Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

gkeith_1 Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.Female conflict. Hot, flashy Ava. Cold, repressed Grace. You can see Grace eyeing Ava's curvy costume at the first meeting. Grace is dressed up like some ladylike spinster complete with sensible thick-heeled walking shoes. She almost ogles Ava, in a way, almost jealous that Ava looks like a real woman.Gable with the exposed knees. Hubba-hubba. Ava goes out of her way to compliment him. She evens commands him to throw her robe into her shower, while knowing it's his property and his soap. She takes a lot of license.Ava is so loving with the animals. She wants to feed them and play with them. She is comfortable walking outdoors in the pouring rain. Meanwhile, Grace, the uptight fuddy-duddy who she is, is so naïve that she wants to get in those clunky walking shoes and explore the countryside. Lo and behold, after seeing some wild animals fighting and devouring each other, she falls into a large hole after a scary gigantic black cat tells her to stop acting so stupid. Ava would have charmed the little feline darling.

Greekguy In John Ford's "Mogambo", a remake of Victor Fleming's "Red Dust" from 1932, Clark Gable (who also starred in the Fleming film) plays a "great white hunter" – his character even uses the term, minus the adjective "great", in a disparaging self-description – who has a thing first for Kelly, a worldly young woman (Ava Gardner) stranded at his safari camp and then, shortly after, falls hard for Mrs. Nordley(Grace Kelly), the wife of one of his safari clients (Donald Sinden).It's rather unusual to find a remake of a film in which the lead is the same as in the original – Sean Connery in "Thunderball" and "Never Say Never Again" springs to mind, thanks in part to the memorable clue that is the title of the remake - but when it does happen, it's an interesting situation for the viewer. Obviously, comparisons will inevitably occur, so let's clear the big plate off the table right away and agree that "Mogambo", much like "Never Say Never Again", is not as good a film as its original version. At all. The secondary characters are, in general, underdeveloped – Eric Pohlmann and Philip Stainton are simply clichés – and, as his would-be primary love interest, Grace Kelly is weak. On the other hand, it is worth watching, particularly if you've seen the earlier film, and not only to see how the legend of Gable, accrued over his career, weighs on that same actor's shoulders in this updated African take on the classic love triangle. Ava Gardner is distracting and light, not the incredible sexual force that Jean Harlow was in the first film, and there's a wonderful sequence involving gorillas that makes all of the rest of the stock footage from wildlife shots look Tarzan-amateur; in fact, the quasi-Tarzan feel that runs through most of the film carries its own irony, given that Gable had apparently been in the running for the role of the Ape Man that Weissmuller landed in 1932.For me, this film is a special treat because of a terrific back-story that my Galician friend told me about it. During the Franco years in Spain, there was heavy censorship of film themes and content, which was often made easier by the practice of dubbing rather than using subtitles. When this film was distributed into Spain, because the idea of adultery was unacceptable to the dictatorship, the theme of "Mogambo" was changed, just a little, in the dubbing. Mrs Nordley, the wife, was quietly and quickly changed, thanks to a few alterations in the dialogue, into Mr. Nordley's sister. Apparently, it was less uncomfortable for the powers in charge to watch scenes ostensibly between a brother and sister that were therefore fraught with incestuous tension than to imagine for a moment that a wife might stray from her marital path.

ElMaruecan82 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.

Robert J. Maxwell This is a remake of "Red Dust" from the 1930s and Clark Gable plays the same role -- the white professional guide through the African jungle who also collects animals for zoos and circuses. He's hired by a naive anthropologist and his wife, Kelly, to take them into the bush and shoot movies of gorillas and trap a baby gorilla to study back home.Gable's dalliance with tough but good-natured Ava Gardner is interrupted but he doesn't mind, once he gets an eyeful of the delicate blond Grace Kelly. She's overwhelmed by the cloud of pheromones that follows Gable about and he, in turn, decides that this time it's for keeps.But then there's that awkward business of letting the wimpy husband in on their plans. And that noisome Ava Gardner is always hanging around, all knowingly, making wisecracks about the new love affair. I mean, it gets racy too. Their truck passes a male elephant who trumpets and uncurls his trunk straight out into the air. "Reminds me of somebody I know," cracks Gardener.In the end, Gable comes to his senses, tricks Kelly into loathing him, and marries the woman he was truly meant to be with, the one who is as resilient and durable as he is.It wasn't an easy shoot. Director Ford was beginning to feel his age. Gable insisted on going off to hunt big game. Ford thought it was dangerous and stupid. Frank Sinatra, married to Ava Gardner at the time, showed up on location and everyone expected him to act like the Chairman of the Board -- "Here, pal, here's fifty; go take a hike." Instead, at Ford's request, he was put to use making spaghetti for the crew. Gable had been through much tribulation since "Red Dust", twenty years earlier, and had begun drinking, but he'd help up well, considering.Grace Kelly should have been right for the part of the naive young wife. She looks appealing enough and seems frangible, as if anyone could break one of her long bones just be pressing it too hard, but she's allowed to overact. Ava Gardner never looked more attractive or sexier. Jean Harlow brought a note of stronger vulgarity to the role. Gardner seems a little too nice, despite the acidulous dialog.The movie is entertaining and colorful but seems oddly dated. Every movie about Africa is compelled to give us shots of African animals that, I suppose, a hundred years earlier were still novel. Yes, that's a cheetah, alright. We saw a National Geographic Special about cheetahs just last week. Fastest mammals on earth, y'know? They're no longer gape worthy. They have to play some part in the story if we're going to pay attention any longer.And I don't know why people don't leave gorillas and other primates alone. There aren't that many of them left. We're destroying them through habitat destruction and poaching. Why would anyone want to point a high-powered rifle at a great ape and shoot it dead? They don't do anything but eat fruit and vegetables. I wonder if humans might have more compassion for gorillas if they saw them naked and shaved, as I did when I studied comparative primatology. The male appendage is positively tiny compared to ours. Well, that probably wouldn't make us pause before killing them anyway. We'll stop when there are no more left.Anyway, it's a satisfying movie that ought to interest the family, assuming the kids don't grasp the symbolic significance of elephant trunks. "Red Dust" -- studio-bound as it is -- is still better.