West of Zanzibar (1954)

The story of native tribesmen who move towards Mombasa, getting drawn info the world of ivory smuggling.

Director:

Harry Watt

Writers:

Max Catto (screenplay), Jack Whittingham (screenplay)

Stars:

Anthony Steel, Sheila Sim, William Simons

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Steel	...	Bob Payton
Sheila Sim	...	Mary Payton
William Simons	...	Tim Payton
Orlando Martins	...	M'Kwongwi
Edric Connor	...	Ushingo
David Osieli	...	Ambrose: Ushingo's Son
Bethlehem Sketch	...	Bethlehem: Ushingo's Son
Martin Benson	...	Lawyer Dhofar
Peter Illing	...	Khingoni
Edward Johnson	...	Half Breed
Juma	...	Juma
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Wood (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Stuart Lindsell	...	Colonel Ryan (as R. Stuart Lindsell)
Sheik Abdullah	...	Dhow Captain
Joanna Kitau	...	Ketch African

Storyline

The story of native tribesmen who move towards Mombasa, getting drawn info the world of ivory smuggling.

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Plot Keywords:

native | 

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Taglines:

One of the greatest African adventures of all!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening credits: The events and characters portrayed in this film are wholly fictitious.

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Goofs

When the poachers are hunting the elephants, a kookaburra call is clearly heard. Kookaburras are only found in Australia, a continent thousands of miles east of Zanzibar.

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Quotes

Mary Payton: Don't you understand what all this is doing to innocent African tribes?
Lawyer Dhofar: Perhaps I do. Perhaps I do not. But, but Mrs. Payton don't you think you are being a little, to put it delicately, starry-eyed about these so-called innocent tribes? Oh. come, Mrs. Payton, we must be realists. The world cannot wait for civilisation to catch up with the primitive black man.
Mary Payton: For one thing, this ivory business is destroying a fine, pastoral people, the Golanas; turning them into slum savages.
Lawyer Dhofar: But Mrs. Payton, in ...
[...]

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Connections

Follows Ivory Hunter (1951)

User Reviews

Moving Past Trader Horn

A tribe in East Africa has moved from their old areas, which has dried up and is no longer suitable for farming, down to the lowlands near Mombasa. Some of the young men finding that killing elephants illegally and selling their ivory is a way to get ahead in rapidly changing East Africa. Anthony Steele, on official leave from his job working with the natives, tries to track down those who really profit from the trade, with the reluctant urging of his wife, Sheila Sim.

It's a late colonial era view of East Africa, amidst which is set one of those tracking-down-the-smugglers stories that was a fixture of British crime drama. However, this Ealing production has moved on a bit from TRADER HORN, and the natives are human, particularly Edric Connor as the chief, and so is the villain of the piece -- Martin Benson, playing a native lawyer, a graduate of the Sorbonne, who lectures Steele on England's industrial revolution and angrily congratulates him on his naive good will.

This being a movie set in Africa, the movie can shift at any moment from an indoor courtroom to documentary footage, showing the most dangerous animals in Africa -- hippopotami -- or the markets of Zanzibar, wart hogs and elephants at a watering hole, native fishermen using suckerfish to catch sea turtles, or a native fishing festival. The director is Harry Watt, whose filmography indicates he was happier filming documentaries than story films.

Still, it's a well-told if typical story, set in an exotic location, and if its attitudes are not those we espouse today, there are some bright moments that survive well.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

A l'ouest de Zanzibar

Filming Locations:

Zanzibar, Tanzania

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ealing Studios, Schlesinger Organization

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Gaumont Kalee Recording) (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Colour by) (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1