Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, and Grace Kelly, along with MGM, remake Red Dust (1932) with 1953’s Mogambo. Extensive location and studio shooting make for a steamy jungle picture about gorillas and messy human relationships. Robert Burns used traditional African music in place of the usual score, and John Ford directed with his usual blunt and grump, giving tension between him and Gable. The on-location shooting was arduous and with some danger, with Gable given an armed guard while in Kenya (Wikipedia). The word, Mogambo, is just a twist on Mocambo, which was a Hollywood nightclub that producer Sam Zimbalist came up with. I suppose he was a regular at the nightclub. John Ford was particularly rough on Ava Gardner because he wanted Maureen O’Hara instead. “Donald Sinden (and all male members of the crew who removed their shirts) had to shave any hair from their chests daily, as Clark Gable (who did not have a hairy chest) thought it an affront to his ‘manliness’ (Classic Movie Hub).
This Special Accessories supplement to the movie’s pressbook goes all out and is filled with enough monkey business (I know, I know, monkeys are not gorillas, but gorilla business sounds awful, so…) to dress up the theater inside and out. There’s also a nifty Color Mogambo Animals coloring mat, 16″x20″, that is a great newspaper or standalone activity.
