Mogambo (1953)

80% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
58% of users liked it
(2,686 ratings)

The 1953 Clark Gable film Mogambo is a remake of Gable's 1932 seriocomic adventure Red Dust. Where the earlier film was lensed on the MGM backlot, Mogambo was shot on location in Africa by director John Ford. Gable is safari leader Victor Marswell, who plays "host" to stranded Eloise Y. Kelly (Ava… More The 1953 Clark Gable film Mogambo is a remake of Gable's 1932 seriocomic adventure Red Dust. Where the earlier film was lensed on the MGM backlot, Mogambo was shot on location in Africa by director John Ford. Gable is safari leader Victor Marswell, who plays "host" to stranded Eloise Y. Kelly (Ava Gardner, who is no better than she ought to be but is just right for our raffish hero -- the Gardner role was originally played along franker pre-Code lines by Jean Harlow). Anthropologist Donald Nordley (Donald Sinden) hires Victor to lead him into the deepest, darkest jungle. Along for the ride is Donald's wife, Linda (Grace Kelly), outwardly cool as a cucumber but secretly harboring a lust for Victor. Scorned, Kelly tries to kill Victor, but true-blue Eloise takes the blame for the shooting. Reportedly, Grace Kelly carried on an off-camera romance with Clark Gable, which ended when the differences in their ages proved insurmountable. Even so, it is the easy rapport between Gable and Ava Gardner which stole the show in Mogambo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 55 min.
Directed By: John Ford
Written By: Wilson Collison, John Lee Mahin
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Romance, Classics

In Theaters: Oct 9, 1953 Wide
On DVD: Jun 20, 2006
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Clark Gable reprises his role from Fleming's 1932 adventure in this colorful and enjoyable remake by John Ford, featuring great performances by Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
staid, ridiculous
David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com
Too long and too ridiculous.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The easy rapport between Gable and Ava becomes the film's main selling point.
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser
the film's travelogue footage is the only thing that seems to save it from pointlessness.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Pointless remake of Red Dust squeaks by on star power.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

I found this movie boring, I didn't watch the entire movie I was too bored. This is one of those jungle pictures with a little romance thrown in, and not much more. I didn't like it.
Cindy I

Pretty good "white hunter in darkest Africa" flick with Clark Gable gathering wild animals for zoos while fighting off (or not) chorus girl Ava Gardner and little rich (married) girl Grace Kelly. Cool on-location scenes. This is a remake of Red Dust, a film also starring… More
Pretty good "white hunter in darkest Africa" flick with Clark Gable gathering wild animals for zoos while fighting off (or not) chorus girl Ava Gardner and little rich (married) girl Grace Kelly. Cool on-location scenes. This is a remake of Red Dust, a film also starring Gable as a rubber plantation owner, with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor filling the women's roles.
Ken S

I was under whelmed.
jay n

okay but if you have a chance to see the original Red Dust instead go with that.
Keith M

If you are going to put Clark Gable in Africa hunting animals and banging beautiful woman in a movie, your going to need a man's man director, and nobody is more perfrect(well maybe Huston) for that task than other John Ford. When I finshed watching this I sat there for a while… More
If you are going to put Clark Gable in Africa hunting animals and banging beautiful woman in a movie, your going to need a man's man director, and nobody is more perfrect(well maybe Huston) for that task than other John Ford. When I finshed watching this I sat there for a while and thought nothing really happened, but damn I loved it. Cause really a lot is happening, and I think that is what is great about this film. It just takes you into this world and lets you just watch it unravel piece by piece.
cody f

This film is just fun. It's about Gable running a Safari company in Africa and him banging the only two white women on the whole continent. It's a exact remake of Red Dust also starring Gable, but he is 20 years older and the women are the same age. This film is classic… More
This film is just fun. It's about Gable running a Safari company in Africa and him banging the only two white women on the whole continent. It's a exact remake of Red Dust also starring Gable, but he is 20 years older and the women are the same age. This film is classic Gable. He fights! He Kills! He Loves! You may thinks it's unbelievable Gable getting women 25 years younger than him, but during the filming of this film he was sleeping with Grace and would probaley have a shot with Ava but Frank was on the set playing cock blocker.