all accounts it was not a happy set. The usual problems with location in Africa presented themselves. In addition Frank Sinatra was on the set. He was waiting on word whether he would get the part he sought in From Here To Eternity. At the time he was married to Ava Gardner and there's was one of the most tempestuous marriages in Hollywood history. He was jealous of Gable as he was of all Gardner's leading men. To be just Ava kind of encouraged the jealous. When Harry Cohn gave him the word about From Here To Eternity he left with the gratitude of Ford, Gable, Gardner and everyone else, he'd become a royal pain in the neck.

Ava Gardner was one of the most beautiful women God ever created and a lot of times she could get by with that. But when called on to act she could. As Eloise "honeybear" Kelly she's as cynical in her own way as Gable was. They were a perfect fit. This was the last of three films she and Gable made.

I don't think Grace Kelly is shown to best advantage here. Her British accent was a bit affected. I'm not sure why MGM just didn't cast a British actress like Deborah Kerr in the part. Of course she also was involved with From Here To Eternity if I remember.

Mogambo because of the location shooting and much bigger budget is better than its predecessor Red Dust. For all the unhappiness on the set, the stars and its director did some good work.