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White Hunter Black Heart

  • 1990
  • PG
  • 1h 52m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
14K
YOUR RATING
Clint Eastwood in 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.
Play trailer1:24
1 Video
65 Photos
Showbiz DramaAdventureDrama

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.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.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
    • James Bridges
    • Burt Kennedy
  • Stars
    • Clint Eastwood
    • Jeff Fahey
    • Charlotte Cornwell
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    14K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Clint Eastwood
    • Writers
      • Peter Viertel
      • James Bridges
      • Burt Kennedy
    • Stars
      • Clint Eastwood
      • Jeff Fahey
      • Charlotte Cornwell
    • 71User reviews
    • 24Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:24
    Official Trailer

    Photos65

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    Top cast31

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    Clint Eastwood
    Clint Eastwood
    • John Wilson
    Jeff Fahey
    Jeff Fahey
    • Pete Verrill
    Charlotte Cornwell
    • Miss Wilding, Wilson's Secretary
    Norman Lumsden
    • Butler George
    George Dzundza
    George Dzundza
    • Paul Landers
    Edward Tudor-Pole
    Edward Tudor-Pole
    • Reissar - a British Partner
    • (as Edward Tudor Pole)
    Roddy Maude-Roxby
    Roddy Maude-Roxby
    • Thompson, British Partner
    Richard Warwick
    Richard Warwick
    • Basil Fields, British Partner
    John Rapley
    • Gun Shop Salesman
    Catherine Neilson
    Catherine Neilson
    • Irene Saunders
    Marisa Berenson
    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
    Myles Freeman
    • Ape Man in Nightclub Show
    Geoffrey Hutchings
    Geoffrey Hutchings
    • Squadron Leader Alec Laing
    Christopher Fairbank
    Christopher Fairbank
    • Tom Harrison, Art Director
    • Director
      • Clint Eastwood
    • Writers
      • Peter Viertel
      • James Bridges
      • Burt Kennedy
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews71

    6.513.7K
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    Featured reviews

    8gottogorunning

    One of Clint Eastwood's most unjustly-neglected movies

    One of Clint Eastwood's most unjustly-neglected movies... he directed and stars as a cranky, strong-willed movie director (he's actually playing the real-life John Huston, though his character is called "Wilson" in the movie... and the book it was based on). In Africa to direct an action-comedy ("The African Queen" in real life) Wilson throws the project into turmoil when he suddenly becomes obsessed with hunting and killing an elephant. "It's not a crime... it's bigger than that... it's a SIN," he says by way of justification. It takes a while to get used to Clint trying to play John Huston... trying to talk in a different style of voice than we're used to hearing... but the dialog and story are so compelling that you forget that Clint really is the wrong guy for this role. And yet, by the time the movie reaches it's devastating final line... Clint has made the character his own. As far as Clint's directing work goes... I would rank this film right after "Unforgiven"!
    8hokeybutt

    Underrated Classic... Clint Eastwood plays John Huston!

    (4 outta 5 stars)

    One of Clint Eastwood's most unjustly-neglected movies... he directed and stars as a cranky, strong-willed movie director (he's actually playing the real-life John Huston, though his character is called "Wilson" in the movie... and the book it was based on). In Africa to direct an action-comedy ("The African Queen" in real life) Wilson throws the project into turmoil when he suddenly becomes obsessed with hunting and killing an elephant. "It's not a crime... it's bigger than that... it's a SIN," he says by way of justification. It takes a while to get used to Clint trying to play John Huston... trying to talk in a different style of voice than we're used to hearing... but the dialogue and story are so compelling that you forget that Clint really is the wrong guy for this role. And yet, by the time the movie reaches it's devastating final line... Clint has made the character his own. As far as Clint's directing work goes... I would rank this film right after "Unforgiven"... yes, even better than "Mystic River"!
    5rupie

    good idea, poorly done

    This film is billed as being 'loosely based' on an episode in the life of John Huston. 'Loosely based' is a misnomer as this film couldn't be about anything BUT John Huston, right down to Clint's attempt to imitate Huston's arch quasi-British-accented drawl. The episode is Huston's sojourn in Africa to direct a movie whose title is never mentioned in the film (the closest is when Clint-cum-Huston, asked the title, replies, "I don't know. The African something-or-other." A bit too coy). This pretense of not knowing the film wears thinner and thinner as we see the spitting image of the boat that was used in "The African Queen", and as two stars arrive who look and sound just like Kate Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart (but are not so named in the film). The 'Bogart' character, on the first day of filming, even wears a costume exactly like that H.B. wore in the movie. This is a docudrama about the making of "The African Queen" that is pretending not to be a docudrama about the making of "The African Queen." What is it pretending to be? I don't really know, as it is just a disjointed series of episodes that show us - I guess - what a wild and crazy guy John Huston was. But he is not, at least in this movie, wild and crazy enough to sustain a whole movie. It has what appears to be intended as a 'tragic' ending, but it falls flat. There doesn't seem to be any point to the whole thing. Skip it. See "The African Queen" again instead.
    8claudio_carvalho

    Adventures in Africa

    The egocentric, stubborn and grumpy Hollywood director John Wilson (Clint Eastwood) invites his friend Pete Verrill (Jeff Fahey) to write the screenplay of his next movie that will be a masterpiece in his opinion. He convinces the producer Paul Landers (George Dzundza) that the movie must be shot in Africa and they travel to the continent. Once in Africa, John becomes obsessed to hunt an specific elephant and neglects his cast and crew prioritizing the hunting with the native Kivu (Boy Mathias Chuma).

    "White Hunter Black Heart" is an underrated fictional movie directed by Clint Eastwood. The character John Wilson is based on the director John Huston. Clint Eastwood has an amazing work performing a character with strong personality and stubbornness. My vote is eight.

    Title (Brazil): "Coração de Caçador" ("Hunter Heart")
    6macataque

    creator's block

    On one level, this film is a failure: It's a fictionalized knock-off of the behind-the-scenes machinations of the making of "The African Queen" with Bogart & Hepburn directed by John Huston. This surface level is not so enthralling. On a second level, the level I believe the artists really wanted to put across, it isn't so enthralling either. Nevertheless, they are to be commended for attempting something unusual: An effort to show the creative process -- and the fears lurking within barring the fruition of art, often at great costs to health and personal relationships. In ranking Eastwood's films, this film falls below "Unforgiven", "Million Dollar Baby", "Bird" or "The Bridges of Madison County", but the subtext here raises its status. A must-see for the serious artist or wannabe.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The main character, John Wilson, portrayed by Clint Eastwood, was based on legendary director John Huston; Jeff Fahey's Pete Verrill writer character was based on novelist Peter Viertel; George Dzundza's Paul Landers producer character was based on producer Sam Spiegel; Marisa Berenson's Kay Gibson character was based on Katharine Hepburn, and Richard Vanstone's Phil Duncan character was based on Humphrey Bogart.
    • 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 Napoleon, and we were all being really brilliant. And then, suddenly, this beautiful lady, she spoke up and said that was the thing she didn't mind about Hitler, was the way he was treating the Jews. Well, we all started arguing with her, of course. Though, mind you, no one at the table was Jewish. But she persisted. Are you listening, honey?

      Mrs. MacGregor: Mustn't interrupt Daddy.

      John Wilson: That's right. You're way too beautiful for that. Anyway, she went on to say that that's how she felt about it, that if she had her way, she would kill them all, burn them in ovens, like Hitler. Well, we all sat there in silence. Then finally, I leaned over to her and I said, "Madam, I have dined with some of the ugliest goddamn bitches in my time. And I have dined with some of the goddamndest ugly bitches in this world. But you, my dear, are the ugliest bitch of them all." Well, anyway, she got up to leave and she tripped over a chair and fell on the floor. And we all just sat there. No one raised a hand to help her. And finally when she picked herself up I said to her one more time: "You, my dear, are the ugliest goddamn bitch I have ever dined with." Well, you know what happened? The very next day, she reported me to the American Embassy. And they brought me in for reprimand. And then when they investigated it, they found out she was a German agent. And they locked her up.

      [smiles]

      John Wilson: Isn't that amazing?

      Mrs. MacGregor: Why did you tell me that story?

      John Wilson: Oh, I don't know. It wasn't because I thought you were a German agent, honey. But I was tempted tonight to say the very same thing to you. I didn't want you to think I had never said it before. You, madam, are the - Well, you know the rest.

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Postcards from the Edge/Saving Grace/White Hunter, Black Heart/After Dark, My Sweet (1990)
    • Soundtracks
      Satin Doll
      Written by Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer and Billy Strayhorn

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    FAQ19

    • How long is White Hunter Black Heart?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 14, 1990 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Weißer Jäger, schwarzes Herz
    • Filming locations
      • Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe
    • Production companies
      • Malpaso Productions
      • Rastar Pictures
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $24,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,319,124
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $165,450
      • Sep 16, 1990
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,319,124
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 52 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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