''Killers of Kilimanjaro'' is a 1959 British

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by

Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe (born Rollo Smolt Thorpe; February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Biography Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, Richard Thorpe began his ...

and starring Robert Taylor,

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...

, Anne Aubrey and

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

for Warwick Films. The film was originally known as ''Adamson of Africa''.

Main cast

* Robert Taylor as Robert Adamson *

as Hooky Hook * Anne Aubrey as Jane Carlton *

as Captain *

Grégoire Aslan Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Kaloust Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was a Swiss-Armenian actor and musician. Early life Krikor Kaloust Aslanian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գալուստի Ասլանյան) was born in Switzerland or in Con ...

as Ben Ahmed *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Saxton * Martin Benson as Ali *

Orlando Martins Orlando Martins (8 December 1899 – 25 September 1985) was a pioneering Yoruba Nigerian film and stage actor. In the late 1940s, he was one of Britain's most prominent and leading black actors, and in a poll conducted in 1947, he was listed a ...

as Chief * John Dimech as Pasha *

Martin Boddey Albert Martin Boddey (16 April 1907 – 24 October 1975) was a British film and television actor. He was a founder member of the Lord's Taverners charity. Boddey started acting when he was nearly 40, often portraying irritable authority fig ...

as Gunther

Production

Warwick Films had made three films in Africa, ''Safari'', ''Zarak'' and ''Odongo''. The movie was announced in July 1956 and inspired by the story of the Tsavo maneaters recounted in the 1954 book ''African Bush Adventures'' by J.A. Hunter and

Daniel P. Mannix Daniel Pratt Mannix IV (October 27, 1911 – January 29, 1997) was an American writer, journalist, photographer, sideshow performer, stage magician, animal trainer, and filmmaker. His best-known works are the 1958 book ''Those About to Die'', which ...

. It was based on a story by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume. (Warwick also announced they would make a second African film, the musical ''The Golden Fiddle'', which would ultimately not be made.) A screenplay was done by Peter Viertel, who had worked on ''The African Queen'', and written a novel of the experiences called ''

White Hunter, Black Heart ''White Hunter Black Heart'' is a 1990 American adventure drama film produced, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood and based on the 1953 book of the same name by Peter Viertel. Viertel also co-wrote the script with James Bridges and Burt Ken ...

''. In September 1957

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...

, who had made three films for Warwick, was the announced as male lead – it was meant to be part of a six-picture deal between Ladd and Warwick worth $2 million that also included '' The Man Inside'' and ''It's Always Four O'Clock''. In the final event Ladd made no further films for Warwick - the lead role went to Robert Taylor. Taylor signed in January 1959 at which time the film was called ''African Bush''. Co-stars Anthony Newley and Anne Aubrey were under contract to Warwick, and had just made '' Idol on Parade'' for the company. In February 1959 Taylor left for Moshi, Tanganyika. That was the same location used for ''Mogambo'' and ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure''. Filming was completed by April.

Release

The film's title was changed to ''Killers of Kilimanjaro''. This upset Chief Thomas Marealle of the Chagga tribe, on whose lands the film was shot, and he made an official complaint.

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and a ...

lies about west of

Tsavo Tsavo is a region of Kenya located at the crossing of the Uganda Railway over the Tsavo River, close to where it meets the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River. Two national parks, Tsavo East and Tsavo West are located in the area. The meaning of the w ...

in Tanzania. The Monthly Film Bulletin said "enthusiasts for screen slaughter should be amply entertained." The ''New York Times'' called it "a compendium of jungle cliches". According to Jeffrey Richards, movies such as ''Killers of Kilimanjaro'' pushed the narrative that the British were not in East Africa to further their own ends, but instead perpetuated the myth that they were there to protect the natives from the evil Arab slavers.Jeffrey Richards, ''Visions of Yesterday'' (London: Routledge, 1973), p. 149.

References

External links

*
''Killers of Kilimanjaro''
at Colonial Film {{DEFAULTSORT:Killers Of Kilimanjaro 1959 films 1959 adventure films British adventure films Columbia Pictures films CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Richard Thorpe Films set in Kenya Films set in Tanzania Films set in the 1890s Films shot in Kenya Films about lions Films scored by William Alwyn Films with screenplays by Richard Maibaum 1950s British films

Main cast

Production

Release

See also

References

External links