Savage Splendor
odd: label: Local Number
content: HSFA 1985.11.1
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Cotlow, Lewis, 1898-1987
setName: label: See more items in
content: Lewis Cotlow films
physdesc: label: Extent
content: Film reels (63 minutes, color sound; 2750 feet, 16mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1946-1947
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Edited film was made in the course of the Armand Denis-Lewis Cotlow African expedition in 1946 and purports to be the first color footage shot in Africa. Following the adventures of a big game safari while on a photographic and animal catching mission through the Belgian Congo (Zaire) and Kenya, the film creates a panorama of the people, wildlife, and landscapes of central Africa. Indigenous peoples depicted include the Basongo-Meno, Mbuti Pygmies of the Ituri forest, Enya (Wagenia), Fulani, Dan, Baule, Kuba, Mangbetu, Tutsi, and Masai. Encounters between the hunting party and various groups of people along the route are filmic reenactments and fabrications, replete with indigenous "celebrations," dances, rituals, and hunting scenes. The filmmakers join up with big game hunter Carr Hartley at his animal stockade in Rumuruti, Kenya to film the capture of a variety of animals destined for zoos around the world. Animals depicted in the film include elephants, lions, buffalo, hippopotami, giraffe, oryx, ostrich, antelope, aardvark, grebe zebra, rhinoceros, pelicans, and vultures.

Legacy Keywords: Language and culture ; Expeditions ; Safaris ; Big game hunting ; Landscapes ; Zoology ; Denis, Armand ; RKO Pictures