White Hunter Black Heart

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White Hunter, Black Heart
movie poster
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Produced by	Clint Eastwood Stanley Rubin
Written by	Peter Viertel (novel) James Bridges (screenplay) Burt Kennedy (screen play) Peter Viertel (screenplay)
Starring	Clint Eastwood Jeff Fahey George Dzundza Catherine Neilson
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	May 16, 1990
Running time	110 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

White Hunter Black Heart is a 1990 film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood as John Wilson, based on the book by Peter Viertel. Viertel also wrote the script.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story centers on world-renowned film maker John Wilson (Eastwood), who travels to Africa for his next film bringing with him a young writer chum named Pete Verrill (Jeff Fahey). While there he becomes obsessed with hunting elephants while neglecting the preparations for the film. This leads to a conflict between the men on several levels, most notably over the idea of killing for sport such a grand animal. Even Wilson concedes that it is so wrong that it is not just a crime against nature, but a "sin." Yet he cannot overcome his desire to bring down a giant bull, a "tusker" with massive ivory tusks. Wilson's final realization that his is a petty, ignoble pursuit comes at a late point and with a tragic price, as the local expert guide Kivu (Boy Mathias Chuma) is killed protecting him from an elephant Wilson decides not to shoot.

The film is a thinly disguised account of writer Peter Viertel's experiences working with John Huston (the Wilson character) while he made the film The African Queen which was shot on location in Africa at a time when location shoots outside of the United States for American films were very rare.

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[edit] Trivia

The main character is based on real life director John Huston; at times, Eastwood can be heard drawing out his vowels, speaking in Huston's distinctive style.
George Dzundza's character is based on African Queen producer Sam Spiegel.
Like the fictional film it is based on, it too was shot on location in Africa. In the case of White Hunter Black Heart in the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The small steamboat they used in the whitewater scene is the same boat Humphrey Bogart's character captained in The African Queen (1951).
Katherine Hepburn also wrote of her adventure making the The African Queen in her best-selling book The Making of The African Queen: Or, How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind.
Was the final script written by James Bridges.
The scene in which John Wilson attends a soccer game might be a reference to the film Escape to Victory, which John Huston directed in 1981.

Films directed by Clint Eastwood

Play Misty for Me • High Plains Drifter • Breezy • The Eiger Sanction • The Outlaw Josey Wales • The Gauntlet • Bronco Billy • Firefox • Honkytonk Man • Sudden Impact • Pale Rider • Heartbreak Ridge • Bird • White Hunter Black Heart • The Rookie • Unforgiven • A Perfect World • The Bridges of Madison County • Absolute Power • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil • True Crime • Space Cowboys • Blood Work • Mystic River • "The Blues" • Million Dollar Baby • Flags of Our Fathers • Letters from Iwo Jima