Mogambo

A married anthropologist (Grace Kelly) and a chorus girl (Ava Gardner) fight over a hunter (Clark Gable) in Africa.

Time has not been kind to Mogambo. The overwrought melodrama, grainy jungle footage, and 1950s sensibilities are all glaringly obvious fifty some years later, and, were it not for the combined star power of Clark Gable, Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner, Mogambo would be entirely forgettable.

Director John Ford seems unsure just how best to combine the script’s two stories, one an adventure showcasing the wilds of Africa, and another involving a man torn between good-girl Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner. One suspects John Huston would have done a better job, but he’d already made his Africa movie with The African Queen and would make his man-torn-between good girl and Ava Gardner later in The Night of the Iguana.

Thus we’re stuck with a frustrating film that often hints at greatness, whether it be the location photography, or the chemistry between Gable and Kelly, but never follows through, and, at almost two hours, becomes somewhat tedious by the time the credits roll.