White Witch Doctor

Lonni Douglas (Robert Mitchum) is a trapper working in Africa around the turn of the 20th Century. He captures large, exotic animals that he then sells to zoos around the world. His partner, Huysman (Walter Slezak), who is more the type to stay in the "office" and supervise, has an ulterior motive--he believes there is gold in "them thar" hills. So Douglas has been searching for the gold for years. There is only one place left to look--a remote area far up the Congo, inhabited by a tribe hostile to white men. When nurse Ellen Burton (Susan Hayward) arrives as an assistant for a doctor in a village neighboring the remote one, however, Huysman sees it as the perfect opportunity, with a benevolent "false front" presented to the tribes-people, for Douglas to take her up the Congo and search for the source of the gold.

Based on a novel by Louise A. Stinetorf, director Henry Hathaway and screenwriters Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts created a genre-spanning feast for the eyes, ears and mind in White Witch Doctor. The film combines adventure, suspense, romance, drama, intentional and unintentional humor, and an almost documentary-like travelogue through Africa.

The Technicolor cinematography is fantastic, and a great choice as we are treated to various African cultures in traditional dress, occasionally performing traditional dances and other ceremonies, throughout the film. I don't know a lot of background information on the film, but I would bet that some shots were filmed as documentary material in Africa. Possibly, some was stock footage.

But the heart of the film is Douglas, his relationship to Burton, and an often subtle, mostly subtextual commentary on a clash of cultures, which was far ahead of its time. Both Mitchum an Hayward are fabulous, with Mitchum occasionally approaching an enjoyable camp in his macho swagger and Hayward, in the context of the film and its characters, showing an also ahead-of-its-time underlying strength, intelligence and independence beneath her more stereotypical initial appearance as a beautiful but dependent woman. The script has an effective combination of serious drama with the difficulties of dealing with different cultures as well as a light playfulness.

This is a little-known gem of a film that deserves a serious first or second look. A 10 out of 10 from me.

Enjoyable as well colorful film about a dedicated nurse who attempts to cure troubled people in the Belgian Congo .Set in 1907 when a nurse : Susan Hayward arrives in the Belgian Congo to work for a missionary doctor . There she meets a tough animal hunter : Robert Mitchum and , both of them gradually revealing their pasts each other . This is the exciting story of a woman who followed a dream to the end of the earth and found a love that will love to the end of time .

Director Henry Hathaway struck a correct balance of pace and sensitivity in the absorbing tale of a young woman who arrives in the Belgian colony governed by King Leopold of Belgium to help a religious missionary to work at a hospital . As she is struggling to reconcile her free spirit and philanthropic wishes with the jungle rigors . Finely starred by a luminous Susan Hayward who chalked up another hit in this long but always interesting flick based on Louise Stinetorf's novel , being rightly adapted . This agreeable flick packs a moving screenplay , intense drama , fine interpretations and intelligent filmmaking . Good acting by Susan Hayward as a philantropic nurse who gains the trust of the local people and falls in love for a rude hunter . Robert Mitchum gives a decent and stoic acting , as usual , as the two-fisted adventurer . Walter Slezak plays as the bad guy and brief interpretations from Timothy Carey and Michael Ansara . This film follows the wake of the highly acclaimed ¨Nun's story¨ by Fred Zinneman starred by Audrey Hepburn ,Peter Finch that consolidated a sub-genre about nuns or religious people in far countries , going on ¨Heaven knows , Mr Allison¨ with Robert Mitchum Deborah Kerr and ¨A Nun at the Crossroads¨ with Rosanna Schiaffino and John Richardson , and ¨The Sins of Rachel Cade¨ by Gordon Douglas with Angie Dickinson , Peter Finch , Roger Moore , among others .

Colorful cinematography in Technicolor by Leon Shamroy , it was filmed on location in Democratic Republic of Congo regarding some stock-shots and background ; as well as in Calabasas , California . Thrilling and evocative musical score by Bernard Herrmann , Hitchcock regular. The motion picture was professionally directed by Henry Hathaway . Henry was a Hollywood classic filmmaker who worked with the greatest actors . As John Wayne played for Hathaway various films as ¨The sons of Katie Elder (65), ¨Circus World (64) ¨ certainly not one of his memorable movies , ¨How the west was won (62) ¨, ¨ North to Alaska (60)¨ , but his greatest hit smash was ¨True grit (69)¨ in which Wayne won his only Academy Award . Hathaway directed all kinds of genres , but especially Western : ¨From Hell to Texas¨ , ¨5 card stud¨, ¨Shootout¨ , ¨Rawhide¨ , ¨Wild Horse Mesa¨ , ¨Heritage of the desert¨ ,¨The Thundering Herd¨ and WWII . Henry directed the classic 20th Century-Fox movie about Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and also set in World War II North Africa, ¨Rommel¨, (1951). Hathaway's other movies about the Second World War were all for studio Twentieth Century-Fox and included ¨The House on 92nd Street¨ (1945); ¨Wing and a Prayer¨ (1944); ¨You're in the Navy Now¨ (1951) and ¨13 Rue Madeleine¨ (1947) and his last film : Raid on Rommel that was a massive flop and was quickly withdrawn from theaters . .Although Hathaway was a highly successful and reliable director film-making within the Hollywood studio system , his work has received little consideration from reviewers . The motion picture will appeal to Susan Hayward and Robert Mitchum fans

Henry Hathaway had a way with taking so-so scripts and making a decent movie out of it. And it helps to have Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward playing the leads. Mitchum and Hayward play off each other almost as good as Mitchum and Kerr. And Hayward looks beautiful as she did in all her movies.

This movie was filmed in Africa. It has great cinematography. And plenty of action scenes. If you like movies about animal trappers, witch doctors and falling in love in the dark of Africa. You will want to see this one.

Now this movie like so many of Robert Mitchum movies is not on DVD. It's a shame I know. But you should be able to see it on one of the old cable channels. This is another fine family movie you can watch with your kids. I remember seeing this one at a young age and loved it. And still do.

Susan Hayward plays a missionary nurse sent to Africa to help a female doctor with a jungle hospital. Robert Mitchum is a wild game trapper and partner of Walter Slezak in seeking gold in the pre-World War I Belgian Congo. They escort her to the hospital as a pretext to search for gold rumored to be with a not very friendly tribe.

Politics is touched upon ever so briefly in this film. If it were made today the film would be a lot more explicit about the holocaust that was the Belgian Congo. Slezak makes a remark to Mitchum during the beginning of the film saying that they have to move fast since the Belgian government was taking over the running of the Congo. Just before World War I that is what happened. Up to that point the Congo colony was PRIVATELY run for King Leopold with no responsibility to anyone, but the king. Slezak's concern was that law and order was coming to the Congo.

The King had died around that time and reports about atrocities committed in the Congo by Leopold's hired help were shocking the civilized world. As well it should have been shocked. Torture, murder, maimings were routine occurrences. The report was put together by Roger Casement who later was executed for treason for his support of Irish freedom. The Bakuba tribe where this gold was allegedly from had real good reason to fear white folks at that time.

The American cinema had grown up post World War II as far as it's treatment of Africa. We Americans were a pathetically ignorant group about Africa and in many respects we still are. Our ideas about Africa came from Tarzan movies. But MGM gave us King Solomon's Mines and UA gave us The African Queen and we finally saw the real Africa.

The female missionary role was old hat by now. But Hayward is a nurse, not a psalm singer like Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen. Africa and the Belgian Congo in particular needed more of her kind and less of Hepburn's.

Mitchum is good as the cynical hero who is won over by the love of a good woman. Walter Slezak plays another of his patent brand of shrewd villains. Slezak was always good, and when he was a villain he was never a stupid one.

It's not as good as African Queen or Kings Solomon's Mines. Rates right up there with Mogambo though. Susan Hayward would return to Africa in Untamed and Mitchum would explore the jungle again in Mister Moses.

I wish the film could be done today with the politics more fully examined, but for the Fifties this was a step in the right direction.

Routine film dealing with the Congo of 1907 before Belgium took over.

The glamorous Susan Hayward comes there from America to be a nurse and help the missionary Dr. Mary. Problem is that Mary dies at Hayward's arrival time.

Robert Mitchum is a zoo keeper who is in partnership with a sinister Walter Slezak. Slezak wants to go upstream and get the gold there from the natives. That's where Hayward wants to get to so you know where the film is heading.

The film explores that Hayward is able to treat the chief's ailing son. Without joking, the chief looks like Spencer Willians (Andy Brown) of "Amos and Andy" fame on television.

Nice scenery with a routine plot and subplot. You know where this one is heading to very quickly. Nonetheless, Hayward and Mitchum do well together.