|
Hollywood, California & Africa 1931 EB3110-20 Costume Black animal fur breast drapes and miniskirt. Animal skull, anklet. TML. Bellage. Actions The story of Trader Horn, on safari in unexplored Africa, begins with the discovery that a missionary, Edith Trent, has been killed by natives and that her long lost daughter Nina, played by Edwina Booth, has been reared from childhood by a savage tribe of cannibals as their white goddess fetish queen. Trader Horn attempts to rescue her from the Josh House of the Isorga, she reigns supreme as the white witch whose spoken word can generate muti (powerful magic and good fortune) or violent death. Booth with director Van Dyke (1). Publicity photos (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). On location in Africa (9, 10, 11, 12, 13). Commentary Trader Horn is one of the very first sound films and the first Hollywood feature to be shot on location in Africa. Both factors conspire to drive the picture over budget, and infect the cast and crew with malaria, including its first time leading lady, Edwina Booth. The film is a hugh success and gathers an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, but Booth experiences a slow recovery that effectively ends her movie career.Booth sues MGM and claims that her very scantily clad costume and "nude sunbathing" increased her susceptibility to malaria; the case is eventually settled out of court. In terms of exposures, Booth's near-nudity is typical of leading ladies in the run-up to the Hayes Code. There are a lot more exposures on the silver screen than any beach. Source W.S. Van Dyke, director, Trader Horn, MGM, 1931. #.10 from Val Warren, Lost Lands, Mythical Kingdoms, and Unknown Worlds, HM Communications, 635 Madison Ave., New York 10022, distributed by Simon & Schuster, New York, 1979, p. 67; photo collection of Howard Frank of Personality Photos, Box 50, Brooklyn, NY 11230. Additional picture sources include fanpix.net, flickr AliceJapan, flickr Gatochy, liveauctioneers, and operatoer_99.blogspot.com. The MGM number for Trader Horn is 385-nnn. AliceJapan attributes Clarence Sinclair Bull as the photographer for the bulk of the Trader Horn publicity pictures. 13 pictures. |
|
