Reporter/explorer Stanley's famous trek to the heart of Africa to find the missing missionary Doctor Livingstone is one of the most famous and epic stories to come out of the Victorian era. This film captures the significance of that event, although a few facts get in the way of the narrative. Spencer Tracy (at his best) is Stanley and he gives one of his greatest performances. Unbelievable as it may seem, he's nearly upstaged by Sir Cedric Hardwicke's portrayal of Doctor Livingstone, even though that actor's screen time is limited to twenty minutes. Hardwicke captures Livingstone's eccentricities and religious fervor perfectly without turning him into a caricature. The scene where he leads his native charges in a rousing songfest ("Onward Christian Soldiers") is nearly the highlight of the film. The pivotal meeting of the two men where Stanley utters the famous line "Doctor Livingston, I presume?" has the correct dramatic buildup and is handled with dignity and enough gravitas to satisfy most historians. Tracy's fiery speech at the Society of Geographers back in England after his discovery is also a key moment in the film and nearly worth the price of admission.
The film is directed with competency and some verve by Henry King. Unfortunately, many of the African countryside scenes were left over from previous films and they're incorporated rather clumsily into this movie. The performances are uniformly excellent, however, especially the two men of the title. Also around is Richard Greene as a malaria-stricken explorer and beautiful Nancy Kelly as his fiancé. Tracy's character is also smitten with her and that angle of the story is irrelevant and completely unnecessary. Walter Brennan, as one of Tracy's American colleagues, comes aboard for the safari but his brand of Old West comic relief falls flat---even with the natives. Charles Coburn, as the ruthless Lord Tyce, is the designated villain of the piece, but he changes colors in the final reel and gets a nice hug from his daughter (Ms. Kelly). As Stanley marches off to uncover more of the mysteries of the "Dark Continent," viewers are left with the feeling that he's now emulating the same type of messianic mission as Doctor Livingstone. But that's not what actually happened. In reality, Stanley became a "hired gun" for expanding colonialists and was involved in more than his share of "safaris gone bad." He had plenty of blood on his hands by the time he called it quits. That unpleasant fact didn't prevent Queen Victoria from knighting him late in his life. As they say, no one's perfect.
The film is directed with competency and some verve by Henry King. Unfortunately, many of the African countryside scenes were left over from previous films and they're incorporated rather clumsily into this movie. The performances are uniformly excellent, however, especially the two men of the title. Also around is Richard Greene as a malaria-stricken explorer and beautiful Nancy Kelly as his fiancé. Tracy's character is also smitten with her and that angle of the story is irrelevant and completely unnecessary. Walter Brennan, as one of Tracy's American colleagues, comes aboard for the safari but his brand of Old West comic relief falls flat---even with the natives. Charles Coburn, as the ruthless Lord Tyce, is the designated villain of the piece, but he changes colors in the final reel and gets a nice hug from his daughter (Ms. Kelly). As Stanley marches off to uncover more of the mysteries of the "Dark Continent," viewers are left with the feeling that he's now emulating the same type of messianic mission as Doctor Livingstone. But that's not what actually happened. In reality, Stanley became a "hired gun" for expanding colonialists and was involved in more than his share of "safaris gone bad." He had plenty of blood on his hands by the time he called it quits. That unpleasant fact didn't prevent Queen Victoria from knighting him late in his life. As they say, no one's perfect.