In French Equatorial Africa, an idealist ecologist starts a campaign of public awareness to help save the African elephants from extinction.In French Equatorial Africa, an idealist ecologist starts a campaign of public awareness to help save the African elephants from extinction.In French Equatorial Africa, an idealist ecologist starts a campaign of public awareness to help save the African elephants from extinction.
- Minna
- (as Juliette Greco)
- Peer Qvist
- (as Friedrich Ledebur)
- Father Farque
- (as Francis de Wolff)
- Haas
- (as Maurice Cannon)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaErrol Flynn's alcoholism had become a round-the-clock problem, and he was frequently at odds with John Huston. At one point, he provoked Huston into a fight; while Flynn was a former amateur boxer, the years of fast living had taken a heavy toll on him, and Huston, himself a former professional boxer, flattened Flynn with a single punch.
- Quotes
Morel: Do you know that tens of thousands of elephants are killed every year? Thirty thousand last year, to be exact. Thirty thousand. If they go on like that, there won't be any left. Anyone who's seen the great herds on the march across the last free spaces of the earth knows they're something the world can't afford to lose! But no... We have to capture, kill, destroy. All that's beautiful has got to go. All that's free! Soon we'll be alone on this earth with nothing to destroy but ourselves!
- ConnectionsFeatured in From the Journals of Jean Seberg (1995)
But Bill Holden backed out of the project and not as big a movie name, Trevor Howard, was substituted. Flynn's part was then built up though clearly he's a supporting character. In any event all these guys were just there in support of Juliette Greco who was Darryl F. Zanuck's main squeeze at the time. Ms. Greco was a better actress than that other squeeze of Zanuck's Bella Darvi and she didn't come to a tragic end as poor Bella did.
Huston maybe should have known better, after all he had done The African Queen on location in Africa already and knew the problems therein. The Roots of Heaven may have set some kind of record for illnesses among the cast, maybe rivaling The Conqueror. The most serious was Eddie Albert's nearly fatal case of sunstroke.
It was reported that Errol Flynn kept the illness at bay by consuming large quantities of gin on location. He had the most to worry about as he had chronic malaria, acquired in his youth in the New Guinea jungles that kicked up on him every now and then. Of course right after the film, he was reported to suffer a major attack of it and was in hospital for weeks.
The story never quite takes off. It's about Trevor Howard's efforts to save the elephant population and the lack of interest therein among most of the natives who depend on the ivory trade for a livelihood. Conservation is a noble cause, but it's usually talked about by those who've already plundered their area already for its resources and are now telling others what to do.
Howard's cause never quite gets off the ground and sad to say, neither does the film. Maybe it could be made today with better results.
- bkoganbing
- Jun 30, 2007
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,500,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 6 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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