Stanley and Livingstone
| Stanley and Livingstone | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by |
Henry King Otto Brower (safari sequences) |
| Produced by |
Darryl F. Zanuck Kenneth Macgowan (associate producer) |
| Written by |
Philip Dunne Julien Josephson |
| Starring |
Spencer Tracy Nancy Kelly Richard Greene |
| Edited by | Barbara McLean |
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Production
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,338,000 |
Stanley and Livingstone (1939) is a movie based loosely upon the true story of Welsh reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest to find Dr. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary presumed lost in Africa, who finally met on November 10, 1871. Spencer Tracy plays Stanley, while Cedric Hardwicke portrays Livingstone. Other cast members include Nancy Kelly, Richard Greene, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn and Henry Hull.
Henry Stanley is a fearless newspaper reporter ready to do whatever it takes to get a story, regardless of any danger to his life. Colonel Grimes tells two peace commissioners sent from Washington DC that he cannot permit them to try to contact the Indians of the Wyoming Territory of 1870, as it would be suicidal, only to have Stanley emerge from the wilderness, escorted by a band of the natives and his guide, Jeff Slocum (Walter Brennan).
When Stanley returns to New York City, his employer, New York Herald publisher James Gordon Bennett, Jr., gives him another near-impossible assignment. The London Globe has announced that an expedition headed by Gareth Tyce (Richard Greene), the son of the Globe's publisher, Lord Tyce (Charles Coburn), has verified that world-renowned missionary David Livingstone is dead. Bennett does not believe it, and would relish embarrassing his rival by proving the story wrong. It is a daunting task, searching the mostly unmapped interior of the "dark continent" for one man, but Stanley accepts the challenge.
On the boat trip to Zanzibar, Stanley makes a very unfavorable impression on fellow passenger Lord Tyce. Stanley meets Eve Kingsley (Nancy Kelly) and her father, John Kingsley (Henry Travers), the temporary head of the British authorities in Zanzibar. Eve has been seeing Gareth Tyce, recovering from his ordeal, in the hope of getting him to persuade his father to use his influence to have her father reassigned to a more healthy posting back in England. Eve warns Stanley about the dangers of Africa, but he is undeterred.
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Wikipedia