Mogambo

This is a strange, but good picture coming from John Ford. It's not about the usual themes he normally tackles, it lacks the usual supporting cast from a Ford film. Yet it is a good piece of movie making.

In a biography of John Ford by his grandson he said that Gable and Ford were friends for years, not particularly close, but friends nonetheless. Whenever they were together Ford and Gable talked about working together. Finally Gable got MGM to get Ford for his next film and it was Mogambo.

I like Mogambo because it was the start of a trend in Hollywood to show some realism when dealing with Africa. To this day there are people in the United States whose knowledge about things African were gained from Tarzan movies. African Queen, King Solomon's Mines, and Mogambo were all shot on location and all show the native Africans in reality. I was a kid at this time and my first bit of education about Africa came from Ramar of the Jungle. This is light years better.

Gable was criticized for reprising a role he did 20 years earlier in Red Dust. The plot line stays the same, but in Red Dust, Gable is the hard-nosed manager of a rubber plantation in Malaya. Gable as Vic Marswell here is a world weary and cynical game hunter and safari guide. Both portrayals are very good and very different.

By all accounts it was not a happy set. The usual problems with location in Africa presented themselves. In addition Frank Sinatra was on the set. He was waiting on word whether he would get the part he sought in From Here To Eternity. At the time he was married to Ava Gardner and there's was one of the most tempestuous marriages in Hollywood history. He was jealous of Gable as he was of all Gardner's leading men. To be just Ava kind of encouraged the jealous. When Harry Cohn gave him the word about From Here To Eternity he left with the gratitude of Ford, Gable, Gardner and everyone else, he'd become a royal pain in the neck.

Ava Gardner was one of the most beautiful women God ever created and a lot of times she could get by with that. But when called on to act she could. As Eloise "honeybear" Kelly she's as cynical in her own way as Gable was. They were a perfect fit. This was the last of three films she and Gable made.

I don't think Grace Kelly is shown to best advantage here. Her British accent was a bit affected. I'm not sure why MGM just didn't cast a British actress like Deborah Kerr in the part. Of course she also was involved with From Here To Eternity if I remember.

Mogambo because of the location shooting and much bigger budget is better than its predecessor Red Dust. For all the unhappiness on the set, the stars and its director did some good work.

"Mogambo" is a remake of "Red Dust" (1932) and is not as good, nor as funny, but it's still not bad at all. Poor Clark Gable must choose between Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. With both actresses at the height of their beauty this is a tough call - but I would have taken Ava any day. She is stunning in this film - sultry, sexy and warm - very different to the flighty sex kitten that Jean Harlow played so brilliantly in "Red Dust". And Ava is photographed lovingly, in gorgeous colour, by Robert Surtees and Freddie Young. She deserved her Oscar nomination.

Kelly is good too as the rather prissy wife of a very English scientist. But she's too nice - Ava is much more real. Gable was a bit old for the role here - after all it was 21 years after he first played it in "Red Dust" - but his performance is strong.

Great African scenery and animals too - "Mogambo" got out of the studio that confined "Red Dust". Who could forget Ava trying to feed a very hungry baby elephant and a baby rhino at the same time? The gorilla sequence was a little weak - in that the film stock used to film the gorillas was completely different to that used to film the actors - and the actors were obviously in a studio. But most of the work is on location and stunningly shot.

You'll have fun with this one.

PS In the canoe scene are they really talking about female circumcision?

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

'Mogambo' is not one of the greatest of John Ford's films, but it is still a solid piece of work. Clark Gable is at his manliest, and Grace Kelly is cast perfectly (though her performance is not so perfect). However, Ava Gardner steals the show. Scenes without her seem dead. Scenes with her are charged with sexy movement and funny double-talk. Of course, Ford himself makes great use of the African landscape, applying his brilliant American West photography to the jungles and rivers of Africa. A good piece of entertainment and recommended for John Ford fans.

Ava Gardner could hardly be considered anyone's second choice, but this is what director John Ford and screenwriter John Lee Mahin would have you believe in this overripe 1952 safari melodrama. Yet, she is the primary reason why this film is still worth a look 56 years later. Far more intuitively than Angelina Jolie these days, Gardner epitomized a primal sensuality and a hidden vulnerability, the combination of which was intoxicating in her prime. Ford captures this, as well as her dark beauty and sharp comedy sense, by casting her as smart-mouthed, carefree playgirl Eloise "Honey Bear" Kelly, who has come to a remote African outpost to meet up with a wealthy maharajah. Finding herself stood up, she is greeted by no-nonsense big game hunter Victor Marswell as she conveniently takes a shower al fresco. Before sparks can truly fly, a young British anthropologist and his prudish wife, Donald and Linda Nordley, arrive naively drawn to the flora and fauna.

Then a rather preposterous story turn occurs in which Marswell becomes smitten with Mrs. Nordley, and she with him since she swoons over the manly hunter over her milquetoast husband. Looking the patrician beauty that served her well during her brief movie career, a 24-year-old Grace Kelly plays Linda in typical melodramatic fashion. Her English accent is a bit overdone, and her character's motivations too simplistically presented for Kelly to shine, especially next to Gardner. As Marswell, the 52-year-old Clark Gable doesn't have quite the swagger he displayed so easily in his youth when he first played this role in 1932's "Red Dust" with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor in the Gardner and Kelly parts. However, it is a testament to his enduring appeal that he is at all convincing as a magnet for two much younger women.

But make no mistake that Gable, who has to maintain a stoic, man-of-mystery demeanor as Marswell, really hands the picture to Gardner. In particular, she has a fetching couple of scenes where she sings Robert Burns' "Comin' Through the Rye" and seems truly to enjoy interacting with the wild animals. It's all a hoot, and the location filming in Kenya and Uganda really brings the story to vibrant life. Ford handles the exotic background as well as he does Monument Valley in his classic westerns, and he makes sure to keep goosing the story with action elements so that the focus is not completely on the love triangle. Industry veteran Robert Surtees and David Lean's favorite cameraman Freddie Young shared cinematography responsibilities, and the look of the film is sumptuous even by MGM's high standards. The only extra with the 2006 DVD is the original theatrical trailer.