The Snows of Kilimanjaro

An agglomeration of Hemmingway stories with Peck, Hayward and Gardner

In the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro, a wounded writer (Gregory Peck) deliriously reflects on his past loves & adventures in Paris, the French Riviera and Spain during the Spanish Civil War.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) is a melodramatic drama/romance/adventure, the quaint blueprint for future flicks like Legends of The Fall (1994). Its an assemblage of several unrelated Hemmingway stories, including the title one (obviously), as well as his nonfiction book Death in the Afternoon (1932).

The Peck character, Harry Street, is basically a fictional version of Hemingway, who was an author/journalist attracted to traveling, adventure, war and women. He was a vo...

Gregory Peck is "Harry Street", a successful writer confined to bed on an African hunting trip after an accident. Drifting in and out of lucidity, and tended by wife "Helen" (Rita Hayward) he reflects on his life and loves. Much of his recollection focusses on "Cynthia" (Ava Gardner), the woman he loved but lost to his determination to be a successful author and to the Spanish Civil War. The author feels his life somewhat empty, worthless even, but can the efforts of his wife with all of her devotion bring him to his senses? The story is an amalgam of two Hemingway stories that knit together nicely, the photography does justice to the settings - grand Kenyan wilderness to Parisian scenes and it has a pleasing Bernard Herrmann score that add...