Trader Horn (1931 film)

Trader Horn
Theatrical release poster
Directed byW.S. Van Dyke
Written byDale Van Every (adaptation)
John T. Neville (adaptation)
Cyril Hume (dialogue)
Screenplay byRichard Schayer
Based onTrader Horn
1927 book
by Alfred Aloysius Horn and Ethelreda Lewis
Produced byIrving Thalberg (uncredited)
StarringHarry Carey
Edwina Booth
Duncan Renaldo
CinematographyClyde De Vinna
Edited byBen Lewis
Music byJames McKay
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • February 3, 1931 (1931-02-03) (New York City, premiere)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.3 million[1][2]
Box office$4.2 million (worldwide rentals)[2]

Trader Horn is a 1931 American Pre-Code adventure film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Harry Carey and Edwina Booth. It is the first non-documentary film shot on location in Africa. The film is based on the book of the same name by trader and adventurer Alfred Aloysius Horn and tells of adventures on safari in Africa.

The film's dialogue was written by Cyril Hume. John Thomas Neville and Dale Van Every wrote the adaption.[3] Trader Horn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1931.[4] Edwina Booth, the female lead, contracted a career-ending illness while filming in Africa, for which she later sued Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

  1. ^ Scott Eyman, Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer, Robson, 2005 p 110
  2. ^ a b The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles, California: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study
  3. ^ Horn, Alfred Aloysius; Lewis, Ethelreda (1927), Trader Horn; being the life and works of Alfred Aloysius Horn, New York, Grosset & Dunlap, OCLC 4350259
  4. ^ "The 4th Academy Awards (1931) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved May 21, 2019.