MovieChat Forums > Mogambo (1953) Discussion > Pineapples - Ha! Ha!

Pineapples - Ha! Ha!

posted 17 years ago by sophybliss
8 replies | jump to latest

I watched this recently with my mom, who originally saw it at the theatre when she was about 13. There were several (unintentionally) funny moments, but the best was the footage of the gorillas eating pineapples. In Africa. It looked like footage shot at a zoo or something, but I suppose it could have been shot in the wild with the gorillas provided pineapples to munch on. Mom said she never even noticed that when she originally saw it, but wasn't really familiar with Hawaii & any pineapple that wasn't from a can back then. Ah, the 50's!!! :)

[–] tehgandu 17 years ago

*g* I cracked up at that part and when Ava fell into the mud, meh.

[–] AliciaHuberman59 16 years ago

I watched "Mogambo" the other night and caught that pineapple shot, too! I agree with your take on the 50s, etc.

[–] idcook 15 years ago

lol … funny…

Never been a big fan of this movie. Nothing against it; I just weary of silver screen machismo from time to time.

Watching it today I half-noticed an ape carrying a pineapple and thought “Where did they get pineapples?”

I then continued with paying the film half-attention.

“Your thinking is untidy, like most so-called thinking today.” (Murder, My Sweet)

[–] trupodur 14 years ago

Yes pineapple-eating scene is reminding of "Mud and sand". There toreadors were supposed to fight some supposedly bloodthirsty bulls shot inside of an animal farm in vicinity of Hollywood.

[–] hankpac 11 years ago

Although pineapples originated in South America, by the 1950's they were being cultivated all over the tropics.
It would not be extremely out of the question that pineapples would be obtainable by gorillas if they raided a nearby village garden.

[–] 398 11 years ago

I have heard the pineapple criticism before and really have never understood it.

The apes filmed were in the wild and eating pineapples probably put out for them by the second-unit crew to attract them for the cameras.

The young naturalist in the movie was also filming the gorillas and it makes sense he would also bring along pineapples to attract them for the cameras.

I guess the script should have bluntly spelled this out rather than relying on the audience to be able to figure it out on their own.

[–] ZolotoyRetriever 11 years ago

They also showed pineapples earlier in the movie. If you look closely, during both dinner scenes at Marswell's main compound, you can see a plate of assorted fruit on the dinner table, including a pineapple. Let's just assume that pineapples were available, and they probably brought some along when they went up into gorilla country to lure and feed the gorillas.

[–] joe-2797 11 years ago

This is similar to the criticism of "this western was supposed to be shot right after the Civil War and one guy had a revolver that didn't come out until 1877!" Ok, like everything else in America today- we judge yesterday's people, mores, practices, views, intolerances, and lives through a modern lens. We are too ignorant and full of conceit to understand that those sorts of oversights were common practice in that era of film making. Would it be typically understood by the public that pineapples were not an African agricultural product then? No. And would the producers worry that pineapples didn't grow in Africa. No. They didn't hive a crap. They were exotic fruit then and that was good enough. But today every detail is of the greatest import, and we have the internet so can know every fact! And anyone who would make such a mistake is obviously stupid, and we are superior...blah blah blah. We now of course have the trees, but the forest is nowhere in sight.