Strong and Moving!

A lot of fun.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

What a title! When I learned that "Mogambo" meant 'passion' in Swahili, the translation was so satisfying I didn't even want to check.And yes indeed, "Mogambo" is one of the hottest and most sensual adventure-films from Hollywood's Golden Age, and if some movie buffs refer to it as that John Ford's film (or remake, for the experts) set in Africa, I can't see it otherwise than the film with perhaps the best love triangle ever, Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly, all of them in the American Film Institute's Top 50 Movie Legends… and what I love the most about that awkward tale of ambiguous love is the conclusion. You got it, I'm a fan of Ava Gardner.Ava Gardner was once named the 'most beautiful animal' and "Mogambo" sweeps off any derogatory undertone from that nickname for there is something magnetically bestial in the attraction that woman exudes, from her feline temper to her voluptuous curves, there's no way not to look at Ava Gardner as the ultimate incarnation of forbidden delights, especially since she never acts as if she was aware of that power, she's natural, earthy, sincere, she's what you can call a 'woman's man's woman'. So, it is only fitting that the man she falls in love with is a tough and virile game hunter played by Clark Gable, the ultimate macho icon, the one who's stronger, taller, bigger, gentler, funnier than any other man in the surrounding cast.And it's only fitting that the theater of their romance is the African wildlife, perhaps the only setting to give a warm welcome to that beautiful 'animal' … and reciprocally, Ava sure has a way with them animals… from playful baby elephants to towering giraffes. Besides, the setting of the African country gives a whole other dimension to the chemistry going between good old Victor and good old Kelly (that's their names), it is not to just about sending flowers and playing serenades, it's the good old 'rumble in the jungle', the "you Clark, me Ava", the game that plays between all the animals and make the strongest one get the girl.At one moment, she gets in his arms, scared by good old Joe, the name of Victor's pet snake, but savoring that tender moment on his torso, she concedes that a man like Victor wouldn't need old Joe to get a girl in his arms. If there's no sexual innuendo behind that, then I haven't seen enough movies in my life. But still, this would be too easy, if Kelly and Victor were alone on that safari, no sir, in the animal world, it's all about earning your love, like two hippos fighting to get the female. But in the case of "Mogambo", it's two girls who fight for good old Gable, and the second one is the perfect match for the volcanic brunette, it's the classy blonde. And both were so invested they earned the two only Oscar nominations of the film.Grace Kelly is Linda Nordsley, the wife of Donald (Donald Sunden), an anthropologist who came to film gorillas, he's given the lousiest role as the cuckolded husband who can't see his woman fooling around. But this is Grace Kelly we're speaking of, and although she does fall in love with Gable and that love is mutual, we'll never cast the stone on her. Gable dwarfs any man in comparison, and being the king of the jungle, the wildlife expert and the most competent hunter to protect the weak female, all the knowledge, all the kindness in the world wouldn't compete with that.It all ends up with Gardner as Kelly becoming her greatest rival, she's in love with Victor because she's an earthy straight-forward woman, like him, and Linda loves him because he completes her. I'm not sure whether we're supposed to be similar or complementary, but I felt so sorry for Donald that I wished Linda wouldn't end up as Victor's trophy hunt from the safari, and what made me love Victor is that he felt guilty about it, too. And this leads to perhaps the greatest conclusion ever, precisely for its anticlimactic effect, Gable wants to get rid of Linda for her own good, so he gives her the best slap in the face since the D-word to Vivien Leigh, and if Grace Kelly can get away by being an unfaithful wife, Gable can get away with being rude with a woman.That was as perfect a conclusion as it could ever get … because the passion, the 'mogambo' thing the film is about, is that fluid going between Gable and Gardner, perfect for each other. They love nature, animal, tropical setting, because they got it in their veins, they're travelers, adventuring from place to place, heart to heart, until finding themselves through one's heart, in a way, they were their own trophy hunt. And somewhat, you can feel the Fordesque touch, Gable is to the jungle what Wayne is to Silicon Valley, and if a man like Victor had to end with a princess like Linda, well as Wayne would say, "that'll be the day".Now, of course, it would be easy to discuss of all the colonial, borderline racist, elements dating the film, and I concede there are several, but this film is about escapism, it provides some of the greatest shots of African wildlife and in its own way, can be seen as a perfect documentary matching the quality of National geographic, not that it was intended, but the film has a pedagogical value and for that, Ford deserves credit.So it's irrelevant to discuss about racism because the film is like a Vaudeville in Safari-land, with so much fun that it's clear it doesn't take itself seriously, it's all about the burning passion between three of the era's hottest stars in the world's hottest place, making "Mogambo" the hottest thing Hollywood Golden Age could ever express.

Western director John Ford was more or less asleep at the wheel on this jungle epic, with the stars given a tepid script rife with fifties clichés about the roles men and women play in the moral scheme of things. Gable had done the same role some 20 years earlier in the hugely entertaining, zippy precode Red Dust with sassy Jean Harlow and salty Mary Astor, but Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner, while holding their own in the beauty department, are given next to nothing to work with, except perhaps for Ava's tussle in the mud with a baby elephant. Gable goes through the motions of being The Great White Hunter with his customary professionalism, but looks fairly bored. The idea of hunting down and killing gorillas is certainly as outmoded today as the romantic clichés--but there is some excellent footage of native African dances and some nice scenery,though nothing one can't see to more advantage in a National Geographicspecial. Recommended only for star fans as Saturday matinée material.

Mogambo stars Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly. In the early 1950s, Hollywood was trying to find some formula to get people out of their living rooms watching TV and back to the theater, so took their top stars to Africa on safari. That'll show those upstarts! This was a big hit and is one of the better uses of the great grasslands, and uplands, of Africa and the animals who live there. The gorilla scenes are marvelous too, but the attitude that shooting animals and/or catching them for display in zoos, is backward. Gardner steals the film from goody two shoes Grace. Grace may have gotten a prince in real life, but Ava got 'The King' of films in this movie and, according to bios, in real life. There is no music score. Only the chants and sounds of Africa. So effective and one of the first films to use the system. Remake of Red Dust which also starred Gable with the blond bombshell - Jean Harlow. Earlier film was fun, but this safari does it for me. 8/10

Mogambo, 1953, is bound to be compared with Red Dust, 1932. The two films are based on the same stage play by Wilson Collison; the same man, John Lee Mahin, wrote both screenplays, some of the lines are even the same; the three main characters and the love triangle (or quadrangle) they form is the same; the leading man is played by the same actor, Clark Gable; and if you saw the first film, then you already know the "bang-up" ending.Many people will find the later film the weaker of the two, but I believe that if it is viewed for what it is, instead of for what it is not, it is not bad value for money. What made Red Dust a winner was Jean Harlow, her snappy witty lines, and the sweaty sensuality of the screen chemistry between her and Gable. That is what Mogambo is not; but it has a number of other things to offer instead. While most of the secondary characters in Red Dust, including the character of the adulterous wife (originally played by Mary Astor), are cast into the shadows by the sizzling repartee between Harlow and Gable, Mogambo allows the corresponding characters to develop and show some depth. In Mogambo, the motivations and inner conflicts of the adulterous wife (now played by Grace Kelly) are explored. The sappy jilted husband is given a great deal more depth in the later film than in the earlier one. And Gable's right-hand man, Brownie, is given a more substantial part as well. This makes the later film more rounded and the characters more believable, whereas the earlier film was basically a stage duel between the barbarian and the hooker. Red Dust has a sort of Who's-Afraid-of-Virginia-Woolf claustrophobia about it; it could have been entirely played out on a single indoor stage set. Mogambo features John Ford's typical outdoorsy-ness, some pretty spectacular wildlife photography (for 1950), and a rather tense confrontation with a tribe of angry, bare-breasted, spear-wielding natives (real Africans!). Not Ford's or Gable's best by any means, but a good solid show, worth 7 out of 10.Gable plays the same boorish, over-confident, God's-gift-to-women type in both films, but mellowed a bit (like wine, I mean). Whether you like that kind of man or not, you have to admit that he played it with grace and poise, and he showed that he could still do it 20 years on. The Gable character has been criticized by other reviewers for being incoherent or sappy. I disagree: he shows himself to be a man of raw courage, facing down wild animals, a savage tribe, a storm, etc., but finds he has lost his nerve when it comes to confronting the wimpy clueless husband. It takes Gardner to show him it wasn't cowardice, but that he did the decent thing after all.Grace Kelly takes over the role of the adulterous wife, a mere 27 years old (so we are told) and very naive; it takes Gable's experience, wisdom, and bluntness to make her see that she does not love her husband, whom she has known since she was five. Her performance has been criticized as confused and incoherent, and Gable too old to be attractive to her; but I can well believe that a sheltered girl who married her childhood-love would be pretty confused and dotty after the first 'real man' she had ever met had heroically saved her life twice in one week. Her distress and confusion are well played, and she screams well when confronted by a panther.Ava Gardner--well, what can one say that hasn't been already? The scene in which Gardner darts into the tribal missionary church and genuflects while the rest of the safari party go on about their business, gives her character an unexpected dimension the Harlow character lacked. I think it shows grand professionalism on Gable's part that he apparently quite happily let Gardner steal scene after scene. I guess Gable didn't have to prove anything to anyone anymore.