Main Cast: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Hildegarde Neff, Leo G. Carroll
Release Year: 1952
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
Plot
Ernest Hemingway could never come to terms with Hollywood's preoccupation with The Happy Ending: he accepted the money for the screen rights to his short story The Snows of Kilimanjaro, but he could never bring himself to watch it. Gregory Peck plays a character based, in decidedly unflattering fashion, on Hemingway crony F. Scott Fitzgerald. While hunting in the African mountains in the company of his faithful lady friend Susan Hayward, Peck is seriously wounded; in fact, it doesn't look as though he'll survive the night. In the few hours he has left, Peck reflects upon what he considers a wasted life. Having aspired to be the Great American Novelist, Peck has only turned out money-making drivel. The only time that he truly felt as though he'd made a contribution to the world was when he fought on the Loyalist side in Spain (this element isn't in the short story, but is drawn from Hemingway's own experiences). As for his lost romance with his late wife Ava Gardner, Peck still cannot figure out what went wrong. The Hemingway original ended with the Peck character dying from his wounds; producer Darryl F. Zanuck wouldn't hear of this, preferring that Peck survive with the resolve to write something of lasting value. The Technicolor location photography of Leon Shamroy and the rumbling musical score of Bernard Herrmann are the main attractions of The Snows of Kilimanjaro. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A tremendous hit when first released, The Snows of Kilimanjaro has not aged well over the years. Almost any screen adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway tale is faced with a difficulty: Hemingway's strong suit is his style, which is heightened and artificial. It works beautifully on the page, but translated into actual dialogue, it comes across as both flighty and stiff, and quite unnatural. Casey Robinson's screenplay does a decent job of bringing things halfway back to earth, but it ends up in a bit of a no-man's land, not really Hemingway, but not quite the real world either. Visually, however, Kilimanjaro is a feast, with Leon Shamroy's camera capturing the full beauty of its often-stunning locations and also finding emotion -- warmth, joy, and tension -- in the "character" scenes. The art direction is lovely, and the trio of stars is very, very easy on the eyes, especially the delectable Ava Gardner. Gardner and Gregory Peck create the appropriate romantic chemistry, and audiences will be drawn in by their performances, but Susan Hayward is unfortunately wasted in a role that gives her too little to do. Despite the flaws in its screenplay (and in Henry King's direction, which is uneven), there's still enough here to engage most fans of romance movies. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Torin Thatcher - Johnson; Ava Norring - Beatrice; Helene Stanley - Connie; Marcel Dalio - Emile; Vincente Gomez - Guitarist; Leonard Carey - Dr. Simmons; Paul Thompson - Witch Doctor; Emmett E. Smith - Molo; Victor Wood - Charles; Bert Freed - American Soldier; Janine Grandel - Annette; John Dodsworth - Compton; Charley Bates - Harry at Age 17; Lisa Ferraday - Vendeuse; Maya Van Horn - Princess; Ivan Lebedeff - Marquis; Richard Arlen - Spanish Dancer; Salvador Baguez; Martin Garralaga - Spanish Officer; Julian Rivero - Old Waiter; Edward Colmans - Clerk; George Navarro - Stretcher Bearer; George Davis - Servant
The story centers on the memories of a writer Harry (Gregory Peck) who is on safari in Africa. He has contracted a severely infected wound from a thorn prick, and lies outside his tent awaiting a slow death. The loss of mobility brings self-reflection. He remembers past years and how little he has accomplished in his writing. He realizes that although he has seen and experienced wonderful and astonishing things during his life, he had never made a record of the events. His status as a writer is undermined by his reluctance actually to write. He also quarrels with the woman with him, blaming her for his living decadently and forgetting his failure to write of what really matters to him: his experiences among poor and "interesting" people, rather than the smart Europeans with whom he has been with latterly.
Diverging from the original story, Harry does not die. Despite the unwanted attentions of a witch doctor, perhaps, or maybe his own will to live and correct his mistakes - whatever the cause, it results in his living to see morning come. He watches vultures gather in a tree as he lies in the evening. He recapitulates his life and talks to his current girl-friend. He tells her about his past experiences; then arguing, then coming to realization about his attitude, and finally reaching a sort of peace, even love, with her.
