White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

A thinly fictionalized account of a legendary movie director, whose desire to hunt down an animal turns into a grim situation with his movie crew in Africa.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Peter Viertel (novel), Peter Viertel (screenplay)

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Jeff Fahey, Charlotte Cornwell

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	John Wilson
Jeff Fahey	...	Pete Verrill
Charlotte Cornwell	...	Miss Wilding, Wilson's Secretary
Norman Lumsden	...	Butler George
George Dzundza	...	Paul Landers
Edward Tudor-Pole	...	Reissar - a British Partner (as Edward Tudor Pole)
Roddy Maude-Roxby	...	Thompson, British Partner
Richard Warwick	...	Basil Fields, British Partner
John Rapley	...	Gun Shop Salesman
Catherine Neilson	...	Irene Saunders
Marisa Berenson	...	Kay Gibson, Film Star
Richard Vanstone	...	Phil Duncan, Film Star
Jamie Koss	...	Mrs. Duncan
Anne Dunkley	...	Scarf Girl in Nightclub Show
David Danns	...	Bongo Man in Nightclub Show

Storyline

The world famous movie Director John Wilson (Clint Eastwood) has gone to Africa to make his next movie. He is an obstinate, contrary director who'd rather hunt elephants than take care of his crew or movie. He has become obsessed with one particular elephant and cares for nothing else.

---

Plot Keywords:

based on true story | director | elephant | africa | antonyms in title | 

---

Taglines:

An adventure in obsession...

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama

---

Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

A DVD edition's sleeve notes state "co-screenwriter Peter Viertel worked with Huston (Director John Huston) in Africa in 1950 on The African Queen (1951)."

---

Goofs

The plane's flight to Africa is marked from it's starting point in Europe, south to it's destination in Uganda. The shot then switches to the plane flying over the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

---

Quotes

John Wilson: I would like to tell you a little story.
Mrs. MacGregor: Oh, I love stories.
John Wilson: Well, you mustn't interrupt now, because you're way too beautiful to interrupt people. When I was in London in the early 40's, I was dining one evening at the Savoy with a rather select group of people, and sitting next to me was a very beautiful lady, much like yourself.
Mrs. MacGregor: Now you're pulling my leg.
John Wilson: Now, just listen, dear. Well, we were dining and the bombs were falling, and we were all talking about Hitler and comparing him with ...
[...]

---

Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: The Rookie/Berkeley in the Sixties/Edward Scissorhands/The Grifters (1990)

---

Soundtracks

Rowan Tree
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

Too bad about the beginning of the movie

I must admit that Clint Eastwood was the main reason why I watched this movie. I'm already quite familiar with his work as an actor and as a director - even though I still haven't seen his biggest success "Million Dollar Baby" yet - and overall I can enjoy his work. Does that mean that I love all his movies? No, certainly not, but most of the time, he's the one who saves the movie, even when it isn't all that good. Knowing that he directed this movie and played a major role in it, only made it more interesting for me.

"White Hunter Black Heart" shows how the world famous movie director John Huston is planning on making a trip to Africa, where he will shoot his next movie. But despite his reputation of being a good director, he is also a very difficult man to work with. He doesn't want to make any concessions towards the producers and to make things worse he is also more interested in shooting the biggest elephant possible than shooting his movie and there is nothing or no-one who can bring him to other ideas...

Overall this is a good movie, although I must say that the beginning didn't do it for me. At first I had the feeling that the characters weren't all that real. They felt too much like caricatures, almost making this movie feel like a comedy, which it certainly isn't. That's also the reason why I wasn't exactly thinking about giving this movie a very high rating. But I always make that final decision at the end of the movie and I admit that the end of the movie was a lot better than the beginning. Not only was it very clear that John Wilson felt himself more at ease in Africa than in England, his reactions after the hunt also showed that this wasn't yet another typical type of quiet tough guy without any human emotions that Clint Eastwood plays so often. I really appreciated that in this movie. What I also liked was the entire 'behind the scenes of a classic movie' idea. OK, if you regularly buy a DVD, then you know from the extra's how a movie is shot. But that's how it is done today with all the modern techniques, camera's, lighting equipment. They didn't have all that in the fifties and it's nice to see how it was done back then.

Overall this is an enjoyable movie that offers some good acting and an interesting story. If the beginning had been more believable, this might well have become one of my all-time favorites. Now I give it a rating in between 7/10 and 7.5/10.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 September 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

White Hunter Black Heart

Filming Locations:

Hwange, Matabeleland North Province, Zimbabwe

Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$165,450, 16 September 1990

Gross USA:

$2,319,124

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,319,124

Company Credits

Production Co:

Malpaso Productions, Rastar Pictures, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1