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.
Review of Mogambo
