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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 010

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

1952114 minUnited States
RomanceDramaAdventure
Video edition
YouTube
Original language
English
This copy runs
113:49
Subtitles
English

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Synopsis

Stranded on an African safari with a dangerous infection, a writer revisits the choices that shaped his life. Memories of love, travel and abandoned possibilities interrupt the uncertainty of the present. His wife waits beside him as the distance between the person he became and the writer he hoped to be grows harder to ignore.

Cast

DirectorsHenry King

Inspirations

The film expands Ernest Hemingway's short story into a broad romantic retrospective. Cynthia, played by Ava Gardner, was created for this adaptation, and the ending departs from Hemingway's. The result reflects Hollywood's approach to turning a compressed literary work into a star-led feature.

Behind the scenes

Not every distant location required a new expedition: the bullfighting material came from Fox's earlier Blood and Sand. The film combines that reused footage with studio work and a large-scale colour presentation.

Sources and availability

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WikipediaInternet Archive

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

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Availability checked on September 10, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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