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
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, who 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 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 script was later rewritten by another writer.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4]

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."[5]

Cast

References

  1. ↑ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/50759
  2. ↑ John M. Miller, Simba, at Turner Classic Movies
  3. ↑ John Coldstream, Dirk Bogarde: The Authorised Biography, Phoenix 2004 p271
  4. ↑ A Touch of the Memoirs by Donald Sinden 1982
  5. ↑ "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

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