Simba (1955)

Director:

Brian Desmond Hurst

Writers:

Anthony Perry (novel)
John Baines (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 September 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

This is the real Mau-Mau Story!

Plot:

A European family in East Africa finds itself caught up in an uprising by local black Africans against their white colonial masters. Based on the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya in the early 1950s.

Plot Keywords:

Mau Mau | Brother | Father | Settler | Suspect

Awards:

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Dirk Bogarde	...	Alan Howard
Donald Sinden	...	Inspector Drummond
Virginia McKenna	...	Mary Crawford
Basil Sydney	...	Mr. Crawford
Marie Ney	...	Mrs. Crawford
Joseph Tomelty	...	Dr. Hughes
Earl Cameron	...	Karanja
Orlando Martins	...	Headman
Ben Johnson	...	Kimani
Frank Singuineau	...	Waweru
Huntley Campbell	...	Joshua
Slim Harris	...	Chege
Glyn Lawson	...	Mundati
Harry Quashie	...	Thakla
John Chandos	...	Settler at Meeting

Also Known As:

Simba (USA)
Simba - Mark of Mau Mau!

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | USA:Not Rated | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Kenya

Company:

Group Film Productions Limited

Trivia:

This was Lippert Pictures last release in the USA.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "ABC Afterschool Specials: Pssst! Hammerman's After You! (#2.3)" (1974)

A Well-Made But Excruciatingly Racist Historical Document

Dirk Bogarde, poorly regarded brother of a Kenyan farmer, comes to Kenya to find his brother killed by the savage Mau Mau group led by the mysterious SIMBA. Will he find true love, a sense of responsibility, and a proper regard with the indigenous people who are revolting against colonial rule?

Though this a painfully sincere movie illustrating the hardships of being a white farmer in a countryside full of people who do not want white farmers, its hard not to be somewhat appalled by a movie that poses the question -- do the native Kenyans who were part of the Mau Mau deserve to be regarded as men, or simply as savages. While, fortunately, it does feel like the movie makers are making the case for thinking of the Kenyans as humans, it's a bit of a close issue, as the lead farmer is allowed to rant about savages, and the police commissioner trying desperately to keep order, seems to have ill-concealed contempt for the natives revolting against his authority.

The acting is all good, and the direction keeps this particular plot moving. The opening sequence is shocking. The final sequence really is quite tense, and the way the filmmakers choose to end this film makes some rather unpleasant and unpalatable points quite well.

The problem is this. Do you really want to see a movie made from the point of view of the earnest but colonialist occupiers? Are you willing to tolerate something that looks like the film the French in Battle of Algiers would have made, had they access to a camera and clipped British accents? If you aren't, don't watch. You really will get angry.

But, if you want to see viewpoint of the English establishment just before colonialism was ended, this might be as good a place as any to find it.