Man in gorilla suit, poisonous tarantula
petulent lady55
"White Witch Doctor" is a very poor film...which is rather confusing since it stars Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward--two of Hollywood's hottest stars back in 1953. Yet despite their being in the movie, it's pretty cheesy stuff...and includes a guy in a gorilla costume as well as an attempted murder where the assassin uses a tarantula...a creature that is most certainly NOT deadly unless you happen to be a bug!
The story is set in a highly romanticized Belgian Congo just after the turn of the 20th century. I say highly romanticized because the place was a hellish place, exploited horribly by the white folks. It was so bad that the book "Heart of Darkness" was set there and the death rate was astronomical. Yet, inexplicably, the film shows a very sanitized Congo....one where the white folks are there for the most unselfish of reasons!
Ellen (Hayward) is a doctor who has just arrived in the Belgian Congo. There to assist her is a hunter, Lonni Douglas (Mitchum). Immediately, Hayward's character becomes a caricature of a spunky lady--and she spends much of the film yelling and trying to prove to her assistant that she is as manly and competent as any man. This is clearly a tiresome plot element....one that has been overused in films...especially when the character is so angry and insistent ALL THE TIME. And, true to the trope, they eventually fall in love...though frankly I wondered WHY...why would anyone fall for such a one-dimensional person.
Does it get much better? Not really. The film, despite its setting, was made in Hollywood and it often shows. Overall, one of the worst films either actor made and it has an inexplicably high score of 6.1....don't you believe it! The movie is clearly a misfire.
"White Witch Doctor" is a very poor film...which is rather confusing since it stars Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward--two of Hollywood's hottest stars back in 1953. Yet despite their being in the movie, it's pretty cheesy stuff...and includes a guy in a gorilla costume as well as an attempted murder where the assassin uses a tarantula...a creature that is most certainly NOT deadly unless you happen to be a bug!
The story is set in a highly romanticized Belgian Congo just after the turn of the 20th century. I say highly romanticized because the place was a hellish place, exploited horribly by the white folks. It was so bad that the book "Heart of Darkness" was set there and the death rate was astronomical. Yet, inexplicably, the film shows a very sanitized Congo....one where the white folks are there for the most unselfish of reasons!
Ellen (Hayward) is a doctor who has just arrived in the Belgian Congo. There to assist her is a hunter, Lonni Douglas (Mitchum). Immediately, Hayward's character becomes a caricature of a spunky lady--and she spends much of the film yelling and trying to prove to her assistant that she is as manly and competent as any man. This is clearly a tiresome plot element....one that has been overused in films...especially when the character is so angry and insistent ALL THE TIME. And, true to the trope, they eventually fall in love...though frankly I wondered WHY...why would anyone fall for such a one-dimensional person.
Does it get much better? Not really. The film, despite its setting, was made in Hollywood and it often shows. Overall, one of the worst films either actor made and it has an inexplicably high score of 6.1....don't you believe it! The movie is clearly a misfire.