Simba (film)
| Simba | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Brian Desmond Hurst |
| Produced by | Peter De Sarigny |
| Written by |
John Baines Robin Estridge Anthony Perry (story) |
| Starring |
Dirk Bogarde Virginia McKenna Donald Sinden |
| Music by | Francis Chagrin |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| Distributed by | The Rank Organisation |
Release dates | 1955 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Simba is a 1955 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Dirk Bogarde, Donald Sinden, Virginia McKenna and Basil Sydney.[1] A British family living in East Africa become embroiled in the Mau Mau Uprising.
Plot
Alan Howard (Dirk Bogarde) visits Kenya to see his brother, whom he discovers has been murdered by Mau Mau.
Production
The box office success of The Planter's Wife (1952) saw Rank become interested in making films about other contemporary Imperial stories and head of production Earl St. John put out a call for story submissions to do with the Mau Mau Uprising. Anthony Perry obliged with a treatment and he was sent to Kenya, where his advisers included Charles Njonjo. The treatment had to be approved by the War Office, the Colonial Office, and the white settler organisation, the Voice of Kenya. The script was written by another writer, John Baines.[2][3]
The film was shot at Pinewood Studios, with second unit photography in Kenya. The producers had originally hoped to cast Jack Hawkins in the lead and used a double in Kenya to match him in long shot. When Hawkins was unavailable, Bogarde was cast instead and much of the Kenyan footage covering Hawkins could not be used.[4] However, they had also used a tall, blond Rhodesian policeman as the long shot stand-in for the part of Inspector Drummond, but had difficulty finding an available blond actor in England to play the part and so match up the shots. A chance meeting in the bar at Pinewood between the director Brian Desmond Hurst and Donald Sinden, who had had to dye his hair blond for the comedy film Mad About Men, led to Sinden being cast as Drummond.[5]
The film saw Virginia McKenna signed to Rank for a long term contract. Brian Desmond Hurst said "She has a terrific future, properly handled. She has all the qualities of a young Bergman and a young Katharine Hepburn."[6]
Cast
- Dirk Bogarde - Alan Howard
- Donald Sinden - Inspector Drummond
- Virginia McKenna - Mary Crawford
- Basil Sydney - Mr Crawford
- Marie Ney - Mrs Crawford
- Joseph Tomelty - Doctor Hughes
- Earl Cameron - Karanja
- Orlando Martins - Headman
- Ben Johnson - Kimani
- Frank Singuineau - Waweru
- Huntley Campbell - Joshua
- Slim Harris - Chege
- Glyn Lawson - Mundati
- Harry Quashie - Thakla
- John Chandos - Settler
- Desmond Roberts - Colonel Bridgeman
- Errol John - African Inspector
References
- ↑ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/50759
- ↑ John M. Miller, Simba, at Turner Classic Movies
- ↑ British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter Oxford University Press, 2003 p 44
- ↑ John Coldstream, Dirk Bogarde: The Authorised Biography, Phoenix 2004 p271
- ↑ A Touch of the Memoirs by Donald Sinden 1982
- ↑ "Jack Buchanan may begin a new career.". The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 2 October 1954. p. 68. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
External links
- Simba at the Internet Movie Database
- Simba at TCMDB
- www.briandesmondhurst.org- official legacy website of the director with filmography including Simba
- Simba at Screenonline
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