Watch The Snows of Kilimanjaro For Free

Purely Joyful Movie!

i must have seen a different film!!

Absolutely Brilliant!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck. Copyright 17 September 1952 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Rivoli: 18 September 1952. U.S. release: July 1953 (sic). U.K. release: 2 February 1953. Australian release: 18 December 1952. Sydney Opening at the Regent. 114 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Harry Street, an amazingly successful novelist, is near death at the foot of Kilimanjaro. Reviewing his life, particularly his thwarted romances with Cynthia and Liz, he decides to mend his ways, settle down with his third love, Helen, and even write something worthwhile.NOTES: Nominated for Academy Awards for Color Cinematography (won by The Quiet Man), and Color Art Direction (won by Moulin Rouge).Aided by a lavishly mounted publicity campaign which stressed the non-existent salacious qualities of the tedious script, the movie came in 3rd at the domestic box-office with a gross rentals take of $6½ million.Number 5 on the National Board of Review's American Ten Best of 1952. Best Actress of 1952, Susan Hayward (principally for her acting in With a Song In My Heart, but her performance in this one also influenced the voters) - Photoplay Gold Medal Award.COMMENT: Casey Robinson has reduced Hemingway to a wordy, sluggishly paced bore, hammily acted by Susan Hayward who is absolutely ridiculous as the distraught wife. Peck is likewise totally unbelievable and the other players are forced into an unequal struggle with their impossible characters. Leon Shamroy has tried to give the film a bit of atmospheric sheen and gloss (indeed the lighting is the film's best feature) but the plodding music score and Henry King's elephantine direction do not help. A bit of location footage (the stars stay firmly in the studio) helps but generally this is an overlong, long-winded, and decidedly dull disappointment.

For some reason, this 'classic' popped up on my radar, perhaps whilst I was reading my Jimmy Stewart bio (Go figure). Anyway, Gregory Peck takes a role that might have better been for suited to a laconic & reflective Jimmy Stewart. He is the adventurous, Hemingway-like male author, Harry Street, reflecting on his life and loves while he convalesces from a nasty infection in his leg. Devoted wife (#3?), played by Susan Hayward attends to his wound patiently whilst the two wait for medical help to arrive, all in the shadows of the mighty Kilimanjaro.That's it. Harry marries pretty wives Ava Gardner & Hildegard Knef and mistreats both, but his career as an author takes off, allowing him a lavish lifestyle and to travel, as he pleases (with no consideration for his current wife). We see all this in a series of flashbacks. Peck plays a good role, I suppose: it's just that not much happens. There are bullfighting action, and battle scenes from the Spanish Civil War, but at a pedestrian pace. We frequently toggle back to hear frantic chat between Peck and Hayward, prompting my wife to holler, Just die, will ya?Pacing and script seemed to be lacking. I wonder why the Director chose to make such a lengthy (1:54) cut? The story could have been told in 1 1/2 hours easily, cutting oodles of empty, repetitious talk.

Good heavens, this movie is boring! I don't know what was wrong with screenwriter Casey Robinson, or the people who read his script and didn't suggest a serious edit or rewrite, but if you can make it through this two hour film without nodding off, you deserve a medal. I couldn't.Gregory Peck is wounded, and the entire movie flashes back and forth between him being nursed by Susan Hayward and his reflections of his romance with Ava Gardner. Susan Hayward is one of my all-time favorite actresses, so if a movie of hers is terrible, there has to be a reason. I blame the screenplay, but you can blame Ernest Hemingway's original story if you like. Greg is written to be a wishy-washy, selfish, and annoying. It's tough to imagine Gregory Peck being unlikable, but believe me, he is in this movie. Even though he's wounded and sometimes delirious, he's just unlikable. I found myself wanting Susan Hayward to give up on him and let him fester.I realize Ava Gardner was a sex symbol, and that both on and off screen, men couldn't keep their hands off her, but I never understood why. I never found her appealing, so I didn't know why Greg kept dreaming of her when he had Susan Hayward sitting right next to him! If you want to see Greg and Ava, watch The Great Sinner instead. And if you want to see Greg and Susan, watch David and Bathsheba instead. There's really no reason to watch this one, unless you misplaced your sleeping pills.

Gregory Peck is in prime form in this one. Susan Hayward & Ava Gardiner are too. While Himingway's book it is based upon is too complex to bring into the screen in great shape, at least this one makes the effort to do so quite well.One of my favorite character actors Leo G Carroll is here and prime in support as always. The story of a successful man who loses his dream is how the plot here nets out. He will go anywhere to find her but then loses her for good. In a way, this movie simulates some of the settings in For Whom The Bell Tolls but goes beyond that.Even though the film has shortcomings, seeing Peck performing near the top of his game with this cast makes it very worthwhile viewing.