An African Adventure with Attilio Gatti (1947)

Synopsis

An African Adventure with Attilio Gatti is a short film on the Gatti-Hallicrafters Expedition to British East Africa in 1947 that is presented by International Harvester of Chicago. The film opens with a shot of members of the expedition on deck of a ship as it sails to South Africa. A man holds a cobra at the Port Elizabeth Snake Gardens to extract its venom. At Kilindini Harbor (01:44), the ship docks and the expedition’s trucks are unloaded from the cargo bay; trucks and trailers hoisted out by cranes. Gatti inspects the expedition’s flag before the caravan heads out (02:44). The expedition is ferried across the harbor. A man in the expedition’s radio trailer radios Chicago with their status. The caravan of trucks drive over an old bridge (04:33). Mt. Meru in British East Africa (Kenya/Tanzania) looms in the distance. A bull rhino eats grass (05:22); viewers also see a cow and calf rhino. A cheetah approaches one of the trucks used to lure the animals near for photographing. Several cheetahs climb on the truck looking for food (06:45). There is a good shot of three cheetahs on the roof of the truck. Gatti gives cigarettes to the Africans assisting the expedition (07:28). The expedition drives to Ngorongoro Crater. The film then shows members of the Maasai meeting with the expedition (07:59); the young men of the tribe are initiated as warriors during a ceremony (08:47). The expedition drives through the Serengeti (09:08), passing zebras, antelope, giraffes, oryxes, and an…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

22 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• 1947
• East Africa
• Attilio Gatti
• Adventure
• Stock Footage