TikiSoo Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 OK I know it's a re-make of Red Dust which some will argue is superior, but I want to know your thoughts on Mogambo as a film. After seeing bits & pieces of it I finally watched the entire movie last night and was hugely disappointed. There was no attempt to blend "Hollywood Africa" and "Authentic Africa" scenes-the transition in lighting & staging was jarring. It can be done better, we know it can, it just seems like the director didn't bother trying. As for the director, I have tried my darndest to like John Ford's work. Overall, I find his directing heavy handed and often inappropriate in close vs wide shots. Specifically in this movie, both the female leads (Grace Kelly, Ava Gardner) seem "coached" as if in a high school play. I know both actresses have talent, they've given subtle and strong performances in other films. But in Mogambo, Kelly overacts and is cloyingly silly in the introduction scenes. No woman would act like she did in the tent with her husband. Oh, unless she was 16. And poor Ava Gardner is so forced and over-the-top you can't believe her for one minute. She's like a cartoon charactor. She's usually so smooth, even if her charactor is rattled. Did John Ford hate women? The female portrayals in Mogambo really seem forced and juvenile, not typical for those actresses. But as usual, Gable was relaxed and commanding. He seems the only one to escape Ford's heavy handling. Link to post Share on other sites
brackenhe Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I guess I'm a little more charitable re Ava Gardner, who I think is the best thing about this movie. While in the original, I can buy Gable as this man to whom both women are attracted, he comes off as old & tired in this. It's sorta creepy really. You're right--it's not very good, especially compared to Red Dust, IMO. Link to post Share on other sites
Terrence1 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I'm like Helenbaby. I think Ava Gardner is the best reason to watch this movie. I've always found it strange that she was nominated for an Oscar for this. I think she deserved the nomination much more for "Show Boat", even though it was a supporting role. Terrence. Link to post Share on other sites
JefCostello Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Stars Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly in the same movie. That's what always makes me want to watch it. Link to post Share on other sites
bansi4 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Ava Gardner IS the reason to watch "Mogambo"! The lady is terrific as the character Kelly, who has the hots for Gable. She certainly deserved her best actress Oscar nomination. Link to post Share on other sites
FredCDobbs Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I like this film a lot, but originally I had to get over the idea that this was a re-make of "Red Dust". Red Dust is unique, and Mogambo is a different film with mostly different actors, and a different story. Link to post Share on other sites
BigFaceSmallRazor Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 It may be a different story but it's the same plot. Link to post Share on other sites
bagladymimi Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Actually, I agree with most everything said about this. Ava Gardner stands out in everything she does, even in this tired film. But what I find most interesting about this is that Gable was looking forward to working with John Ford. But Robert O. said that they didn't get along at all. In fact, by the end of the film, they weren't even speaking. Maybe Ford was tired too - that's why the film gives you that feeling that it is tired and the acting forced. And especially when compared with RED DUST which was alive with firey fun, adventure, and sex appeal. And in my opinion, Grace Kelly was just "window dressing." Link to post Share on other sites
bagladymimi Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 You know, he may not have liked women actors. I can think of only one woman who seemed to have strong roles in Ford's films and that was Maureen O'Hara. No other actress stands out in my mind as even being remembered in any of his films. I never thought about that before! Link to post Share on other sites
brackenhe Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 I can think of a couple of women in his films that have good strong roles. Seven Women may not be the best Ford film but I enjoy it mainly because of the strong women, especially Anne Bancroft. Claire Trevor as the down on her luck prostitute in Stagecoach is excellent. Mildred Natwick & Joanne Dru in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon are wise & smarter than all the men put together. Vera Miles in The Searchers. I know that it's easy to forget these women (as well as some I haven't mentioned) but I do think he usually had some women in his movies that sometimes had to be the voice of reason & gives humanizing qualities to his male characters. Just my opinion. He worked with O'hara the most, but I think that the chemistry between her & John Wayne explains why. Link to post Share on other sites
fredbaetz Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Mildred Natwick in Ford's "The Long Voyage Home" as the hooker, in Ford;s "The Quite Man" as the "Widow Tillane" and the dying mother in "3 Godfathers" was part of Ford's stock company. Vera Miles, Betsy Palmer and Constance Towers did 2 films each with him. Anna Lee, another one of his stock company did 6 films and a TV show he directed "Wagon Train". Ford wasn't happy with Anne Bancroft in "7 Women", she had replaced Patricia Neal who suffered a stroke during filming. I just watched it again recently and though it was better then a lot of others said... Link to post Share on other sites
JonasEB Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Mogambo is the superior film, if only for the montage where Grace Kelly goes out for a walk, falls into danger, and is pursued by Clark Gable - a level of sophistication there that Red Dust simply doesn't have...and way sexier as well. Not to mention the entirely diagetic, extremely atmospheric soundtrack (in an MGM film! in 1952!) Link to post Share on other sites
charsize Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 The only thing I thought was hard to swallow in both versions of this film is how they both "fell in love" so quickly. I could have bought it if they were hot for each other and wanted to have a sexual affair, but to be in love so much so that they were willing to have the disgrace of a divorce based on infidelilty after only knowing each other a few days? Unbelievable. Link to post Share on other sites
crowman Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 I'm easy. I love both movies! I saw Mogambo 1st and had to have it. Yes, Grace Kelly was good, but Ava was wonderful in that movie. I became an Ava fan after seeing it. Once I heard of Red Dust I couldn't wait to see it. I can't help it, I love both. Jean Harlow was really fun in her role. I watch both any time I get the chance. Link to post Share on other sites
DownGoesFrazier Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Ava WAS great, better (and sexier) than Harlow in the original. Link to post Share on other sites
michaelryan Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Its interesting that Clark's name in the film is Vic.This was his respect for his friend Victor Fleming who directed him in "Red Dust" and from whom he created the Gable image that we all enjoy. Link to post Share on other sites
DownGoesFrazier Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Gable's name in THE HUCKSTERS was also "Vic". Link to post Share on other sites
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