Mamba

This film was shown at Capitolfest 2018, Rome, NY, in as complete a condition as it's going to get. The soundtrack has been corrected, missing pieces added (except for a sequence deemed offensive by the Australian Censors in the 30's) and it has been gussied up for public viewing. The restoration of "Mamba" is a story in itself.

"Mamba" is a rarity in that it is in color and produced by the now-defunct Tiffany studio, an independent which makes the fact it's in color even more remarkable. It is really not as bad as the website rating would indicate, it's just that the plot is a little far-fetched.

'Mamba' is the nickname of the despised civilian trader in the German East African jungle, hated both by the German and the British troops in the area. He decides he must have a bride to keep him company and bullies a debtor to marry his daughter back in Austria. On the trip back a German officer (Ralph Forbes) is smitten by her (Eleanor Boardman), and the movie takes on a life of its own. The main reason to see 'Mamba' apart from the technical acheivements is Jean Hershholt, who is outstanding in the role of the repugnant Bolte, the trader/husband in the title. There are also some rousing battle scenes which lend excitement to the story. It is worth seeing for the reasons mentioned. Shown at Capitolfest, Rome, NY 8/18.

7/10 - The website no longer prints my star ratings.

In my very early days I enjoyed watching all those golden oldies starring Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan. Mamba, shot in color and with sound (it was the first all color all talking movie which was not a musical), reminds me fondly of those long gone days. Mamba is for sure not a movie of interest for many, but if you want to watch one very old adventure movie in a colonial setting, digging deeper into the history of movie making, Mamba will give you a splendid time. Exact rate: 6 + 1 for nostalgic reasons only.

Mostly forgotten today, Mamba was a sort of landmark in its day. It was one of the most bold films that the smaller studios, the so-called Poverty rows, ever made. It was a joint project of Tiffany and Color Art Productions. It had ornate costumes, realistic and spectacle sets, and claimed that it was the "First All Technicolor Drama."

Mamba didn't just have a scene or two colored, as did Dixiana, Rio Rita, Broadway Melody or the Great Gabbo. Money poor Mamba was more ambitious than those films. Mamba was filmed in 2-strip Technicolor from beginning to end. It may well have been the first sound feature to have had such a grand treatment. When the film opened at the Gaiety Theatre in New York, it caused a sensation, breaking the two-week box office at the theater.

Apparently, the color was outstanding with lush greens and excellent flesh tones. Overwhelmed by its Technicolor effects, the critics of the day gave the movie and its stars excellent reviews, pointing out how the film appealed to both men and women alike because of its Jungle theme and the beauty and the beast aspect of the romance.

According to the director, Albert Rogell, while in production Mamba kept running out of money. In order to fool, the creditors, the production kept two sets of identical costumes available so that the cast and crew could keep working on the production.

While this cash poor production may have been a grand success in 1930, Father Time has finally collected the bill on this historic landmark film. It exists today only in fragments. Too bad an identical master copy wasn't keep in the vaults.

In the town in German East Africa, right by the border with British territory, everyone gets along famously. They are all united, Germans and British, Blacks and Whites, in despising Jean Hersholt, who's the richest man around and an utter rotter. He heads back home, finds himself Eleanor Boardman, the daughter of a destitute German aristocrat, pays off daddy's debts, marries her, and brings her back to Africa. Everyone attends his wedding party for her sake, but he's so disagreeable that everyone leaves, and she promptly falls in love with German soldier Ralph Forbes. Then World War One begins, the natives revolt, the volcano erupts, the ....

Well, not the last, but there's a general upheaval and a big ending fight scene as the natives attack the German fort that looks like it was pulled from a western.

It's not a particularly good movie, even though you can see why it was immensely popular when it was made. Sound and Technicolor! Villainy and love! Big battle scenes! True, the second unit work seems to be rather slapdash, the dialogue is spoken at a slow pace with lots of time between sides, and so forth. But for 1930, it's all rather impressive.

It being 1930, there are some technical issues. Because it was two-strip Technicolor, people bleed orange, and use the color far more frequently than we do nowadays. Also, the images are softer than one would wish, but it's one of those movies that would have rated very highly in the year it was made.... and seems ridiculous nowadays.

From a time when smoking was still good for you and political correctness was unheard of, comes Mamba. The simple but perfectly engaging plot cracks along at a reasonable pace even by modern standards, and the cast make a fine show of their transition from silent film to one of the first ever 'talkies'. The richness of the colouring is staggering given the technical limitations of the studio in its year of production, 1929.

In the screening I saw there was one deleted scene, which was apparently removed by censors in 1930 (the year of Mamba's release) – the sound for this section remained however, and was played over a number of 'stills' taken from elsewhere in the film. This had the effect of emphasising that the films dialogue was somewhat stilted, which is perhaps understandable given this was one of the earliest efforts of talking films. From the sound in this section it was evident that the cut scene might have been considered a bit too intimate for the day.

Shown in its entirety in Melbourne at The Astor in November 2011 – presumed to be the first screening of this film on the big screen for almost 80 years. Years ahead of its time – a must see for all film fans now that it is finally available for viewing again.