page_title: The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952 film)
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952 film) / Reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Screenshot from the film The Snows of Kilimanjaro
context_page_description: The Snows of Kilimanjaro is a 1952 American Technicolor film based on the 1936 short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It is directed by Henry King, written by Casey Robinson, and starred Gregory Peck as Harry, Susan Hayward as Helen, and Ava Gardner as Cynthia Green. The film's ending does not mirror the story's ending.
  Considered by Hemingway to be one of his finest stories, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" was first published in Esquire magazine in 1936 and then republished in The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories.
  A major critical and commercial success, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" was nominated for two Oscars at the 25th Academy Awards, for Best Cinematography, Color and Best Art Direction, Color.
  The film has entered the public domain.
context_section_description: Helped by a star-studded cast, the film was one of the most successful films of the early 1950s and earned $12.5 million at the box office, very high for that period. The film was much acclaimed by critics, although some vary in their opinion of it, ranging from "simply plodding" to "much-maligned". The cinematography was highly acclaimed in particular, and even the sophisticated interiors were praised. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times described the cinematography as "magnificent and exciting" and said that the "overall production in wonderful color is full of brilliant detail and surprise and the mood of nostalgia and wistful sadness that is built up in the story has its spell." He praised Peck's character for his "burning temper and melancholy moods", although he said that Ava Gardner was "pliant and impulsive" in a role "as soggy and ambiguous as any in the film". Variety praised the film as "an often engrossing dramatic mixture of high adventure, romance and symbolism," adding that "the color coating used to display the story's varied locales is beautiful," and "Miss Gardner has never been better." Harrison's Reports called it "at once absorbing, exciting, and fascinating." The Monthly Film Bulletin, however, wrote that Hemingway's dialogue sounded "stilted and a little dated" on the screen, and that "any real seriousness that the film might have retained is nullified by the ending. Letting Harry survive makes of the film a naive kind of spiritual success story with a conventional boy-meets-lots-of-girls plot." A more recent appraisal in Bowker's Directory described it as having "plenty of action & romance" and stated that it was "the popular 'celebrity film' of its time". Hemingway, who disliked the typical Hollywood happy ending, accepted the money for the film, but he could not bring himself to view it, according to one report.  However, in a 1954 article for Look magazine, Hemingway said a hyena (voiced by Director King from behind the camera) was the best performer in the picture, which the writer called The Snows of Zanuck.
  The film was nominated for two Academy Awards; for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir, Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox).
caption: On studio set “location“ for Kenya
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