So This Is Africa
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So This Is Africa | |
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Directed by | Edward F. Cline |
Written by | Lew Lipton Norman Krasna |
Produced by | Harry Cohn (executive producer) |
Starring | Bert Wheeler Robert Woolsey Raquel Torres Esther Muir |
Cinematography | Leonard Smith |
Edited by | Maurice Wright |
Music by | Bert Kalmer Harry Ruby |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 64 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
So This Is Africa is a 1933 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Raquel Torres, and Esther Muir. It was Wheeler and Woolsey's only film for Columbia Pictures.
Plot[edit]
Film studio "Ultimate Pictures" plans on producing an animal picture in Africa. The studio gets the help of animal specialist Mrs. Johnson Martini. There's just one problem: she's afraid of animals. Martini and the studio soon learn of Wilbur and Alexander, a couple of down on their luck vaudevillians with a trained lion act. The duo agree to join Martini on an expedition to Africa. While there, the trio finds themselves captured by a tribe of violent Amazons.
Cast[edit]
- Bert Wheeler as Wilbur
- Robert Woolsey as Alexander
- Raquel Torres as Tarzana
- Esther Muir as Mrs. Johnson Martini
- Berton Churchill as President of Ultimate Pictures
- Henry Armetta as Street Cleaner
- Spencer Charters as Doctor
- Spec O'Donnell as Johnny, Office Boy
- Jerome Storm as Production Manager
Production[edit]
The Motion Picture Division of the Education Board of New York State felt that several lines of dialogue and other sequences in this film were inappropriate. As a result, Columbia Pictures was forced to delete sections of So This Is Africa prior to its release.[citation needed] Norman Krasna requested his name be taken off the credits accordingly.[1]
The character of "Mrs. Johnson Martini" is a play on the real-life celebrity of the era Osa Johnson, generally referred to publicly at that time as Mrs. Martin Johnson. In collaboration with her husband, Johnson was a well-known documentary filmmaker. At the time So This Is Africa was issued, Johnson and her husband had just returned from a two-year stint in Africa and had released the documentary film Congorilla.
Availability[edit]
To date, So This Is Africa has not been released into the home video market. It is currently owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The film has been shown on Turner Classic Movies in the past.
References[edit]
- ^ "Variety (May 1933)". 1933.
External links[edit]
- So This Is Africa at IMDb
- So This Is Africa at AllMovie
- Review of film at Variety
- 1933 films
- 1933 musical comedy films
- 1933 romantic comedy films
- American musical comedy films
- American romantic comedy films
- American romantic musical films
- American black-and-white films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Films directed by Edward F. Cline
- Films set in Africa
- 1930s romantic musical films
- 1930s English-language films
- 1930s American films
- Romantic musical film stubs