The Snows of Kilimanjaro *** (1952, Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Hildegard Knef) – Classic Movie Review 5494

Director Henry King’s colourful 1952 American Technicolor romantic adventure film The Snows of Kilimanjaro is based on the 1936 short story by Ernest Hemingway, and stars Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Ava Gardner.

Producer Darryl F Zanuck turns Ernest Hemingway’s vivid 1936 short story about a perilously sick writer-hunter who reviews his past into a long, soapy story dotted with dollops of love and adventure.

Gregory Peck is stalwart but a bit stiff playing the semi-autobiographical Hemingway-style lead character Harry Street, feverish after an African hunting accident, and talking about writing, Paris, Spain, bullfighting, big-game hunting in Africa and the three women in his  life – Hayward as his wife Helen, Ava Gardner as Cynthia Green, and Hildegarde Neff [Hildegard Knef] as the Countess.

Caught at her most beautiful, Ava Gardner proves the most interesting of all four of them. Pretty locations in Paris, Spain, Tanzania, Cairo, the French Riviera and Nairobi are shot in glorious Technicolor by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Leon Shamroy and are an enormous asset, though they don’t match the all too obvious (and unattractive) 20th Century Fox Studios sets too well.

Rickety, fragile and uneven though this thoughtful 1952 entertainment is, somehow director Henry King keeps it all together.

Also in the cast are Leo G Carroll, Torin Thatcher, Marcel Dalio, Ava Norring, Helene Stanley, Vicente Gómez, Richard Allan, Leonard Carey, Paul Thompson and Emmett Smith.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro is directed by Henry King, runs 117 minutes, is made by 20th Century Fox, is written by Casey Robinson, based on the short story by Ernest Hemingway, is shot in Technicolor by Leon Shamroy, is produced by Darryl F Zanuck, and is scored by Bernard Herrmann.

The short story The Snows of Kilimanjaro was first published in August 1936 in Esquire magazine and then republished in The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories (1938). Hemingway thought it was one of his finest stories.

Ava Gardner’s character Cynthia Green was invented for the film.

Ava Gardner’s character Cynthia Green was invented for the film, which ends differently from the story.

It was a hit as the third highest-grossing film of 1952. It was nominated for two Oscars at the 25th Academy Awards, for Best Cinematography, Color (Leon Shamroy) and Best Art Direction, Color (Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir, Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox).

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952, Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner).

The bullfight sequences are re-used from Fox’s 1941 film Blood and Sand.

Circus animal trainer Pat Anthony is Gregory Peck;s stand-in for the hyena attack scene.

Hildegard Knef sings two Cole Porter tunes and jazz musician Benny Carter performs at the start.

Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward.

The cast are Gregory Peck as Harry Street, Susan Hayward as Helen, Ava Gardner as Cynthia Green, Hildegard Knef as Countess Elizabeth, Charles Bates as Harry Street (17 years), Emmett Smith as Molo, Leo G Carroll as Uncle Bill, Torin Thatcher as Mr Johnson, Marcel Dalio as Emile, Leonard Carey as Dr Simmons, Paul Thompson as Witch Doctor, Ava Norring as Beatrice, Helene Stanley as Connie, Vicente Gómez as Guitarist, Richard Allan as Spanish dancer, Lisa Ferraday as vendeuse, Leonard Carey, Paul Thompson and Emmett Smith.

The film is in the public domain.

It is the middle of three films Pack and Ava Gardner made together, following The Great Sinner and preceding On the Beach.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5494

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

On the studio set for Kenya.