Trader Horn (1931)
Is it too early to call it for the worst Best Picture nominee? Maybe? I guess we'll find out!
Terror can be a sort of beauty, too.
Trader Horn (1931) - watched 8/15/24
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Writer: Dale Van Every, John T. Neville, Cyril Hume
Starring: Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, Duncan Renaldo
Available to watch? Mercifully, this is not available to stream or rent
First Time Watch? Yes
I took a little self-imposed, unannounced break from the newsletter last week (thanks for noticing) that was largely due to some heavy things happening in my life, but also because I was dreading writing about this movie. This is another of many things I’m finding difficult about this project—sometimes a movie, even a Best Picture nominee, just kinda sucks and there isn’t a whole lot to say about it other than that! Sometimes it’s a miserable experience! And I don’t love the thought of inflicting these negative feelings on my readers.
So I’m sorry in advance, readers, for this potentially caustic post. Know that the acidity is for good reason. I’m angry that this movie exists, angrier that it was a Best Picture nominee, and angrier still that I inflicted this movie upon myself.
Now, you're disappointed to have a myth exploded. But, truth has a charm of its own.
Trader Horn is the fictional story of a real asshole ivory trader, Alfred Aloysius "Trader" Horn (Harry Carey) as he guides and mentors his best friend’s son, Peru (Duncan Renaldo) through the central African wilderness. They come upon a missionary (Olive Carey1) who has lost her daughter—Trader and Peru set out to find her. It turns out that the daughter, Nina (Edwina Booth), was kidnapped by a native tribe, who now view her as a goddess (specifically, “The White Goddess” 😒). Trader and Peru are captured by the tribe and almost killed, but Nina saves them. In turn, the two men guide her as they flee from the tribe and set out to return her back to her home country. She and Peru also fall in love during their journey, because of course they do. Trader Horn, presumably, keeps being an invasive poacher asshole.
One dead man, two dead beasts, and no one the better for it.
This probably sounds dramatic, especially considering how many more movies I have left to review, but I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say this is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I feel like a worse person for having watched it. It was just two hours of punishing, brutal misery.
First of all, it takes roughly an hour for this movie to finally stumble upon some semblance of a plot. The first hour is almost all scenery and shots of wildlife, with Trader Horn occasionally imparting some nugget of racist wisdom to Peru. I kept wondering if this was all leading somewhere, or if I should just turn it off and watch a real nature documentary to get the same (or better) effect. Then things started picking up in the second half—and once it did, I wish it really hadn’t! I wish we could’ve just gone back to the wildlife shots!
I can’t find it in me to put it in any kind of polite or flowery terms: The story sucked. Throughout the movie, Trader Horn regularly refers to people from Africa as savages, as bloodthirsty cannibals. At one point Peru corrects him, saying they are simply “happy, ignorant children.” Boo. BOO. I hate this. I hate it so much. I hate that this movie is now embedded in my memory.
And don’t. Even. Get. Me. STARTED on this “White Goddess” plot. When she is discovered, Nina is portrayed as wild-eyed and feral, yet somehow instantly trusts these strange men. And she should’ve let them get murdered, tbh! It’s not clear to me what exactly she needed to be “rescued” from. She was literally worshiped by the tribe! Leave her alone, she’s fine! She’s seen as a damsel in distress purely because of her surroundings—she’s never in any actual danger, but because she’s living her life in a tribal society in Africa, this is seen as a dire situation that she needs to be rescued from. Peru even delivers this shocking line at one point: “White people must help each other.” Gross!
I’ve said it before, but I’ll reiterate here: I don’t believe in excusing or “contextualizing” movies based on the time period in which they were made. I’m not about to say “Sure, the plot was racist, BUT…” I don’t see why I can’t view and judge these much older films through a modern lens—not doing so feels, frankly, pretty grimy and way too close to complicity for my comfort.
On top of the atrocious plot, the movie is just poorly written, poorly acted, and poorly edited. Not to mention, the shoot left many crew members badly ill and injured, and there were at least two crew member deaths. If that’s not enough to turn you away from this movie forever, perhaps I can sway you with the fact that many of the wildlife scenes were shot in Mexico, in order to get around American animal cruelty laws. Animals were starved in order to induce attacks on one another. So, yeah! Not a single redeeming quality to be found here! One Letterboxd review for Trader Horn that I enjoyed noted that the movie is “like doing planks but racist.” I largely agree with this except that I actually kind of like doing planks!
Well, lad, weren't we the pair of fools.
Quick Facts:
Nominated for 1 Oscar, won nothing, good riddance
Best Picture
First non-documentary film to be shot on location in Africa
Multiple crew members and its lead actress, Edwina Booth, became ill during the course of filming. Booth contracted contracted such an extreme case of malaria that it effectively ended her career, and she sued MGM.
Stray Observations:
Peru is wearing THE biggest, dumbest hat. The type of shit to put Pharrell Williams to shame.
Half the movie is just Trader Horn teaching Peru about the different animals they see. Like okay and???
Trader Horn keeps saying “That’s Africa for ya,” as if Africa is a monolith and not a whole-ass diverse continent
At least it’s not based on a play?
Ugh, say “lad” ONE MORE TIME, see what happens!!
Does Trader Horn know Trader Joe I wonder
Worst BP nominee so far? Possibly ever? Time will tell!!!
My Rating: ½
Next Up: Cimarron (1931)
Yes, she was married to Harry Carey. Cute, I guess?