Where No Vultures Fly

Where No Vultures Fly

Movie poster
Directed by Harry Watt
Produced by Michael Balcon
Written by W. P. Lipscomb
Leslie Norman
Ralph Smart
Based on story by Harry Watt
Starring Anthony Steel
Dinah Sheridan
Music by Alan Rawsthorne
Cinematography Paul Beeson
Geoffrey Unsworth
Edited by Jack Harris
Gordon Stone
Production
company
Ealing Films
African Film Productions
Distributed by General Film Distributors (UK)
Universal-International (US)
Release dates

5 November 1951 (Royal Command Film Performance)

6 November 1951 (UK)
Running time
 107 mins.
Country United Kingdom
South Africa
Language English

Where No Vultures Fly is a 1951 British film. It was released under the title Ivory Hunter in the United States.[1] It was directed by Harry Watt and starred Anthony Steel and Dinah Sheridan. The film was inspired by the work of the conservationist Mervyn Cowie.[2] The film's opening credits state that "the characters in this film are imaginary, but the story is based on the recent struggle of Mervyn Cowie to form the National Parks of Kenya."[3][4] The title Where No Vultures Fly denotes areas where there are no dead animals.[1]

The film had a sequel West of Zanzibar.

Plot

The film is set in East Africa. It is about a game warden called Bob Payton (Anthony Steel). He is horrified by the destruction of wild animals by ivory hunters. He establishes a wildlife sanctuary. He is attacked by wild animals and must contend with a villainous ivory poacher (Harold Warrender).[1][2]

Actor Role
Anthony Steel Bob Payton
Dinah Sheridan Mary Payton
Harold Warrender Mannering
Meredith Edwards Gwyl
William Simons Tim Payton
Orlando Martins M'Kwongi

Production

Development

The movie was one of a series of "expeditionary films" Harry Watt made, like The Overlanders, where he would find the story from visiting a location. "These expeditionary films are really journalistic jobs", he wrote later. "You get sent out to a country by the studio, stay as long as you can without being fired and a story generally crops up."[5]

Watt got the idea of the film after a chance remark from a game warden in Tanganyika. He was shooting zebras and when Watt wondered if it was necessary, the warden remarked that Watt "talk like Mervyn Cowie". This prompted the director to track down Cowie in Nairobi, who inspired the story.[5]

W.P. Lipscomb wrote the script based on Harry Watt's original idea. Ralph Smart worked on it. According to Leslie Norman "the script was turned down generally, so I went in and added a bit which made them accept it."[6]

The movie was a co=production between Ealing and South Africa's African Films, with half the financing coming from South Africa. (Africa Films was a South African theatre chain.)[7][8]

Shooting

Watt took a full unit to Africa and based it at Amboseli, south of Nairobi. They built a complete village of huts for the crew to live in.[5]

Anthony Steel contracted malaria during filming on location in Africa.[9]

Reception

The movie was selected for the 1951 Royal Command Performance, over other contenders such as A Place in the Sun and Outcast of the Islands.[10][11]

Box Office

It was the second most popular film at the British box office in 1952.[12]

In 1957, the film and its sequel were listed among the seventeen most popular movies the Rank organisation ever released in the US.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ivory Hunter (1951), New York Times, 1952-08-19.
  2. 1 2 The New Pictures, Time, 1952-08-25.
  3. ↑ Where No Vultures Fly, British Film Institute.
  4. ↑ Come What May: In Lightest Africa ... By John Allan May. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file) [Boston, Mass] 04 Apr 1952: 13.
  5. 1 2 3 "Film circus goes on safari.". The News. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 February 1952. p. 6. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Brian McFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema, Metheun 1997 p440
  7. ↑ A REPORT ON FILM PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA: Exports Bolster Dark Continent's Small But Hopeful Industry By J. A. BROWNJOHANNESBURG.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 13 Apr 1952: X5.
  8. ↑ U.S. CONCERN SELLS ODEON SHARES: South African Buyer Our Financial Staff. The Manchester Guardian (1901-1959) [Manchester (UK)] 14 July 1953: 2.
  9. ↑ "Stars glitter for Royalty.". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 28 November 1951. p. 33. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  10. ↑ "Surprise choice for command screening.". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 27 October 1951. p. 7 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "COMMAND FILM GLAMOUR NIGHT.". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 7 November 1951. p. 12. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "COMEDIAN TOPS FILM POLL.". The Sunday Herald. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 28 December 1952. p. 4. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  13. ↑ BRITAIN'S MOVIE SCENE: AN AMERICAN FILM EVOLVES IN THE ORIENT By STEPHEN WATTS. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 24 Mar 1957: 123.
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