Classic Safari Films - Travel Video - DVD.

6-Volume Beautiful Boxed Set. The continent of Africa has always been a place of mystery and adventure. Early explorers wrote about fantastic herds of animals, and blood thirsty cannibals, while others spoke of huge tusked beasts and horse-like creatures with 20 foot long necks. the early accounts were often discounted as fantastic tales made up by promoters and con men. When American president Theodore Roosevelt made a trip to Africa right after the turn of the century the whole world was fascinated, and finally the stories of huge beasts and strange people were taken seriously. Classic Safari Films is a 6 DVD collection that includes four of the earliest documentary films ever made on safaris and African Wildlife. Included is the first sound movie made in Africa- Congorilla- plus three other films shot by Martin and Osa Johnson during their travels. You'll witness Lion and Rhino charges, herds of Zebra and Wildebeest in the Serengeti, giant Crocodiles in the Nile, and many scenes that have not been witnesses in decades. This is Africa as it was before humans tamed and explored it. This is dangerous, mysterious, un-explored Africa where elephants with 100 lb tusks were still common, and the land still wild for thousands of miles in any direction. Also included in the set are two of the best known Hollywood features that deal with adventure in Africa: snows of Kilimanjaro, and King Solomon's Mines. Both are classics in their own right, and were at the time of their release considered two of the finest films ever made by Hollywood. As a fascinating and historically significant set, Classic safari Films is without peer. It is simply the best of the best, and is destined to be a collector's item to anyone interested in exploration, wildlife, safaris, and adventure. Simba (1927) Simba astonishes with some of the most spectacular images of Africa's people and wildlife. Filmed from 1924 to 1927, Simba creates a remarkable portrait and an invaluable record of lost cultures through encounters with the people of Kenya and Tanzania. The DVD soundtrack features live music performed at the Kansas Silent Film Festival showing of Simba in 2004. Congorilla (1932) The first sound movie made entirely in Africa, congorilla premiered in 1932 and permitted audiences to hear what they had only been able to see during previous safari films. Martin and Osa Johnson began in Kenya and Tanzania before moving on to the Uganda and the Congo basin. Along the way, they filmed zebra in the Serengeti, charging rhino in the Northern Frontier District, and recorded exciting encounters with crocodiles and hippos as they went down the Nile. The latter part of the film is devoted to the seven months the filmmakers spent in the Ituri Forest with the Mbuti people as they captured village life despite the high humidity which caused batteries to deteriorate, wires and connections to corrode, and mildew to form on camera cases. Baboona (1935) The 1935 Morro films, shot by Martin and Osa Johnson, recount the 60,000 mile "flying safari" undertaken by the filmmakers as they flew their two amphibian airplanes ( the zebra-striped Osa's Ark and the giraffe-spotted Spirit of Africa) from Capetown, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. Famous shots from the movie include the first ever aerial pictures of the tops of Africa's tallest peaks, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya along the journey, Martin filmed Osa surrounded by a pride of lions and together they captured amazing scenes of a baboon colony, an event striking enough to give the movie its name. I Married Adventure (1940) A 1940 Columbia Picture feature film, I Married Adventure stars Osa Johnson and closely follows her 1940 best-selling book of the same name. Osa portrays herself in studio-produced scenes which bridge the transition between actual documentary footage segments as the film recounts the Johnson's nine world expeditions to Africa, Borneo, and the South Seas. Jim Bannon, a Hollywood stuntman who lent his voice to many westerns including Red Ryder, Don Clark, and Albert Duffy narrate this adventure classic that compiles the very best images from the Johnsons' original feature films. Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) Ernest Hemingway could never come to terms with the stereotypical happy ending and although Snows of Kilimanjaro is his story, he could never bring himself to see the movie version. In Snows of Kilimanjaro, Gregory Peck plays if. Scott Fitzgerald who is on safari in the African mountains with his lady friend played by Susan Hayward. Fitzgerald is seriously wounded while hunting and in the few hours he has left, he reflects upon his life and believes it has been wasted in pursuit of money, instead of spent contributing to the greater good. The movie's producer dictated that the end of the movie differ from the Hemingway's short story - the happy ending has the author Fitzgerald surviving his injuries and determined to write something of lasting value. Snows of Kilimanjaro features a wonderful musical score and on-location photography. King Solomon's Mine (1937) The plot of this classic film gets under way when Anna Lee organizes an expedition to locate her father, legendary explorer Quartermaine, who has disappeared in the wilds of Africa while searching for King Solomon's Mines, a fabled diamond repository. Umbopa, a native guide played by Paul Robeson (a singing star of the day) has a secret motivation for guiding the expedition: to reclaim the tribal throne wrested from him by treacherous with doctor Gagool (played by Sydney Fairbrother). At first treated as gods by the natives, the explorers soon find their lives imperiled. Thanks to umbopa's know-how, the explorers are saved from horrible death and the evil tribesmen are overthrown. As for king Solomon's Mines, Quartermaine and his party finally locate the fabled diamond cache-and then fate deals an ironic hand...