What would Papa have said about this one?

jotix100

Ernest Hemingway, one of the most admired writers of the last century, was alive when this movie came out in 1952. One wonders what did Mr. Hemingway think the creative 'geniuses' behind this film did to "The Snows of Killimanjaro"? Hollywood didn't do so well in adapting Papa's novels to the screen, but who knows, he must have been able to pay for another safari to Africa, or maybe another fishing trip with the "old man" in Cuba with the money he got after he sold the film's rights. As a novel, "The Snows of Killimanjaro" was not one of Mr. Hemingway's best works.

God only knows that what director Henry King and his team had in mind when they undertook to do the film based on Hemingway's novel? Maybe Mr. King wanted to travel to all the places in which the action is set. The only thing one can say is that after more than fifty years this wasn't a good film then, or now.

The acting is bad in general. Gregory Peck, an otherwise brilliant actor, does nothing to bring Harry Street to life. The Helen of Susan Hayward is at times horrible and completely silly. Ava Gardner's as a driver for the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War? Give me a break! There is one scene in which Harry and Cynthia are dining and drinking in a Madrid restaurant which features a male flamenco dancer who bears an uncanny resemblance to Tyrone Power, and we wondered if this Richard Allan, who is credited with the dancing and charming Ava, was in reality Mr. Power performing an inside joke? Did anyone notice it, or was it me?

At any rate, "The Snows of Killimanjaro", is a film to watch at the viewer's own risk.

score 1/10

jotix100 16 April 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1061173/