Mogambo

This fifties remake of ‘Red Dust' casts Clark Gable again as the man trapped by the attention of two very different women. Instead of Mary Astor we have Grace Kelly as the repressed rich girl, while Jean Harlow's earthy character is portrayed by sensual Ava Gardner, a predatory animal in the hot jungle. The fourth player in the quartet (playing Kelly's husband) is Donald Sinden.

Aside from re-setting the action, changing the name of Gable's character, and giving the movie a Technicolor treatment, Mogambo doesn't update the 30s classic that much. Gable is still portrayed as irresistible to women as he was when twenty years younger, and the plot still simmers in the way it did before.

Naturally all the stars went on to other interesting things after this – Gable left MGM to spend his last few years as a lucrative freelance; Kelly had a couple more major roles before marrying into Monaco royalty; and Gardner moved into more mature sexpot roles (such as her similar role opposite Richard Burton in ‘The Night of the Iguana' a decade later). Sinden remains best known for his television work but on film he was more than adequate with the more showy co-stars in Mogambo.

This movie is not bad at all if you have a couple of hours to spend wondering how the various twists and turns will unfold.

I would like to share with those of you who might be interested to know that my Father Mr Abiodun Oke Hughes was part of the tribal cast in this film.

I remember growing up with that in mind and though I did a search for the cast tribe here on this site, unfortunately there wasn't one available to me.

So I wanted to do this, so all concerned would know how much we all still have the fondest memories of all his wondrous adventures while he was growing up.

Dad was only just in his 30's when this film was made and when I captured that 5 second shot of him out in the jungle, though it's only for a few seconds it still makes me proud to see it.

It still amazes me to know that my Dad worked along side the most unforgettable stars.

I guess I'm very proud to know the things I do about him. So I'd like to add my Father's memory for those of you out there, not only for my Family but also for my Dad. (may he rest in peace) So here's to you Daddy.

Abiodun Oke Hughes (19-12 to 19-86) We all love and Miss you

Ruth x

Although the original trailer for the film explains that "Mogambo" means "the Greatest," in fact, the word "Mogambo" has no meaning at all . It concerns Victor Marswell (Clark Gable but this lead role was originally intended for Stewart Granger ; Gable also starred in the 1933 original Red Dust by Victor Fleming) runs a big game trapping company in Kenya . Eloise Kelly (glorious charm from Ava Gardner who replaces Jean Harlow , though Deborah Kerr and Lana Turner were sought for the female leads and Maureen O'Hara was the first choice for Honey Bear Kelly) is ditched there , and an immediate attraction happens between them . Victor dallies with the attractive as well as jaded lady Eloise and must let her stay till the next boat arrives . But Victor, initially uninterested, soon succumbs to Eloise's ostentatious charms until the arrival of a marriage , a husband (Donald Sinden) , ill with fevers , and his refined but sensuous wife (Grace Kelly who has Mary Astor's part , though Gene Tierney was first choice for the role of Linda , she dropped out due to emotional problems which were now interfering with her work) . Then , Victor falls to the arms of the sophisticated married woman .

This lusty remake deals with classic loving triangle set in Africa and combines love , drama , thrills , action and adventure . Interesting script by John Lee Mahin who reworks his 1932 screenplay for ¨Red Dust¨ . Here we are seeing several African animals though the most turn out to be taken from an excessive utilization of stock-shots , thus : Gnus, Elephants, Impalas , Wild Boar , Gazelle Thomson , lions , Buffalos and Gorillas especially . The film was really censored in some countries , as the censors in Spain did not allow adultery to be shown on the screen. For that reason, MGM changed the relationship of the characters of Linda Nordley (Grace Kelly) and Donald Nordley (Donald Sinden) from wife and husband to sister and brother in the dubbed version released in Spain . However, they did not delete a scene in which both share a bed together. Nice acting by Clark Gable who repeats his character from 1932 , he becomes involved with the new wife of one of his employers . Clark Gable was unimpressed by the script and was wary of reprising his Red Dust (1932) role after 21 years . He only agreed to make the movie after Across the wide Missouri (1951) and Lone Star (1952) both flopped at the box office . Clark Gable and Grace Kelly began an affair on the set that lasted for several months . After filming had ended, they resumed the affair while Kelly was filming The country girl (1954). Ava Gardner steals the show , she is frankly wonderful in the role of the woman with a past . During filming Ava Gardner flew to London to have an abortion after she became pregnant with Frank Sinatra's child . Secondary cast is quite good such as Donald Sinden , Eric Pohlmann , Laurence Naismith and Denis O'Dea .

Marvelously shot by two excellent cameramen , Robert Surtees and Freddie Young . Being filmed on location in Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro, Kenya , Okalataka, Democratic Republic Of Congo , Tanganjika, Tanzania , Serengeti Plain, Tanzania ,Hell's Gate National Park, Kenya , Kagera River ,Uganda ,Thika, Kenya . Despite the high budget, most of the movie was actually filmed in the MGM studio in Hollywood, and especially in MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK . Lavishly produced by the great producer Sam Zimbalist , he came up with the title by altering the name of the Mocambo, a famous Hollywood nightclub . The motion picture was compellingly directed by John Ford , though he did not get along with Clark Gable during filming, and at one point walked off the set in protest at Ford's treatment of Ava Gardner . It's not great John Ford film but results to be worthwhile and enticing .

I think Mogambo may be John Ford's best film technically. The cinematography is simply sumptuous. The colors and the compositions are some of the most beautiful you'll ever see in a film. Too bad it's not in Cinemascope. I would have loved to see those African landscapes in widescreen. The sound is equally deserving of praise. Rare for a classical Hollywood film, Mogambo contains absolutely no extra-diagetic music, i.e., a musical score. The only music comes from a player piano, or African tribes' singing. That singing is just amazing. Most of the background sounds, however, come from African beasts and insects. It provides a threatening mood to the entire film. This experiment pays off wonderfully.

Unfortunately, the narrative aspects of the film are lacking. The story, about an adventurer (Clark Gable) who takes a married couple on a safari to study gorillas, is passable. Actually, the meat of the story lies in the budding relationship between Gable and the wife, played by Grace Kelly (perhaps her role in Rear Window, which came out a year later, was inspired by this film). Ava Gardener plays a second love interest, a society girl from NYC, brazen and witty. The problems don't really arise from the plot, but from the characters. They are two-dimensional. Ava Gardener's role is the best, but the script begins to keep her away from the other relationship, which is treated more romantically. Gable's role is too cliche. It's paper thin, and I just never cared much what happened to him. But I think the real problem is with Kelly and her role. Her character changes in wildly unbelievable ways. It's almost as if she falls in love with Gable because, well, that's what women do when Clark Gable's in a movie! It doesn't matter that she's the second one to do so in the first half hour of the film.

The film also fails because of the vast amounts of stock footage used to show the wildlife of Africa. Often, this is acceptable. It's obvious that that footage was taken at some other time and with some other type of film than the main footage, but I can suspend my imagination up to a point. However, one particular sequence involving gorillas is rather awful. The party has a face-off with a group of them, and there is a lot of cross-cutting to create suspense. It never works. Especially silly are the shots of Gable standing in front of back-projected stock footage of a bull gorilla charging. I suppose these kinds of shots were impossible to fake anywhere near as well as we can do now. But I still find fault in it. It snapped my suspension bridge.

Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly all in one adventure film out of Africa. What's not to like. Gable plays Victor Marswell, a great white hunter of the African big game, Marswell (Gable) who has not one, but two beautiful actresses pining over him. Even some near seventy (70) years later after its original release date (1953), this film holds up quite well. Both the story line and the scenery are epic, but it is the playful romance between this threesome that holds the audience's attention. Who will end up at the end of this adventure film embracing?

Well worth a watch, or even twice (I did).

I give it a 7 out of 10 IMDB rating.