Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is taunt and good. It presents the way one expects a Hemingway story to present. It held my interest from beginning to end. Is this a love triangle? Is this a film noir set on an African safari? I liked it because the cast was limited with only three principle characters: Wilson (Gregory Peck) as the guide on the African safari, and a husband and wife, Mr & Mrs. Macober (Robert Preston & Joan Bennett), with deep-set marital problems. Perhaps, Wilson was right when he said, it is not good to take a woman on safari. The back and forth emotions that occur on this safari mirror the stages of the safari and uncover the yin & yang of the husband and wife, and finally draw in Wilson too. It was a good hunt and all was well.The kills were clean---or where they?

I liked this film the first time I watched it, but liked even more this second time around. Of course, our attitude toward big game hunting in Africa has changed in today's world. But that's just the setting...what the film is really about is courage versus cowardice.Robert Preston (Francis Macomber) has decided to do some big game hunting in Kenya, in part, apparently to prove his manhood to his not very loving wife (Joan Bennett). Gregory Peck is the professional hungting guide. Preston runs in fear when a lion attacks, only setting up more disdain on the part of his wife. Bennett seems to have designs on Peck. During a later day of hunting, Bennett shoots her husband in the back of the head when an African buffalo charges. The question is whether it was an accident or intentional. Based on the look of Bennett's face when it happens, it seems perfectly clear that it was an accident. Back in the village, the death is investigated by Reginald Denny, the British Police Inspector. The problem is that Peck began to like the husband and questions whether the shot that killed him was actually an accident...after all, Bennett had every motive.There are a couple of problems with this film. First, it's understandable why Bennett would be attracted to Peck, but why would an intelligent man like Peck's character be attracted to Bennett, who clearly treats her husband so poorly? The other problem is the big game sequences which probably were shot in Africa years earlier. In one, the lion that has been shot with guns only dies from a spear. Huh??? The second problem here is the ending of the film, which I found totally unsatisfactory. It just ended with Bennett walking toward the courtroom door...but we never find out if she was convicted or not. It was almost as if they ran out of money before they finished the film.Joan Bennett is certainly not a very sympathetic character here, but it's a good (if not totally consistent) portrayal. It does show off Bennett's range when you go from this film in 1947 to "Father Of The Bride" in 1950. She was versatile in both drama and comedy. Her best scene here is when she explains why she had such disdain for her husband. In fact, it will change your whole viewpoint toward her and her husband.Gregory Peck is fine here -- wasn't he always? Although it mystifies me why his intelligent character would fall in love with a woman like the one Bennett plays.It isn't often than Gregory Peck was ever out-acted, but he was here by Robert Preston. I wish the script had fleshed out Preston's past just a bit more, but his acting as a man torn between wanting to be courageous, but bordering on cowardice is particularly strong. I wonder if this might not have been his best film. The film has some good points that make it very watchable, but also some real limitations. But if you focus on Preston's character, you realize he is the movie's real strength. It's a strong "7", although the print seen on TCM is not well preserved.

The same year that he made the magnificent "Gentleman's Agreement," Gregory Peck portrayed a safari tourist guide in this 1947 film.Joan Bennett is really something as she portrays a woman apparently trapped in a loveless marriage. Bennett is constantly condescending to her husband, Robert Preston, who gives a terrific performance as the emotionally scared man, afraid of life, a coward, who seems to attain manhood, only to meet up with a tragic end.Peck allows his kindly image to continue as the safari leader who falls for Bennett; his part called for more rugged individualism and would have best suited Robert Mitchum.The ending is questionable. Does the Bennett character get exonerated or imprisoned? What were the real circumstances that led her to pull the trigger?

In a certain sense this IS the most faithful filming of a Hemingway story. For one thing, it's probably the only one of his short stories that could be made into a full-length movie without adding some creative padding. (Cf. the first movie version of "The Killers," for instance: it's faithful almost to the letter for the first fifteen minutes, but then has to veer off into fantasy land to fill up the rest of the two hours.)But in another sense, "The Macomber Affair" misses the point or theme entirely in the way in which a certain element of the plot turns out. This has to do with the relationship between two of the characters. (If I revealed this change I would probably be including a "spoiler," so will refrain from telling any details. If you ever get a chance to see the movie, you'll understand what I mean.) Furthermore, EVERY character is miscast, though I must say that all three of the Principal actors do their best with the parts they've been thrown. Probably the most interesting thing about the film is that it deals quite directly with Margot's promiscuity--amazing for a movie of its time period. Despite my reservations, I highly recommend the film, and think it would be well worth re-issuing on video or DVD.