Mogambo (1953)

Clark Gable reprises his role as veteran big-game trapper and guide Vic Marswell in John Ford's remake of RED DUST, the actor's 1932 hit directed by Victor Fleming. After a brief fling with Eloise Kelly (Ava Gardner), an adventurer temporarily stranded in Kenya, Vic is hired as a guide by British anthropologist Donald Nordley (Donald Sinden)--who has come to study the gorilla--and his wife, Linda (Grace Kelly). Linda is immediately attracted to Vic and begins flirting with him furiously, behavior that goes unnoticed by her preoccupied husband but not the jealous Eloise, who manages to get in a few verbal jabs at dinner. While walking through the jungle, Vic saves Linda from an attacking panther, and although she tacitly offers herself to him, he passes. As the group's safari heads into gorilla country, the sexual tension between Vic and Linda increases, but her husband's absorption in simian affairs prevents repercussions. However, the gorillas do not reciprocate Donald's interest, and when one of them attacks the scientist, Vic has a chance to be rid of his mild-mannered rival. One of Ford's least typical projects, this comedy of jungle manners includes none of his characteristic themes, but the sardonic John Lee Mahin script, the easy rapport between Gable and Gardner, and the striking photography of the African veldt make it a film well worth watching.