Mogambo: John Ford

Still reeling from the failure of The Sun Shines Bright (1953), director John Ford was in desperate need of a profitable hit film. Despite his health problems, Ford packed up and traveled to Africa in order to film MGM’s remake of its own 1932 romantic melodrama Red Dust. The film followed the romantic triangle between big game hunter Victor Marswell (Clark Gable), misplaced playgirl Eloise “Honey Bear” Kelly (Ava Gardner), and the naive wife of a milquetoast scientist named Linda Nordley (Grace Kelly) against the exotic back-drop of the African wilderness. After a physically grueling shoot that saw him endure amoebic dysentery, the film, titled Mogambo (1953) was released to incredible success. In addition to grossing $5.2 million and garnering Oscar nominations for both Gardner and Kelly, the film revitalized Gable’s career and, to another extent, Ford’s. But despite the film being one of Ford’s biggest hits, it seems almost mechanical in its twists and turns. After Ford’s self-described favorite and most personal film, Mogambo seems like a movie straight from a cookie cutter. As such, the film fits snugly into the thematic and social patterns that have since been identified as typical of Fifties Hollywood cinema.

6/10