Reviews (6)

So-so undistinguished silent film
This film is a lukewarm piece of americana. It is meant as a hymn to a bygone pastoral era but seems contrived and manipulative to me. The directing is competent, the acting fair. Nothing stands out here but the scenery. The laughably speedy manner in which members of David's family are crippled, his dog shot, his father dies of a heart attack (all in one afternoon) is a bit over the top. It is only mildly pleasant, nothing more. Not a terrible film but not that important or indispensable either.

Great! Much More Than 'Tolerable'!
Watching this film is an amazing experience -- something like a great mixture of looking through the personal scrapbook of someone from a bygone era, hearing a wonderful legend retold, and feeling your own visceral emotions fired with electricity.

In making the film, the characterizations and plot were designed in such a way that they are familiar but also unique. The story defies some of what have come to be conventions (stereotypes) for supporting roles. And, it betrays what have always been simpler expectations for a story with a happy ending. While there is sorrow and loss in modern film and earlier film, here they are portrayed without the often contingent silver-linings. Bad things happen in this film...and we are not given the immediate sense that all will be right in the end.

The title role is filled admirably by Richard Barthelmess. He did fine work here -- no wonder it led to his making as a star. But for me, the film was made by the principal heavy -- played by Ernest Torrence. What a creep he managed to portray -- a villain with a completely perverted moral sense. And Torrence held nothing back in his postures and expressions. He had this character nailed. A stunning performance.

Director Henry King did marvelous work with this villain and all of the film's elements. Portraying an idyllic rural atmosphere which is soon troubled by the arrival of lawlessness (Torrence and two other actors who play the nefarious Hatburn family), he demonstrates an ability to frame a scene with great visual appeal. He also manages to be economical in a sense -- one camera angle captures the majority of a scene's action and this is supplemented by occasional close-up reaction shots. His camera positioning is expert in this. We are given the best angle -- not several lesser angles from which to view.

I could not leave out mention of the charming Gladys Hulette who played the sweet romantic lead in this film. As the young girl, Esther, who is a neighbor to David and his family, she gave an incomparable performance. This role called for her to do much more than bat her eyelashes at the camera and she accomplished it with skill.

So, yes, this film does end happily...but I'll say no more.

It is the sort of film which should be appreciated as something other than a relic from the cinema's past. It is a postcard from an earlier day -- the message isn't as simple as "wish you were here" though. It has much more to tell us than that!

A Silent David and Goliath
Tol'able David is one of the finest silent films which I have seen. It seems more realistic than many silents. This is partly because of the location shooting, partly because the story is neither overly melodramatic nor comic. Barthelmess as the David character gives a wonderful performance while Torrance as the Goliath character is only just a little over the top in his villainy. He was perhaps more suited to the comic monster type of his later Captain Hook. The real revelation though, is Hulette. She is almost completely forgotten now, but clearly had great talent. Her performance is realistic and charming. She is quite simply adorable. The print on this DVD has been formed from separate sources. Thus it looks slightly different from scene to scene. There is some damage, but it rarely detracts. It is however, slightly distracting to see variations in the tinting. It is inconsistent to have one green scene when the rest of the movie uses greys and browns. One of the best features of this DVD is the music, which is a series of wonderful folksy tunes which fit in so well with the action that even David's harmonica playing is included. As an added bonus the DVD includes an interesting interview with director Henry King and some useful, extensive sleeve notes. Tol'able David is not as well known as many silent films, but really it ought to be considered as among the very best.

LUKE HATBURN
Widely considered one of the finest early U.S. action films. Under Harry King's stellar direction, it quickly and quietly becomes a mesmorizing film; it's like watching an antique photo album/scrapbook come to life! David's older brother is killed by the notorious Hatburns, and ironically, the girl he loves is one herself! As the honest, non-violent postal worker, David shows everyone he's no coward, and everything comes out in the wash at the end. I just watched this little flick at the home of my video store-owner friend and I was impressed by this essentially timeless slice of rural Americana which was directed by Henry King (long considered his masterwork). The film contains one of the greatest fight scenes recorded on film, and it's nothing short of revelation watching Torrence as Luke Hatburn, who delivers perhaps the greatest interpretation of villainy in the history of the cinema!

Much of the same scenery in the film still exists today.
It may be of interest to film history buffs to know that much of the scenery and buildings in this film still exist today in rural Highland County, VA where the film was shot.

It is a credit to the director that he brought a cast and crew so far into the wilderness and captured an authentic backdrop for an accurate depiction of pre-automobile America. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

1952 Gregory Peck feature not a classic !
A colorized version of a b/w film shot in exotic European locations, three legendary Hollywood screen actors of the 40s and 50s (Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, and Ava Gardner), based on a story considered a classic of American literature. . .how could you go wrong? How, indeed? But something doesn't translate well here, sadly.

"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" is a slow-moving film, a bit disjointed, told completely in flashbacks. I remember reading excerpts from Ernest Hemingway's story of the same name for an upper-level English composition course I took over 20 years ago from one of the long-haired hippie professors who were the bane of my existence back then. Problem with that particular prof was that he forced us to read dark, depresssing mediocre literature; I never liked anything he wanted us to model our own writing after--and still don't like the authors he held up as paragons of good writing.

SYNOPSIS: Successful American writer Harry Street (Peck) is forced to reflect on his past successes and failures and analyzes his life as he faces death at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. He is camped on the slope of the famous African mountain with his second wife, Helen, who listens to him bemoan his lost (dead) first wife, Cynthia, as he drifts in and out of consciousness following an accident. The cause of his medical condition is not clear, as the couple can't agree whether he was scraped by a poisonous thorn or if he got injured while rescuing an African native from an angry hippopotamus, so this just added to my confusion. I'm not even sure if Helen is actually his wife; Susan Hayward is listed simply as "Helen" with no last name in all cast-lists I could find for this film. I missed something, what with all the flashbacks and cuts back to the camp-site where Street lay on his deathbed, surrounded by vultures in the trees and cackling hyenas at night.

The bright spot I found in this film was in Hildegard Knef's rather campy portrayal of "Countess Liz," to whom Street was affianced after divorcing Cynthia and before taking off to Africa with Helen. (Confused? So was I!) I don't think she meant to be funny, but I found her accent reminiscent of Madeline Kahn's character in "Young Frankenstein," which I found a hoot. Kahn may have used Knef as her role-model! I mean, I thought Harry and Liz were living in Paris, and I thought Liz was probably French. I researched Hildegard Knef a bit and found that she was born in Germany; she sounded like a German imitating a French accent, and I got a kick out of it.

One final detail that I might point out could help other viewers when they watch this film. At first I found it odd that two similar-looking brunette actresses (Hayward and Gardner) were cast as Harry Street's wives, but then I remembered something that the character says when he met Helen. Harry is giving a voice-over narrative during some of the flashbacks and is actually speaking to his dead wife Cynthia. He says, basically, "I'd follow any woman who reminded me of you in some way."

How very sad. Harry and Cynthia were happy together, but divorce because of a personal tragedy that happens between them, so Harry moves on to fabulously wealthy but overly-controlling Liz, only to realize at the last minute that he is still in love with his first wife. Harry goes to Spain, too late, to find Cynthia. I think he somehow thought he could replace Cynthia with a similar-looking woman, but it just couldn't be the same.

RECOMMENDATION: Get this if you're a big fan of Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner (she gives a good performance), or Susan Hayward, but don't think you're getting a top-notch rendition of a piece of American Literature (consider the source; it's a work by Hemingway!). Another translation for high-school students: don't substitute viewing this film for reading the Cliff's-Notes!! You'll end up more confused than if you simply read the book.

Possibly hollywood's worst Hemingway adaptation
Ranks right down there with Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man. Stiff Peck at his honking woodenest, vapid Gardner, shrill Hayward, the adaptation like something out of a romance mag. Only Bernard Hermann's music which he later recycled for Vertigo was of professional quality.

Snows of Kilimanjaro
Bought the DVD in assembling a Gregory Peck collection. Version was the one with Ava Gardner on the cover of the pack. The film was complete, but there was annoying technical noise, and quite a bit of fluttering in the picture. I may at some point buy another version of this DVD, but I do not recommend the technical quality of this particular production.

HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH KILIMANJARO...
As he lay dying,

Peck pines for Ava whom he

loves, while Hayward waits.

An interesting Hemingway adaptation
Ernest Hemingway hated this adaptation of his work, and disparagingly referred to it as "The Snows of Zanuck." I think he was overestimating his own writing, and I think the film is no worse than the work upon which it was based. Methinks he doth protest too much. Hemingway was heard to grumble: "I sold Zanuck one short story, not my whole body of works." The Casey Robinson screenplay is witty and honest, with the right blend of cynicism and naivetee. Gregory Peck is a gruff, grumbly, handsome-as-a-devil Hemingway "hero," and Ava Gardner makes a memorable, heartbreakingly beautiful Cynthia. Susan Hayward makes the best of the film's most thankless role (she looks great in a pith helmut, too). The layers of flashbacks perfectly convey the sense of a man reevaluating his past as he faces imminent death. Much has been made of the ending, and the way it deviates from the original story. I don't see the sunny Hollywood ending purists have denounced, since we really don't know the status of the dying writer as the helicopter arrives. The soundtrack is a bit loopy and out-of-synch in places, and the special effects (especially the river crossing) look pretty bad by today's standards, but the acting adds a depth and humanity which is missing from Hemingway's original work. A fun piece of escapist safaridrama along the lines of the superior "King Solomon's Mines" or "Mogambo." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Spencer Tracy saves the Panama Canal from sabotage
In this spy story about an attempt to sabotage the Panama Canal, Spencer Tracy plays an American intelligence officer named Crawbett. Maria Galante (Ketti Gallian) is kidnapped by a drunken sea captain who then dumps her off at Yucatan. Maria manages to make her way to the Panama Canal Zone, where she starts earning money to get home by singing in a cafe. There she gets embroiled in a plot to sabotage the Canal. Crawbett believes her story about being kidnapped and ends up not only uncovering the plot and saving the Canal, but in falling in love with the girl as well. This is a minor effort for Tracy, who is clearly too good for this plot, which seems a bit forced given World War II is still a few years off. "Marie Galante" was clearly an attempt by Fox to make the French Gallian an American film star, but there is nothing special here and the actress ended up going back to France after a few years. This 1934 film, directed by Henry King, was based on a novel by Jacques Deval. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

1952 Gregory Peck feature not a classic !
A colorized version of a b/w film shot in exotic European locations, three legendary Hollywood screen actors of the 40s and 50s (Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, and Ava Gardner), based on a story considered a classic of American literature. . .how could you go wrong? How, indeed? But something doesn't translate well here, sadly.

"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" is a slow-moving film, a bit disjointed, told completely in flashbacks. I remember reading excerpts from Ernest Hemingway's story of the same name for an upper-level English composition course I took over 20 years ago from one of the long-haired hippie professors who were the bane of my existence back then. Problem with that particular prof was that he forced us to read dark, depresssing mediocre literature; I never liked anything he wanted us to model our own writing after--and still don't like the authors he held up as paragons of good writing.

SYNOPSIS: Successful American writer Harry Street (Peck) is forced to reflect on his past successes and failures and analyzes his life as he faces death at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. He is camped on the slope of the famous African mountain with his second wife, Helen, who listens to him bemoan his lost (dead) first wife, Cynthia, as he drifts in and out of consciousness following an accident. The cause of his medical condition is not clear, as the couple can't agree whether he was scraped by a poisonous thorn or if he got injured while rescuing an African native from an angry hippopotamus, so this just added to my confusion. I'm not even sure if Helen is actually his wife; Susan Hayward is listed simply as "Helen" with no last name in all cast-lists I could find for this film. I missed something, what with all the flashbacks and cuts back to the camp-site where Street lay on his deathbed, surrounded by vultures in the trees and cackling hyenas at night.

The bright spot I found in this film was in Hildegard Knef's rather campy portrayal of "Countess Liz," to whom Street was affianced after divorcing Cynthia and before taking off to Africa with Helen. (Confused? So was I!) I don't think she meant to be funny, but I found her accent reminiscent of Madeline Kahn's character in "Young Frankenstein," which I found a hoot. Kahn may have used Knef as her role-model! I mean, I thought Harry and Liz were living in Paris, and I thought Liz was probably French. I researched Hildegard Knef a bit and found that she was born in Germany; she sounded like a German imitating a French accent, and I got a kick out of it.

One final detail that I might point out could help other viewers when they watch this film. At first I found it odd that two similar-looking brunette actresses (Hayward and Gardner) were cast as Harry Street's wives, but then I remembered something that the character says when he met Helen. Harry is giving a voice-over narrative during some of the flashbacks and is actually speaking to his dead wife Cynthia. He says, basically, "I'd follow any woman who reminded me of you in some way."

How very sad. Harry and Cynthia were happy together, but divorce because of a personal tragedy that happens between them, so Harry moves on to fabulously wealthy but overly-controlling Liz, only to realize at the last minute that he is still in love with his first wife. Harry goes to Spain, too late, to find Cynthia. I think he somehow thought he could replace Cynthia with a similar-looking woman, but it just couldn't be the same.

RECOMMENDATION: Get this if you're a big fan of Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner (she gives a good performance), or Susan Hayward, but don't think you're getting a top-notch rendition of a piece of American Literature (consider the source; it's a work by Hemingway!). Another translation for high-school students: don't substitute viewing this film for reading the Cliff's-Notes!! You'll end up more confused than if you simply read the book.

Possibly hollywood's worst Hemingway adaptation
Ranks right down there with Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man. Stiff Peck at his honking woodenest, vapid Gardner, shrill Hayward, the adaptation like something out of a romance mag. Only Bernard Hermann's music which he later recycled for Vertigo was of professional quality.

Snows of Kilimanjaro
Bought the DVD in assembling a Gregory Peck collection. Version was the one with Ava Gardner on the cover of the pack. The film was complete, but there was annoying technical noise, and quite a bit of fluttering in the picture. I may at some point buy another version of this DVD, but I do not recommend the technical quality of this particular production.

HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH KILIMANJARO...
As he lay dying,

Peck pines for Ava whom he

loves, while Hayward waits.

An interesting Hemingway adaptation
Ernest Hemingway hated this adaptation of his work, and disparagingly referred to it as "The Snows of Zanuck." I think he was overestimating his own writing, and I think the film is no worse than the work upon which it was based. Methinks he doth protest too much. Hemingway was heard to grumble: "I sold Zanuck one short story, not my whole body of works." The Casey Robinson screenplay is witty and honest, with the right blend of cynicism and naivetee. Gregory Peck is a gruff, grumbly, handsome-as-a-devil Hemingway "hero," and Ava Gardner makes a memorable, heartbreakingly beautiful Cynthia. Susan Hayward makes the best of the film's most thankless role (she looks great in a pith helmut, too). The layers of flashbacks perfectly convey the sense of a man reevaluating his past as he faces imminent death. Much has been made of the ending, and the way it deviates from the original story. I don't see the sunny Hollywood ending purists have denounced, since we really don't know the status of the dying writer as the helicopter arrives. The soundtrack is a bit loopy and out-of-synch in places, and the special effects (especially the river crossing) look pretty bad by today's standards, but the acting adds a depth and humanity which is missing from Hemingway's original work. A fun piece of escapist safaridrama along the lines of the superior "King Solomon's Mines" or "Mogambo." ... Read more

Reviews (35)

Better than it's usually given credit for, but....
The film version of what I consider Rodgers and Hammerstein's best stage production, "Carousel," has generally been dismissed by critics and those familiar with the stage show as a poor representation of the stage version. To some degree, that is true. Yes, the screenplay does "soften" it by giving away a major plot point at the beginning of the movie, so it would be easier to take. (I won't say more, in case you haven't seen it) And some of the score was deleted from the final print, which hurts it in the beginning. On stage, "If I Loved You" is dialogue with musical interludes leading up to the song itself. It is a beautiful scene, as the music is used to express emotions the characters can not speak, to thrilling effect. But on film, it's just dialogue leading up to the (shortened) song, which cuts away some of the power and impact. The spell cast on stage is not to be found here, though Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones sing well. The deleted "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" is also missed.

But after the dissapointing beginning, "along come" the spirited rendition of "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" by the cast. From then on, the film is much more engaging and better all around. McRae and Jones, while not really up to par dramatically, are capable of emoting enough and remain vocally stellar, which is what we paid for, anyway, (though it shouldn't have been that way). McRae's "Soliloquy" is a true tour de force, and his reprise of "If I Loved You" is truly poigniant. Jones' "What's the Use of Won'drin" is beautiful and touching. The rest of the cast is fine, too, and certain of the later scenes retain the power of the stage version and are just as touching. Unfortunatly, I haven't seen this in widescreen or on the big screen, so I can't vouch for the much-lauded visual scope of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, but I'm sure it's spectacular. (Nope, it's not all that exciting in pan-and-scan)

This is worth seeing, especially, I'm sure, in widescreen, but what you really should do is get the film's soundtrack, which restores the deleted songs and many of the deleted verses of other songs to better effect, and a decent cast recording of the stage version, and see a good stage production in your area. Only then will you truly experience the beauty and power of this magnificent musical.

CAROUSEL A SUPERBLY PRODUCED FILM MUSICAL!
CAROUSEL represents Rodgers and Hammerstein's finest hour musically, the closest thing to Grand Opera the duo ever wrote. The 1956 film version showcases the best performance, before or since, that this magnificent score has ever received. Beautifully photographed on location in CinemaScope and Technicolor, the poignant and tragic love story of barker Billy Bigelow and factory worker Julie Jordan unfolds with compassion and conviction. Gordon McRae gives the performance of a lifetime as Billy and his stunning rendition of the seven-minute "SOLILIQUY" is one of the greatest vocal performances of the 20th Century. Shirley Jones, ravishingly young and beautiful in only her second film appearance, is equally effective as Julie, a naive inexperienced young woman who finds in tragedy an inner strength she never knew existed within her.

CAROUSEL's greatest strength is, however, the great songs, which are woven seamlessly into the story. What else can you say about a score that includes such standards as "YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE' and 'IF I LOVED YOU"? In the capable hands of the legendary composer/arranger/conductor Alfred Newman, Richard Rodgers' soaring melodies are taken to heights of brilliance undreamed of in the Broadway original. This is especially evident in "Louise's Ballet." Ken Darby's excellent choral arrangements and wonderful vocals by MacRae, Jones, Claramae Turner, Barbara Ruick, Robert Rounseville and Cameron Mitchell all add up to the most perfect performance of this musical ever.

See this movie with someone you love and bring extra handkerchiefs. Also prepare to be dazzled with the glorious New England scenery rendered flawlessly on this superbly produced DVD and Rodgers and Hammerstein's greatest score in genuine 6 channel discrete stereo.

CAROUSEL is the kind of movie they just don't make any more. Most of today's filmmakers couldn't, even if they were courageous enough to try.

One of the very best movie musicals
I don't think I have ever seen Carousel on stage but my folks had a record of it when I was young, and I really liked it. Unfortunately, that leads to my only real complaint about the movie...

The music is splendid ("Carousel Waltz" in particular), the story compelling. There's even a bit of philosophy (the blossoms fell because it was their time). And Carousel isn't padded out with interminable dance scenes -- just one, six minutes of dancing on rooftops. The other big dance scene, Louise's Ballet, is the only dance I can think of that kept keep me not just away from the fast-forward, but glued to the screen! Susan Luckey, as Louise, is the star of the show (for her fifteen minutes).

One real problem with movie musicals is the opening up of the stage. We don't want to lose the stage, since this is, after all, a fantasy; but neither do we want just a filmed play. Some go too far into location (e.g., South Pacific) and others go nowhere at all (Oklahoma). Even Music Man is a bit too stagey. But Carousel has found just the right mix between the stage and location. The transitions from one to another are particularly well-done.

BUT... Somewhere between the play and the movie, we lost at least two songs, and whole verses of other songs! If I hadn't listened to that cast recording in my youth, I would never have known. But I did, and the missing music sorta spoils an otherwise superb movie.

An R and H failure.
NOT R and H material! They should have spent the whole movie at the carnival, but NOOOOOOOO!!! They spent the majority at the sea. Too lovey dovey. I expected something more brighter. I vow, I will never watch this movie again unless I have too. Oklahoma! was better and happier. In my book, R and H failed this time. Sorry.

The Best R&H Score
"Oklahoma!" was the first and broke with tradition; "South Pacific" has the most significant message; "Carousel" has the best score. The songs run from happy to inspirational. Music and lyrics are perfect.

The colors are rich, the scope wide, and the singing voices of even supporting players are magfnificent. The official review gavce picture a "3 of 5" while I think it is a "4". The only reason for the deduction is the letterbox format that creates black bars at top, bottom,and sides of my 16X9 high definition TV (no, DVD is not high definition, but it is digital). I like it much better when the, in this case the 2.55 aspect ratio, is enhanced for 16X9 so there are no side bars.

When you watch this re-mastered filmn it is difficult to believe it was made more than 35 years ago. Of the 66 musicals in my collection it is among the top four [no I can't further differentiate] and definitely the best R&H. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

1952 Gregory Peck feature not a classic !
A colorized version of a b/w film shot in exotic European locations, three legendary Hollywood screen actors of the 40s and 50s (Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, and Ava Gardner), based on a story considered a classic of American literature. . .how could you go wrong? How, indeed? But something doesn't translate well here, sadly.

"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" is a slow-moving film, a bit disjointed, told completely in flashbacks. I remember reading excerpts from Ernest Hemingway's story of the same name for an upper-level English composition course I took over 20 years ago from one of the long-haired hippie professors who were the bane of my existence back then. Problem with that particular prof was that he forced us to read dark, depresssing mediocre literature; I never liked anything he wanted us to model our own writing after--and still don't like the authors he held up as paragons of good writing.

SYNOPSIS: Successful American writer Harry Street (Peck) is forced to reflect on his past successes and failures and analyzes his life as he faces death at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. He is camped on the slope of the famous African mountain with his second wife, Helen, who listens to him bemoan his lost (dead) first wife, Cynthia, as he drifts in and out of consciousness following an accident. The cause of his medical condition is not clear, as the couple can't agree whether he was scraped by a poisonous thorn or if he got injured while rescuing an African native from an angry hippopotamus, so this just added to my confusion. I'm not even sure if Helen is actually his wife; Susan Hayward is listed simply as "Helen" with no last name in all cast-lists I could find for this film. I missed something, what with all the flashbacks and cuts back to the camp-site where Street lay on his deathbed, surrounded by vultures in the trees and cackling hyenas at night.

The bright spot I found in this film was in Hildegard Knef's rather campy portrayal of "Countess Liz," to whom Street was affianced after divorcing Cynthia and before taking off to Africa with Helen. (Confused? So was I!) I don't think she meant to be funny, but I found her accent reminiscent of Madeline Kahn's character in "Young Frankenstein," which I found a hoot. Kahn may have used Knef as her role-model! I mean, I thought Harry and Liz were living in Paris, and I thought Liz was probably French. I researched Hildegard Knef a bit and found that she was born in Germany; she sounded like a German imitating a French accent, and I got a kick out of it.

One final detail that I might point out could help other viewers when they watch this film. At first I found it odd that two similar-looking brunette actresses (Hayward and Gardner) were cast as Harry Street's wives, but then I remembered something that the character says when he met Helen. Harry is giving a voice-over narrative during some of the flashbacks and is actually speaking to his dead wife Cynthia. He says, basically, "I'd follow any woman who reminded me of you in some way."

How very sad. Harry and Cynthia were happy together, but divorce because of a personal tragedy that happens between them, so Harry moves on to fabulously wealthy but overly-controlling Liz, only to realize at the last minute that he is still in love with his first wife. Harry goes to Spain, too late, to find Cynthia. I think he somehow thought he could replace Cynthia with a similar-looking woman, but it just couldn't be the same.

RECOMMENDATION: Get this if you're a big fan of Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner (she gives a good performance), or Susan Hayward, but don't think you're getting a top-notch rendition of a piece of American Literature (consider the source; it's a work by Hemingway!). Another translation for high-school students: don't substitute viewing this film for reading the Cliff's-Notes!! You'll end up more confused than if you simply read the book.

Possibly hollywood's worst Hemingway adaptation
Ranks right down there with Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man. Stiff Peck at his honking woodenest, vapid Gardner, shrill Hayward, the adaptation like something out of a romance mag. Only Bernard Hermann's music which he later recycled for Vertigo was of professional quality.

Snows of Kilimanjaro
Bought the DVD in assembling a Gregory Peck collection. Version was the one with Ava Gardner on the cover of the pack. The film was complete, but there was annoying technical noise, and quite a bit of fluttering in the picture. I may at some point buy another version of this DVD, but I do not recommend the technical quality of this particular production.

HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH KILIMANJARO...
As he lay dying,

Peck pines for Ava whom he

loves, while Hayward waits.

An interesting Hemingway adaptation
Ernest Hemingway hated this adaptation of his work, and disparagingly referred to it as "The Snows of Zanuck." I think he was overestimating his own writing, and I think the film is no worse than the work upon which it was based. Methinks he doth protest too much. Hemingway was heard to grumble: "I sold Zanuck one short story, not my whole body of works." The Casey Robinson screenplay is witty and honest, with the right blend of cynicism and naivetee. Gregory Peck is a gruff, grumbly, handsome-as-a-devil Hemingway "hero," and Ava Gardner makes a memorable, heartbreakingly beautiful Cynthia. Susan Hayward makes the best of the film's most thankless role (she looks great in a pith helmut, too). The layers of flashbacks perfectly convey the sense of a man reevaluating his past as he faces imminent death. Much has been made of the ending, and the way it deviates from the original story. I don't see the sunny Hollywood ending purists have denounced, since we really don't know the status of the dying writer as the helicopter arrives. The soundtrack is a bit loopy and out-of-synch in places, and the special effects (especially the river crossing) look pretty bad by today's standards, but the acting adds a depth and humanity which is missing from Hemingway's original work. A fun piece of escapist safaridrama along the lines of the superior "King Solomon's Mines" or "Mogambo." ... Read more