American Cinematographer - June 1989 - 41

believed that the Watusi

migrated from the north
(possibly Ethiopia) several hundred years ago. They
long held the Bahutu people in feudal subjugation.
"We see the extraordinary dancers... This will be
one of the most
spectacular sequences in the picture
(see Dark Rapture)/' she wrote. Indeed it was and is.
Richard Carlson said that "the King's dancers
[Butera in the lead] executed the most exciting cho¬
reography I have ever seen, to the accompaniment of
those huge throaty drums that seem to hit you in
the pit of the stomach."
The Royal Watusi drums, originally re¬
corded for Dark Rapture and newly recorded for this

Colectin

PASJAtreccohorhfmitvesifmntszi,g

throughout the film, but he was of the Kipsigi tribe
under the British, whereas the Watusi were under
the protectorate of the Belgians. Complications en¬
sued. The

acting governor general of the Belgian
Congo approved the plan, but the governor general
rescinded the order upon his return from Brussels.
Major problem.

Left: Stewart

Granger, Deborah
leopard at
Carr Hartley's ani¬
mal compound,
Kenya. Below:
Kerr and

Kimursi

as

Khiva.

Later Andrew Marton, concerned about

being able to take Sekaryongo to America,
arranged to have him sent to Nairobi for some
important coverage: In desperation a quarry was
not

found to stand in for the MGM and New Mexico
mines. "The question was, how do we light it? We
had some gold reflectors and experimented a little.
The result was, if you could shake those gold reflec¬
tors a little bit, it would look like torchlight flicker¬

ing. Then we took some Coca-Cola and

some motor
it down the rocks to make them glisten
and it looked like a good wet cave that had some

oil, and

ran

moisture

coming down the wall. Then I pre-shot 20
closeups that we stashed away and brought back"
for the

cave

sequence.
The insurance policy

paid off, as none of the
ultimately, allowed to go to America.
Siriaque (Umbopa) was doubled in all long shots
done later. Fortunately, he was not involved in any
interiors. Because of some alleged complications
regarding the delicate negotiations with the Belgian
Watusi was,

officials, MGM at this time became disenchanted
with Armand Denis and his services.
In January, the first unit moved to the

CUoSurCtesy

"unfriendly village," all the way to Arusha in Tan¬
ganyika. Surtees said in a 1950 newspaper interview
that "we had to jump all over the place to avoid local
rainy seasons. We traveled 700 miles or more from
film,

were

also used for the main title of Mines (and

the later Mogambo - 1953).
and songs were carefully

A variety of tribal drums
recorded along with the
chants (some traditional, some improvised) of the
Wakamba, who served as porters and laborers for
the "Bwana Metro" safari. Indeed, the entire scor¬

ing for the picture consisted of the authentic music
from those portions of Africa visited during the
filming.
Christmas, 1949, was spent in Astrida,
where the company continued to work on the Wa¬
tusi

Bennett cabled on the 27th that he was
worried health crew. One third now

scenes.

"still

indisposed."
Since
Astrida for the

Siriaque, a Watusi player cast in
important role of Umbopa, worked
in a large percentage of scenes prior to those taking
place in Ruanda-Urundi, it was necessary to ar¬
range for his coming to America for the remainder
of the photography. In addition, Sekaryongo, the
Watusi portraying Gagool, who leads the principal
players into the mines, was to be brought back since
the mine interiors

were

to be done at the studio and

in New Mexico.

Arrangements had already been
made to bring back Kimursi, playing Khiva, Quatermain's

June 1989

servant

and

gun-bearer, who worked

American

Cinematographer

39
American Cinematographer - June 1989

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