Mister Moses

Last updated
Mister Moses
Mrmopost.jpg
Original film poster
Directed by Ronald Neame
Written by Charles Beaumont
Monja Danischewsky
Based onMister Moses
by Max Catto
Produced by Frank Ross
Starring Robert Mitchum
Carroll Baker
Cinematography Oswald Morris
Edited by Philip W. Anderson
Music by John Barry
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • May 12, 1965 (1965-05-12)
Running time
113 minutes (US)
117 minutes (UK)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,250,000 [1]

Mister Moses is a 1965 American adventure film about a con man blackmailed into persuading an entire African village into relocating for their own safety. It was directed by Ronald Neame and stars Robert Mitchum and Carroll Baker. The film was based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Max Catto. It was filmed on location in Kenya, at Lake Naivasha and the Amboseli National Park. [2]

Contents

Plot

Beaten and expelled by African villagers for trying to cheat them, the unconscious Joe Moses drifts down a river, where he is discovered by the natives of another village. This tribe is being pressured to move by the District Officer (Ian Bannen), as their land will be flooded by the release of waters from a dam; but they refuse to leave their homes. Deeply Christian, the villagers compare Joe Moses to the real Moses due to his discovery in the reeds as was the baby Moses. With a broken leg and no money, Joe Moses is trapped in the village.

Nursed to health by missionary Rev. Anderson (Alexander Knox) and his daughter Julie (Carrol Baker), Moses impresses the natives with his medicine show. He further astounds the locals when he discovers Emily, that he recognizes as an Indian elephant, in the village. Moses gets her to respond to commands in Hindustani, a language he acquired through his army service in the China Burma India theatre.

The Chief (Orlando Martins) agrees to allow his people to move, but only if they are led by Moses. Reverend Anderson and Julie blackmail Moses through their knowledge of his diamond smuggling in order to lead the people to the "Promised Land". Seeing through Moses's confidence tricks is an educated African, Ubi (Raymond St. Jacques). Ubi initially wishes to team up with Moses to con other Africans, but then attempts to steal Moses's show with a concealed flame thrower that has unexpectedly disastrous consequences for Ubi.

Leading the villagers from atop his elephant, Moses takes them on a journey that has many parallels with the biblical trek, including a bit where he has to part the waters by entering the dam.

Cast

Production

Max Catto's novel was published in 1961. Film rights were purchased that year by Frank Ross for $310,000. Ross announced he would make it for United Artists at a budget of $6.5 million. It was the seventh time Catto had sold a novel to the movies. [3]

Reception

The New York Times reviewer A. H. Weiler was unimpressed, writing that it "strains credibility and rarely excites a viewer." [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Knox</span> Canadian actor and writer (1907-1995)

Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor and writer. He appeared in over 100 film, television, and theatrical productions over a career spanning from the 1920s until the late 1980s. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as American President Woodrow Wilson in the 1944 film Wilson. However, his career in the United States was hampered by McCarthyism, and he spent the rest of his career in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carroll Baker</span> American actress (born 1931)

Carroll Baker is an American retired actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in the adaptation of two Tennessee Williams plays into the film Baby Doll in 1956. Her role in the film as a coquettish but sexually naïve Southern bride earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

<i>Ryans Daughter</i> 1970 epic romantic drama film by David Lean

Ryan's Daughter is a 1970 British epic romantic drama film directed by David Lean, written by Robert Bolt and starring Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles. The film, set between August 1917 and January 1918, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite moral and political opposition from her nationalist neighbours. The supporting cast features John Mills, Christopher Jones, Trevor Howard and Leo McKern. The film is a re-telling of the plot of Gustave Flaubert's 1857 novel Madame Bovary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Bannen</span> Scottish actor (1928–1999)

Ian Edmund Bannen was a Scottish actor with a long career in film, on stage, and on television. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), the first Scottish actor to receive the honour, as well as two BAFTA Film Awards for his performances in Sidney Lumet's The Offence (1973) and John Boorman's Hope and Glory (1987).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Lee Thompson</span> British film director and screenwriter (1914–2002)

John Lee Thompson was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. Initially an exponent of kitchen sink realism, he became known as a versatile and prolific director of thrillers, action, and adventure films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Wayne</span> American actor (1914–1995)

David Wayne was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Yates</span> English film director

Peter James Yates was an English film director and producer, known for his versatility and “attention to detail” across a variety of genres. He received nominations for four Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.

<i>Penelope</i> (1966 film) 1966 film by Arthur Hiller

Penelope is a 1966 American comedy caper film directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Natalie Wood, Ian Bannen, Peter Falk, Jonathan Winters, and Dick Shawn. George Wells' screenplay was based on the 1965 novel of the same title, written by Howard Melvin Fast under the pseudonym E.V. Cunningham.

<i>The Devil at 4 OClock</i> 1961 film by Mervyn LeRoy

The Devil at 4 O'Clock is a 1961 American adventure film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra. Based on a 1958 novel with the same title by British writer Max Catto, the film was a precursor to Krakatoa, East of Java and the disaster films of the 1970s such as The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake and The Towering Inferno.

<i>Blood Alley</i> 1955 seafaring adventure movie directed by William A. Wellman

Blood Alley is a 1955 American seafaring Cold War adventure film produced by John Wayne, directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Wayne and Lauren Bacall. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. and shot in CinemaScope and Warnercolor. The film depicts a voyage from Chiku Shan, a village on the Communist Chinese coast, all the way to Hong Kong via the Formosa Strait.

<i>Up to His Ears</i> 1965 French film

Up to His Ears is a 1965 French-Italian international co-production adventure comedy film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Ursula Andress. It was an indirect sequel to That Man from Rio reuniting many of the same team; directed by Philippe de Broca written by Daniel Boulanger, stunt work by Gil Delamare it was loosely based on the 1879 novel Tribulations of a Chinaman in China by Jules Verne.

<i>Sylvia</i> (1965 film) American film directed by Gordon Douglas

Sylvia is a 1965 American drama film directed by Gordon Douglas, written by Sydney Boehm, and starring George Maharis, Carroll Baker, and Peter Lawford. The film is based on the novel of the same name by E. V. Cunningham in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mitchum</span> American film actor and musician (1919–2001)

John Mitchum was an American actor from the 1940s to the 1970s in film and television. The younger brother of the actor Robert Mitchum, he was credited as Jack Mitchum early in his career.

Maxwell Jeffrey Catto was born Mark Finkell in Manchester, England and was an English playwright and novelist.

<i>The Carpetbaggers</i> (film) 1964 film

The Carpetbaggers is a 1964 American drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the best-selling 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins and starring George Peppard as Jonas Cord, a character based loosely on Howard Hughes, and Alan Ladd in his last role as Nevada Smith, a former Western gunslinger turned actor. The supporting cast features Carroll Baker as a character extremely loosely based on Jean Harlow as well as Martha Hyer, Bob Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, Lew Ayres, Ralph Taeger, Leif Erickson, Archie Moore and Tom Tully.

<i>Escape from Zahrain</i> 1962 American action film directed by Ronald Neame

Escape from Zahrain is a 1962 American Panavision adventure film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Yul Brynner. The film is based on the novel Appointment in Zahrain by Michael Barrett (1960).

<i>Joe Palooka in the Knockout</i> 1947 film directed by Reginald Le Borg

Joe Palooka in the Knockout is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Reginald Le Borg. It was the third part of the Joe Palooka series from Monogram Pictures starring Joe Kirkwood, Jr. as the boxer and Leon Errol as his manager. The film also featured Elyse Knox, Marc Lawrence and Trudy Marshall

<i>Station Six-Sahara</i> 1963 film by Seth Holt

Station Six-Sahara is a 1963 British-West German drama film directed by Seth Holt and starring Carroll Baker, Peter van Eyck and Ian Bannen. It is a remake of the 1938 film S.O.S. Sahara, which had been based on a play by Jean Martet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mitchum filmography</span>

Robert Mitchum (1917–1997) was an American actor who appeared in over 110 films and television series over the course of his career. He is ranked 23rd on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 greatest American screen legends of all time. His first credited named role was as Quinn in the 1943 western Border Patrol. That same year he appeared in the films Follow the Band, Beyond the Last Frontier, Cry 'Havoc' and Gung Ho! as well as several Hopalong Cassidy films including Colt Comrades, Bar 20, False Colors, and Riders of the Deadline. In 1944, he starred in the western Nevada as Jim "Nevada" Lacy, and a year later in the film West of the Pecos as Pecos Smith. During the 1940s, he was also cast in the film noirs Undercurrent (1946), Crossfire (1947), Out of the Past (1947) and The Big Steal (1949). Mitchum was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a world-weary soldier in the 1945 film The Story of G.I. Joe, which received critical acclaim and was a commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carroll Baker credits</span>

Carroll Baker is an American actress of film, stage, and television. Spanning a career of fifty years, Baker appeared in 66 feature and television films, as well as 16 television appearances and over 15 stage credits, including 3 Broadway productions. Her most prolific role was in Elia Kazan's 1956 film Baby Doll, which earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Throughout her career, she became an established movie sex symbol.

References

  1. Anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Top Grossers of 1965", Variety, 5 January 1966 p. 36
  2. "Mister Moses". Variety . Retrieved February 6, 2010.[ dead link ]
  3. Scott, John (23 Apr 1961). "Hollywood Calendar". Los Angeles Times. p. 19.
  4. A. H. Weiler (May 13, 1965). "Mister Moses (1965)". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2010.