Strong and Moving!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck. Copyright 17 September 1952 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Rivoli: 18 September 1952. U.S. release: July 1953 (sic). U.K. release: 2 February 1953. Australian release: 18 December 1952. Sydney Opening at the Regent. 114 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Harry Street, an amazingly successful novelist, is near death at the foot of Kilimanjaro. Reviewing his life, particularly his thwarted romances with Cynthia and Liz, he decides to mend his ways, settle down with his third love, Helen, and even write something worthwhile.NOTES: Nominated for Academy Awards for Color Cinematography (won by The Quiet Man), and Color Art Direction (won by Moulin Rouge).Aided by a lavishly mounted publicity campaign which stressed the non-existent salacious qualities of the tedious script, the movie came in 3rd at the domestic box-office with a gross rentals take of $6½ million.Number 5 on the National Board of Review's American Ten Best of 1952. Best Actress of 1952, Susan Hayward (principally for her acting in With a Song In My Heart, but her performance in this one also influenced the voters) - Photoplay Gold Medal Award.COMMENT: Casey Robinson has reduced Hemingway to a wordy, sluggishly paced bore, hammily acted by Susan Hayward who is absolutely ridiculous as the distraught wife. Peck is likewise totally unbelievable and the other players are forced into an unequal struggle with their impossible characters. Leon Shamroy has tried to give the film a bit of atmospheric sheen and gloss (indeed the lighting is the film's best feature) but the plodding music score and Henry King's elephantine direction do not help. A bit of location footage (the stars stay firmly in the studio) helps but generally this is an overlong, long-winded, and decidedly dull disappointment.

For some reason, this 'classic' popped up on my radar, perhaps whilst I was reading my Jimmy Stewart bio (Go figure). Anyway, Gregory Peck takes a role that might have better been for suited to a laconic & reflective Jimmy Stewart. He is the adventurous, Hemingway-like male author, Harry Street, reflecting on his life and loves while he convalesces from a nasty infection in his leg. Devoted wife (#3?), played by Susan Hayward attends to his wound patiently whilst the two wait for medical help to arrive, all in the shadows of the mighty Kilimanjaro.That's it. Harry marries pretty wives Ava Gardner & Hildegard Knef and mistreats both, but his career as an author takes off, allowing him a lavish lifestyle and to travel, as he pleases (with no consideration for his current wife). We see all this in a series of flashbacks. Peck plays a good role, I suppose: it's just that not much happens. There are bullfighting action, and battle scenes from the Spanish Civil War, but at a pedestrian pace. We frequently toggle back to hear frantic chat between Peck and Hayward, prompting my wife to holler, Just die, will ya?Pacing and script seemed to be lacking. I wonder why the Director chose to make such a lengthy (1:54) cut? The story could have been told in 1 1/2 hours easily, cutting oodles of empty, repetitious talk.

Good heavens, this movie is boring! I don't know what was wrong with screenwriter Casey Robinson, or the people who read his script and didn't suggest a serious edit or rewrite, but if you can make it through this two hour film without nodding off, you deserve a medal. I couldn't.Gregory Peck is wounded, and the entire movie flashes back and forth between him being nursed by Susan Hayward and his reflections of his romance with Ava Gardner. Susan Hayward is one of my all-time favorite actresses, so if a movie of hers is terrible, there has to be a reason. I blame the screenplay, but you can blame Ernest Hemingway's original story if you like. Greg is written to be a wishy-washy, selfish, and annoying. It's tough to imagine Gregory Peck being unlikable, but believe me, he is in this movie. Even though he's wounded and sometimes delirious, he's just unlikable. I found myself wanting Susan Hayward to give up on him and let him fester.I realize Ava Gardner was a sex symbol, and that both on and off screen, men couldn't keep their hands off her, but I never understood why. I never found her appealing, so I didn't know why Greg kept dreaming of her when he had Susan Hayward sitting right next to him! If you want to see Greg and Ava, watch The Great Sinner instead. And if you want to see Greg and Susan, watch David and Bathsheba instead. There's really no reason to watch this one, unless you misplaced your sleeping pills.

THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO is one skillful combination between African sensationalism, human melodrama and vivid acting. A film that does not capture the quality, but the story of a writer and his hostility against life is pretty interesting. As a writer lies wounded and dazed in an African camp at the foot of the snowy slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, remembers events from his own life, returning to the past. Writing, women and hunting determined his life. In pursuit of them traveled the world of salons of bohemian Paris, the Spanish battlefields to the African plains. Now, in the shadow of the great mountain and impending death due to gangrene, trying to make sense of his life's failures.The main hero is presented in different states and moods. Despite solid well realized flashbacks, it's really hard to determine what state of mind is the real thing. Love intrigues and personal disappointment as the main character pushed into despair and depression. It is fascinating to see three different romance that eventually come to the same - disappointment. Exactly how much the hero respects himself. The protagonist does not like any of his wives. Simply, women are need. Now, all of a sudden he punishes himself for his mistakes in the past, although it is next to him a woman who truly loves him. It's a bit confusing, vague and unconvincing. However, the pictures stimulate and fascinate. Therefore, African mountains, isolation, pain, sadness and emotion have a special charm. Gregory Peck as Harry Street is temperamental writer who is lost in a melancholy mood. This situation also leads to some critical melancholia and depression. Performance of Mr. Peck is pretty solid, but I really bothered by the fact that his appearance in the film does not change. Ava Gardner as Cynthia Green is beautiful. One impulsive character but her role is unclear. Susan Hayward as Helen is the wife who is cold and gentle at the same time. Both with a reason.I will boast of the music, because it makes sense.In this film has plenty of action and romance.