Mogambo - Warner Archive Collection

One strategy Hollywood employed to fend off the encroaching threat of television before the advent of CinemaScope was to hit the road. Traveling across the globe to shoot a movie instead of recreating locations on a studio soundstage or backlot often resulted in a box office bump, as the allure of exotic locales enticed viewers back into theaters. Africa was a popular destination because it was largely unexplored by average Americans and afforded audiences the opportunity to see wildlife in its natural habitat instead of behind bars in a zoo. The African Queen and King Solomon's Mines turned lucrative profits by transporting audiences to what was then known as the Dark Continent, so when MGM decided to make Mogambo, a redo of its 1932 hit drama Red Dust, it shifted the action from a Vietnamese rubber plantation to a commercial safari company and sent the cast and crew off to Africa.

The gamble paid off. Mogambo sold plenty of tickets, but like most remakes, it pales when compared to the original. That's a bit of a surprise considering its director is the esteemed John Ford. The titillating triangle tale doesn't play as well in the African outback, and try as he might, even the talented Ford can't combat the constraints of censorship that take most of the wind out of Mogambo's sails. While Red Dust is a sexy, rough-and-tumble pre-Code film that grabs us from the get-go and doesn't release its grip until the fadeout, Mogambo runs a good half-hour longer and pads its plot with unnecessary detours that drag on too long. The leisurely pacing diffuses tension, and most of the steamy sensuality and spicy innuendoes that pepper Red Dust were quashed by the Production Code. As a result, Mogambo looks pretty, but unlike the wild animals roaming the prairie, it's also pretty tame. The film lands a few dramatic punches, but lacks the requisite zip and zing to make it memorable.

Whether it was wise to allow Clark Gable to reprise his role 20 years later is debatable. He's definitely older, grayer, and pudgier, but he's Gable nonetheless, and he commands the screen with his customary macho bravado. Though his character's name has been changed from Dennis Carson to the more refined Victor Marswell, his rugged life and square-jawed demeanor are still disrupted by two beautiful women. When New York showgirl Eloise "Honeybear" Kelly (Ava Gardner) arrives unexpectedly for a rendezvous with the safari company's owner, an irritated Victor bluntly informs her he's flown the coop and returned to his native India, leaving Eloise high and dry. She's miffed, to say the least.

Stuck for a week in the bungalow that houses Victor and his crew, Eloise breaks down Victor's defenses and the two enjoy a bawdy, boozy, week-long fling while she waits for the next boat to bring her back to civilization. Eloise is definitely Victor's kind of dame, but when the boat arrives and he bids her a brusque goodbye, he greets British anthropologist Donald Nordley (Donald Sinden) and his veddy-veddy proper (and very, very pretty) wife Linda (Grace Kelly). Donald has come to Africa to study gorillas, but it soon becomes clear Victor would rather study Linda and awaken her animal impulses than shepherd Donald to the remote and dangerous area where the apes breed. Victor's fascination with Linda of course irks the earthy Eloise, who turns up again like a bad penny after the riverboat crashes and this time leaves her high and soaking wet.

Sparks and barbs inevitably fly as the two felines vie for the king of the jungle's attention, leading to an explosive showdown.

Watching Red Dust and Mogambo almost back to back (Warner Archive released Red Dust on Blu-ray in January and Mogambo in February) makes it easier to identify and dwell on Mogambo's deficiencies, which is a shame, because Mogambo - on its own - is not a bad movie by any means. The scenery, stars, story, and cinematography are all first-rate, but the film never adds up to the sum of its parts and never measures up to Red Dust. Mogambo's faults aren't major, but they're magnified in a side-by-side comparison.

The location shooting earns Mogambo huge points and lends the drama essential authenticity by showcasing the captivating wildlife and colorful, primitive culture of the native tribes. The often breathtaking footage of zebras, lions, giraffes, leopards, and gorillas - as well as a charming interaction between Gardner and an overly playful baby elephant that includes an unplanned mishap that Ford kept in the film - immerses us in the African atmosphere, yet on the flip side, all that footage and native pageantry works against the movie by ballooning its running time with lengthy travelogue and tribal sequences that stall the narrative. In addition, several instances where location sequences are jarringly and awkwardly intercut with fake jungle scenes shot on a soundstage break the movie's spell.

Gardner, though, is Mogambo's most beautiful animal, and she steals the movie with a heartfelt portrayal that earned her the only Best Actress Oscar nomination of her career. (She lost to Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday.) I'm not quite sure why her performance was deemed Oscar-worthy - though her work is free of affectation, she doesn't have any highly charged emotional scenes - but she's very believable as the jilted showgirl who holds a torch for a man who doesn't have the brains to realize she's his perfect mate. Her part is softer and less sassy than Jean Harlow's in Red Dust, but she enjoys good chemistry with Gable, despite the almost 23-year age difference.

Kelly was 28 years younger than Gable, and their romance is far less credible, despite their reported off-screen affair during shooting. Kelly, who's no slouch in the beauty department either, also nabbed an Oscar nod in the supporting category (she lost to Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity), but her actress-y portrayal lacks the rawness and naked desire that fueled Mary Astor's electric turn in Red Dust. Mogambo was only Kelly's third movie, and though she holds her own with Gable and Gardner, her inexperience is evident.

Ford is a bona fide master craftsman with four Oscars to his name, but he seems to direct Mogambo on autopilot. Maybe he's letting Africa speak for itself and doesn't want to upstage the wildlife and landscapes or maybe he wasn't enthusiastic about helming a remake, but the film lacks his trademark vigor and some annoying choppiness disrupts its flow. Screenwriter John Lee Mahin refashions his own Red Dust script, but most of the snappy wisecracks and sarcasm that made Red Dust sparkle are nowhere to be found here. Any playfulness in Mogambo feels a bit forced (except for Gardner's pachydermic entanglement), and without that free-wheeling ribaldry, the film is just another jungle adventure.

If there was never a Red Dust, Mogambo would surely enjoy a loftier reputation. While it's fun to compare the two films and while I'm thrilled to add this stunning Mogambo Blu-ray to my collection, this better-than-average remake only makes me appreciate the original all the more. Young Gable vs. old Gable, Harlow vs. Gardner, Astor vs. Kelly, rubber plantation vs. jungle safari, pre-Code vs. Production Code, Harlow bathing in a rain barrel vs. Gardner in the shower...Red Dust wins every contest. Yet Mogambo isn't exactly chopped liver. It's a slick, solid piece of entertainment that rises above many movies in its class. It's certainly worthy of a spin, even if you're a Red Dust fan.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Mogambo arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original Technicolor negatives yields a lush, vibrant 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer that showcases the African terrain and wildlife and celebrates the breathtaking beauty of Gardner and Kelly. It's also a huge step up from the 2004 DVD. The original grain structure remains intact and produces a lovely film-like image that faithfully honors the sumptuous cinematography of Robert Surtees and Freddie Young, who won six Oscars (three each) and earned a combined 21 nominations.

Excellent clarity and contrast, rich blacks, crisp whites, and top-notch shadow delineation enhance the picture, which brims with detail and depth, but it's the eye-popping color that steals the show. Gardner's emerald green blouse and blazing red lipstick, Gable's red bandana, a yellow umbrella, and the multi-colored native garb are all superbly rendered. while flesh tones appear natural and remain stable throughout. Crystalline close-ups highlight the finely clipped hairs of Gable's signature mustache and allow us to drink in the glamor that oozes from Gardner's and Kelly's pores.

The Blu-ray image boasts significantly more vibrancy and sharpness and richer color than the DVD. The spotless source material looks vivid and fresh, as all the nicks, marks, scratches, and blotches that littered the DVD transfer have been meticulously erased. Without question, Mogambo has never looked better, and an upgrade is mandatory for fans of this rugged, outdoorsy film.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track outputs solid sound that helps immerse us in the African wilderness. Sonic accents like the roars of leopards and lions, gunfire, thunder rumbles, and the howling wind are distinct, while subtleties like rustling brush and chirping crickets nicely shade the action. A wide dynamic scale captures all the beating drums and varied vocalizing of the native tribes without any distortion (the movie has no music score), all the dialogue is well prioritized and easy to comprehend, and no age-related hiss, pops, or crackle intrude. The remastered audio bests the lossy Dolby Digital track on the DVD, providing a more full-size aural experience.

Warner Archive imports the trailer from the 2004 DVD and beefs up the Blu-ray disc with a couple of other vintage extras.

• Vintage Short: Land of the Ugly Duckling (SD, 9 minutes) - This episode of the popular TravelTalks series narrated by James FitzPatrick takes us to Norway and showcases the bucolic milieu of the legendary children's writer Hans Christian Andersen.
• Vintage Cartoon: Just Ducky (SD, 7 minutes) - In this rollicking Tom & Jerry cartoon, Jerry makes friends with a stray duckling who's lost his flock, and tries to shield him from the salivating, voracious Tom, who would love to have some duck for dinner.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 3 minutes) - The film's original preview hypes Mogambo as "unlike anything ever brought to the screen" and heralds Gable's role as his best since Gone with the Wind.

Mogambo can't top Red Dust, but it stands on its own as an entertaining picture that maximizes its African location and the palpable allure of Gardner and Kelly. Gable is Gable, as always, and that's hardly a bad thing, but the true star of this disc is the breathtaking five-star transfer struck from a 4K scan of the original Technicolor negatives. The sumptuous picture delights the eye, and the remastered audio and vintage supplements enhance the appeal of this welcome companion to the incomparable Red Dust. Highly Recommended. 

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