Mogambo

Synopsis: Victor Marswell runs a big game trapping company in Kenya. Eloise Kelly is ditched there, and an immediate attraction happens between them. Then Mr. and Mrs. Nordley show up for their gorilla documenting safari. Mrs. Nordley is not infatuated with her husband any more, and takes a liking to Marswell. The two men and two women have some difficulty arranging these emotions to their mutual satisfaction, but eventually succeed.
Director(s): John Ford
Production: MGM
  Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Rotten Tomatoes:
82%
APPROVED
Year:
1953
116 min
485 Views


Laddie, our luck's in.

Black leopard, laddie.

Black leopard nosing the kill.

Get the jeep, Brownie.

Boltchak!

Come on, on your feet. Let's go.

Don't let him twist that net.

Come on, get around there.

Get a move on, man.

Easy, Boltchak!

- Big time! He's a big one!

- Yeah. Young too.

Boltchak, stop that!

Who's there? Bunny?

Bunny?

No, this is not Bunny.

Who are you?

May I ask who you are, why you're here...

...and what in blue blazes is going on?

- My name is Eloise Kelly.

Better known in the gay capitals of Europe

as "Honey Bear" Kelly.

The first thing that's going on is my robe,

on your arm there...

...if you'll be so cooperative.

With pleasure, Miss Kelly.

Stop. Throw.

Turn around.

No kidding, find Bunny

and tell him I'm here, will you?

I'd be glad to, if you'd tell me

who Bunny is and where I'd find him.

The Maharajah of Bunganore.

Didn't he tell you I was coming?

So you came down to visit

with the Maharajah?

Sure. All the way from New York.

I think it's a dirty trick he wasn't on hand

to meet me when I came.

- Didn't he tell you?

- No. The Maharajah is in India.

He left here a week ago.

- He didn't.

- Yes, he did.

It seems someone is trying to take away

some of his palaces.

So he went back

to see what he could do about it.

- Oh, no.

- Oh, yes.

Didn't he say anything about me,

that I was coming or anything?

No, he didn't.

Just between you and me,

I think he's turned out to be a big heel.

He didn't even leave you a return ticket.

Look, Mr. Whoever-You-Are,

let me jump to my own conclusions.

Of all the rotten, subversive tricks.

Flying all the way, thousands of miles,

to this lousy place...

...arriving here hot and tired

as a Sixth Avenue mink...

That water's even hotter, and that soap

gives out as much lather as blue cheese.

I'm the man that owns this building,

the shower, and the soap.

- I wouldn't be proud of it.

- This is my home, be it ever so humble.

I had to have some place to go.

I couldn't get a word out of laughing boy

over there...

...with the sleigh bells in his ears.

Of all the dirty...

Bawling out the Maharajah long-distance

isn't going to do any good.

If you'll pardon my subtlety...

I'm not so sure I'd want you on safari

in the first place.

I run a business here.

I'm working these men.

They have to keep their mind on work...

Look, buster,

don't you get overstimulated with me.

I'm the little gal that flew all the way

from New York...

...to this lousy place, this Dark Continent.

Only I expected to find

a man with a flashlight.

I suggest you use up some of that energy

in getting your clothes on.

- I'll assign you to a room at the other end.

- Wait a minute.

Can't you get me a canoe, or a truck,

or roller skates to get out of here?

Trucks couldn't get through this country,

even if I could spare one.

You're stuck with us

until next week's boat.

- You mean there's no way to get out?

- No.

Now, weren't you going to do something

about getting dressed?

Boy.

This will be the gayest week

of the season.

Plenty deep, all right.

I thought I told you to replace

that barbed wire.

We went after a black leopard,

remember, laddie?

I'm sorry, Brownie.

Hi, girl. Hello. How are you? Come here.

All right, let's get on with the feeding.

What do you think I'm doing now?

Vic, you're getting too unstrung

for your own good.

Why don't you fly out to Nairobi

or even Cairo for a week or two?

You haven't been out of here

for just on a year.

I'd like to, but Dorgenbeck's yelling

for those two white hippo.

And I'll pick that cat up, if I have

to run him all the way to the Congo.

I know. But you need relaxation.

And the little trinket that's dropped

from the Maharajah's turban...

...she's a spry little bit.

That's playgirl stuff.

I've seen them in London, Paris, Rome.

They start life in a New York nightclub...

...and end up covering the world

like a paint advertisement.

Not an honest feeling

from her kneecap to her neck.

Getting rather meticulous, aren't you?

Maybe. Maybe it's about time.

Everything snarls around this joint.

Hi. How are you, boy? You're a nice guy.

Hi, fellas. Hi, boy.

Hi, boy.

Hey, you wanna chew some gum?

Hey, Kelly, get away from that chimp.

And stop feeding him bubblegum.

- Can't anybody be friendly around here?

- Friendly? That chimp?

He'd bite your finger off just for fun.

- But he was only...

- It's your lookout.

His teeth are poison.

Once they sink into you, you'll blow up...

...like an eggplant.

- All the other animals are being fed.

May I ask what time we get ours?

You may not hear it with the other noises,

but I'm beginning to rumble.

We dine at 9.

How continental.

Come here, darling.

You're such a nice little baby.

Come on over.

Come on, little baby. You're nice.

This is Miss Kelly.

Mr. Brown-Pryce, Mr. Boltchak.

- How do you do?

- How do you do?

Mr. Marswell, you look a lot better.

I bet you even smell better.

Let's hope your temper's the equivalent.

It's on an even keel.

It'll probably improve with food.

Now that's my nice, healthy boy.

The Nordleys are coming out

by next week's boat...

...instead of the following.

Good. That means we can get rid of them

one week earlier.

- I'm handing them over to you, Boltchak.

- Relatives, I take it?

No, customers. He's an anthropologist.

He's going on safari.

You'll have to excuse me,

I left my cap and gown at the cleaners.

Anthropologist.

He studies man and man's development,

looks for skulls...

...examines heads and all that.

Examines heads. Should have met him

before I left New York.

He could have examined both mine.

Let's not get sick over this, gentlemen.

It's not that funny.

You're so good, Miss Kelly.

That ends that, doesn't it? No kidding,

I've never met scientific types.

I'd like to meet them.

I might learn something.

I don't think you'll be seeing

too much of them.

You'll be wanting to get back

on the same boat.

Okay, coach, take me out. I'm through.

Wait! Hey, wait a minute!

Hey, wait for me! Wait!

Hey, a kangaroo.

I'm sorry, I can't sleep with that lion

or whatever it is chirping.

- Do you mind if I stay here for a while?

- No, have a seat.

- Sure I won't bother you?

- No, not at all.

- New batch of magazines came in today.

- Good.

What makes him do that? Is he hungry?

There's probably a lioness lurking

in the bush out there somewhere.

I guess there's all sorts of hunger

in the world, isn't there?

This is a weird sort of business to be in,

collecting animals.

I guess it's fun for a man, isn't it?

When it's profitable.

You sell them to zoos?

Circuses, trainers.

How much do you get...

...for a baby elephant, for instance?

A dumbo?

Is that really the name for them?

- Around $5000. Tough to ship, though.

- I saw a baby elephant in the zoo once.

He was sucking on a gallon jug of milk

with a nipple attached.

Can you imagine that?

A whole gallon of milk.

Their mothers carry much more than that.

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John Lee Mahin

John Lee Mahin (August 23, 1902, Evanston, Illinois – April 18, 1984, Los Angeles) was an American screenwriter and producer of films who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable and Victor Fleming. In the words of one profile, he had "a flair for rousing adventure material, and at the same time he wrote some of the raciest and most sophisticated sexual comedies of that period." more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Mogambo" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/mogambo_13922>.

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