The Roots of Heaven

In French Equatorial Africa, an idealist campaigns to save the African elephant, gaining support from a nightclub hostess and an ex-soldier. His cause attracts a mix of characters, including a U.S. commentator, a government aide opposed to him, and an ivory hunter with conflicting interests.

I just wonder how much acting Errol Flynn or Orson Welles actually had to do in this really disappointing and meandering yarn - they both appear as disinterested as the other. Trevor Howard doesn't fare much better as the early ecologist "Morel" who is determined to put a stop to elephant hunting. That's quite a task given he is slap bang amidst French Equatorial Africa where most of the community is employed in this "sport" and most of the establishment takes part. More by luck than judgement, his campaign attracts the attention of "Sedgewick" (Welles) and soon photographer Eddie Albert ("Abe") in on site to capture the images and tell the world the story. What now ensues is a battle with the hunters now having something entirely new to hunt. The story isn't half bad, but the execution is rally poor. Flynn, playing a dissolute former British officer is nowhere near his best form, Welles features but sparingly and the rest of this is looks little better than a glorified episode of "Daktari" (without "Clarence"). It is way, way, too long with production standards that are mediocre at best. It's sad to see such an high profile ensemble cast going to waste like this, but this is really pretty dull and forgettable.