White Witch Doctor (1953)

A nurse (Susan Hayward) arrives in the Congo of 1907 to work as a missionary doctor's assistant. A hunter (Robert Mitchum) reluctantly guides her through treacherous and hostile country to reach her destination. But his motives aren't entirely pure. He and his partner (Walter Slezak) plan on robbing the natives of their gold. Directed by the veteran Henry Hathaway, this is a par for the course 1950s African adventure, indistinguishable from so many others of the era like SAFARI or ODONGO. There's some handsome African location footage (the cinematography is by Leon Shamroy, SOUTH PACIFIC) but it's doubtful either Mitchum or Hayward set foot in Africa as all their scenes are set on an obvious sound stage at 20th Century Fox or in front of rear projections of the African landscape. Hayward and Mitchum make for an appealing couple and that's enough for a while but eventually even their star power fails to hold your attention. There's a marvelous underscore by Bernard Herrmann, one of his great unsung scores.