I'm listening to Spanish Organ Music as played by Helmuth Rilling. Check it out on Youtube, I think it's one of the best recitals of Spanish Organ that I've heard, truly magnificent. I think I've gotta get back to listening and posting more examples of great music, as I was doing on a regular basis a few years ago. Well, at any rate, tonight's movie was called "Mogambo"(1953), a romance set against the backdrop of an African adventure, or maybe it's the other way around. The romance is complicated, because it's illicit, but more on that later.
"Mogambo" was directed by the legendary John Ford, he of the Monument Valley Westerns. This time Ford is in Kenya, with Clark Gable starring as Victor Marswell, a big game hunter who captures exotic animals for zoos and circuses. I will interject here to make a disclaimer and state the obvious : of course we all know it's not right to kill or trap animals, but the movie was made sixty six years ago, so get over it, and besides, Africa is not our continent. Director Ford was no stooge, and he shows that tribesmen had to live amongst nature and deal with the wild animals in their own way. My point is that it's not a cut and dried issue, and I can't stand the phoney baloney "woke" culture we are now having to deal with, as if these youngsters are the first generation on Earth to consider the plights of the meek. Geez Louise don't get me started.
Bring on Ava Gardner and I'll feel better. Thanks.
Gable is in Kenya preparing for his next safari, when he returns to his home on the outskirts of the jungle and discovers Gardner using his backyard shower. It's as good a Hollywood way as any to introduce romantic and sexual tension between two stars. It seems that Gardner, playing New York Socialite Eloise Kelly - was supposed to meet a Maharajah friend of hers at the safari check in, but for whatever reason (known only to the screenwriter) he wasn't there. So, being a free spirit, she decided to take a shower at Clark Gable's pad, and now they are introduced. It's all very John Ford, a clash of the sexes. The ultra-macho Gable is taken aback at a strange (but gorgeous) woman using his shower, and orders her away, after throwing her a bathrobe. But Ava's a quick study. She's got Gable's number; he's handsome but dumb. Now that the Maharaja has bailed on her, she insists on tagging along on the safari, if for no other reason than to get her money's worth for the travel expense. But what she really wants is Gable. All of this takes six or seven minutes and is a classic Hollywood set up. It plays great because of the charisma of the two stars.
Next to arrive are an English couple, Mr. and Mrs. Nordley (Donald Sinden and Grace Kelly). Mr. Nordley is an anthropologist who has paid for the safari so that he can document gorillas living in the wild. His wife is a nervous lady who doesn't care for exotic adventure, but being British she carries on like a trouper.
Gable is a horndog. First, he goes after the flirty Ava Gardner, but drops her like a hot potato the moment Grace Kelly shows up. He's really looking to get married. He can tell Mrs. Nordley doesn't love her husband, so he starts making up reasons to be with her while hubby is out photographing the apes. Gable acts as her protector from the dangers of the jungle, and they become close. Mrs. Nordley is very prim and proper, but Gable can tell she's attracted to him, so one day he does what any leading man of the era would do : he grabs Grace by the shoulders, turns her around and kisses her aggressively. I know this would be considered sexist now, and rightly so, but again this is 1953, and he's Clark Gable, which in Hollywood terms makes him irresistible to all women. So Grace Kelly naturally succumbs to his charms without a fight.
Meanwhile, Ava Gardner is well aware of what's going on. She's playing the role of the Wise Airhead, but really the emphasis is on the former. She's just pretending to be a lightweight, constantly making pithy remarks to ward off depression. She has a secret that's caused her to become nomadic, which is why she's in Africa in the first place. Also, just when she thought she'd found romance with Gable, along comes Grace Kelly to steal him away.
I was mad at Gable when he dumped Gardner for Kelly. He sees Ava as a "kid" (which is funny because in real life she was seven years older than Kelly), and she is somewhat childlike, but she's fun, funny, and nice. She plays with all the animals on Gable's property, and they all love her. Director Ford got some great footage of Ava Gardner goofing around with giraffes and elephants, baby rhinos and chimpanzees. I hadn't been aware of what a talented actress she was until we saw her in "The Son Also Rises", and she's even better here. In fact, her performance in "Mogambo" earned her a Best Actress nomination. Imagine a stunningly beautiful woman who's also really cool and down to earth (and smart, funny and fun) - that's Ava Gardner. Nothing against Grace Kelly, but she always played the Icy Type, so yeah, I couldn't understand what Clark Gable was thinking. But he was looking for "marriage material", so maybe he figured that, because she already was married, Kelly was the right choice haha.
But things are gonna get hairy when the safari gets underway, quite literally too if you consider the gorillas. John Ford used actual Kenyan tribesmen to act as guides, and he also inserted extra footage of African animals cavorting in their natural habitat, so the safari has a realistic look. Along the way, the group will stop at the home of a Catholic priest, a friend of Gable's who provides them lunch. This is another John Ford touch, the Irish Priest. Ava's character is Catholic, so she requests a Confession. Later on we will learn her secret, and she will also confront Clark Gable about breaking up the marriage of the Nordleys. She's got a broken heart, but it's made of gold.
"Mogambo" is no melodrama, however. Mostly it's a romantic adventure, played for fun. Ford sure knows how to photograph the African countryside, with locations in Kenya, Tanzania and the Congo. He's no slouch either at getting the best out of Gardner and Kelly, using close ups that look torn from glamour magazines. I loved this movie, a perfect post-Christmas Popcorn Flick, and therefore I give it Two Very Big Thumbs Up. I will also be looking for more Ava Gardner movies as she is a new favorite. ////
That's all for the time being. Boy of boy was it ever cold last night! Got down to 36 degrees. Thankfully there was no wind, and it's calm out right now, so I'm gonna do a quick CSUN walk, then head back to Pearl's. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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