Savage Splendor
Object Details
- Local Number
- HSFA 1985.11.1
- Collection Creator
- Cotlow, Lewis, 1898-1987
- See more items in
- Lewis Cotlow films
- Sponsor
- Cataloging supported by Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
- Extent
- Film reels (63 minutes, color sound; 2750 feet, 16mm)
- Date
- 1946-1947
- Archival Repository
- Human Studies Film Archives
- Type
- Archival materials
- Film reels
- Collection Rights
- Contact the repository for terms of use.
- Scope and Contents
- 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
- Collection Restrictions
- The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
- Record ID
- ebl-1633111215902-1633111215914-0
- Metadata Usage
- CC0