Out of Africa (Not the Movie) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tarzan and the Valley of Gold

"Tarzan and the Valley of Gold" (1966) is mainly set in South America; following the request of a South American police chief, the eponymous hero treks through the jungles to thwart the villain's attempt to loot a lost Aztec city. I can't remember how Tarzan comes to be in South America in the first place, but there's a bullfight fairly near the beginning of the film.

Although "Greystoke" is partly set in the UK, a significant amount of the action takes place in Africa.

The actors who played the role of Tarzan in these films were:
Johnny Weissmuller ("Tarzan's Desert Mystery", 1943), Mike Henry ("Tarzan and the Valley of Gold", 1966), Denny Miller ("Tarzan the Ape Man", 1981) and Christopher Lambert ("Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes", 1984).

Answer: Africa Screams

"Africa Screams" (1949) aka "Abbott and Costello in Africa"; in their last film together, Lou Costello plays a meek bookseller who happens to have committed to memory a treasure map showing the whereabouts of a diamond mine. Persuaded to pose as a big game hunter by his shady friend (played by Bud Abbott) they journey to Africa with an adventuress, who is also in search of the mine. Some great comic scenes including the obligatory gorilla, cannibals, and an amorous orangutan (yes, I know that orangutans aren't native to Africa, but Hollywood wasn't noted for its attention to geographical detail in those days).

"A Night in Casablanca" (1946) featured the Marx Brothers; "Watusi" (1959) was written by James Clavell of "Shogun" fame, and reworked the story of "King Solomon's Mines"; in "Abbot and Costello in the Foreign Legion" (1950) Bud & Lou inadvertently become heroes.

Answer: The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Based on a story by Ernest Hemingway, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1952) has Peck dying of septicaemia in the African bush, reliving his life through flashbacks whilst awaiting help. The frozen leopard is somewhere near the western summit of the mountain: how it got there is unknown. It's probably a metaphor but my grasp of literary analogies isn't up to explaining it.

"Ice Cold in Alex" (1958) was released in the US as "Desert Attack" and starred John Mills as the commander of a WW2 motor ambulance in the Sahara: the famous scene where he and his passengers finally enjoy a drink in Alexandria was later used in an equally famous beer commercial.

"The Iceman Cometh" (1989) aka "Time Warriors" is a Chinese action film set in medieval China and modern Hong Kong.

"Snow Falling on Cedars" (1999) is set in 1940s America and features Ethan Hawke.

Answer: Mogambo

"Red Dust" (1932), "Congo Maisie" (1939) and "Mogambo" (1953) all feature romantic entanglements in the tropical heat.

In "Mogambo", Ava Gardener and Grace Kelly vie for Gable's affections (he plays the leader of an expedition to study gorillas), with disastrous consequences for everyone. "Mogambo" was a heavy reworking of the earlier "Red Dust" in which Gable played the manager of a rubber plantation, with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor playing the female love interests.

Allegedly, Kelly and Gable were having an affair during the filming of "Mogambo", but it all fell apart one night when Gable's false teeth fell out.

"Red Dust" and "Mogambo" are adaptations of the same play: "Red Dust" by Wilson Collison (New York, 1928). "Congo Maisie" was based on the 1934 novel "Congo Landing" by the same author, known for his stories set in exotic locations, in which a riverboat is stranded at a medical mission, and a stowaway and the only other passenger cause relationship complications between the local doctor and his wife.

Answer: Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan

"Casablanca" (1942); the cynical Rick Blaine helps an old flame and her husband escape the Nazis in North Africa.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) had a Hollywood career spanning 20 years from 1937 ("Love is on the Air") to 1957 ("Hellcats of the Navy"), appearing in various genres (drama, romance, western, war, comedy, crime and even musical); he made a few television film appearances in the 1960s, and was in the 1984 Canadian documentary "Raoul Wallenberg: Buried Alive". Reagan switched to the political stage in 1966 when he first became Governor of California.

Ann Sheridan (1915-1967) was born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas. A versatile actress, she was equally at home with drama, romance or comedy from her first appearance in 1934 ("You Belong to Me"), to her last in the 1964 TV film "The Far Out West". Films such as "Angels With Dirty Faces" (1938, with James Cagney), "They Drive by Night" (1940, with George Raft and Humphrey Bogart), and "I Was a Male War Bride" (1949, with Cary Grant) are illustrations of her range.

Would "Casablanca" have been as successful with Reagan (or, indeed, any of the other male stars) speaking the immortal lines? I leave it to your imagination!

I thank FT member robboddie for http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/reagan.asp where more information on the background to the 1942 Warner Bros. press release that sparked the Reagan rumour may be found.

Answer: Out of Africa

"Out of Africa" (1985); Meryl Streep stars as Karen Blixen, who moves to Africa and into a marriage of convenience with the owner of an unprofitable farm. As the marriage goes downhill, she embarks on an affair with a hunter (Robert Redford). Following his death, she is forced to sell the farm and leaves Africa.

There were also Oscar nominations for Meryl Streep (Best Actress), Klaus Maria Brandauer (Best Actor) and Frederick & William Steinkamp (Best Editing).

Karen Blixen was the real name of the author Isak Dinesen, who wrote about her experiences in Africa.

"Yojimbo" (1961) was the Japanese samurai film that inspired the spaghetti western "A Fistful of Dollars"; "Gorillas in the Mist" (1988) was the biopic about Diane Fossey's research work with mountain gorillas; "White Mischief" (1987) was about the murder of Lord Erroll in the 1930s in Kenya's Happy Valley.

Answer: Groucho Marx in "A Night in Casablanca"

"A Night in Casablanca" (1946) was one of the later Marx Brothers movies. A hotel in North Africa is the hiding place for art treasures; to the consternation of the Nazis who have poisoned the original managers, Ronald Kornblow (Groucho Marx) is appointed as a replacement. The Nazis threaten him, and the comment is his retort. Eventually the brothers trick the Nazis into leaving the hotel and it all works out in the end.

Actually, I think that the lines would sound good coming from any of the possible alternatives - try it and see!

Answer: "Guns at Batasi" and "Zulu"

"Guns at Batasi" (1964), starring Richard Attenborough as the Regimental Sergeant Major, tells the story of an Anglo-African regiment trapped in a dangerous situation and attacked by rebels. Hawkins played the Commanding Officer, Colonel John Deal, just about to hand over command.

"Zulu" (1964) is a dramatised version of a real event - the encounter between a large force of Zulu warriors and a British detachment at Rorke's Drift in 1879; Hawkins played an inebriated preacher, Reverend Otto Witt.

None of the other films is from 1964, nor did any of them include Jack Hawkins in the cast.

Answer: Where No Vultures Fly

"Where No Vultures Fly" (1951) is based on the real-life memoirs of Mervyn Cowie, a Kenyan game warden and conservationist who was instrumental in setting up game reserves in east Africa.

Wilbur Smith has written many novels, mostly set in Africa. "Shout at the Devil" (1976) is based on the novel of the same name. "The Mercenaries" (1968), US title "Dark of the Sun", is based on the novel "Dark of the Sun".

Answer: "Tobruk" (UK) / "Destination: North Africa" (US)

"Tobruk" (1967), starring Rock Hudson, is a film about the North African campaign in WW2; its US title was the same. The Allies have to battle the heat, German troops and the possibility of a traitor in the camp, as they try to destroy Rommel's fuel supply.

"Destination: North Africa" is an invented film title.

The other pairs are genuine alternative titles for UK and US.