The Roots of Heaven

Released Oct 15, 1958

2h 11m

Adventure

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Reviews

50%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A drunken British ex-major (Errol Flynn) and a prostitute (Juliette Gréco) join an African elephant crusader (Trevor Howard).

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If the loss of Earth's magnificent creatures pains you this old movie will make you cry but give you some hope

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

Well before its time. A groups sets out to defend the African Elephant. Not a bad movie. And one of Errol Flynn's last films.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

A man is never alone when he fights for a good cause. In the heart of Africa, at a lonely bar, an idealist speaks about his feelings regarding saving the elephants and their precious species being the root of heaven. He convinces several patrons to join him on a crusade to save the animals. In the middle of his acts, he is joined by political and international media trying to get in on the action. They will encounter poachers and restless natives on this adventure to preserve one of the most famous endangered species in Africa. "It is not when men take off their uniforms that they are at their worse. It is when they put them on." John Huston, director of The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, The Man Who Would be King, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Captain Blood, Prizzi's Honor, Key Largo, Beat the Devil, and The Asphalt Jungle, delivers Roots of Heaven. The storyline for this picture is fairly straightforward and fairly predictable for this genre. The acting is better than average and includes Errol Flynn, Juliette Greco, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles, and Herbert Lom. "This is my friend, Toto." I was very excited to see this movie when I discovered it was directed by John Huston and starred Errol Flynn and Orson Welles. Unfortunately, this is a fairly cliché "save the elephants" movie that doesn't have the creativity and drama I was hoping for. Overall, this movie is very average and I would recommend skipping it. "You can never teach a man anything by killing him." Grade: C

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

A Gigantic Message against Elephant Hunting and Colonianism with a great Errol Flynn in his Last Part and beautiful Pictures of the African Nature and the Elephants and other Animals. The Directions, Camera Work, Music and all other Actors are great too.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

Probably the first eco-thriller with the Huston-typical attitude. Welles and Flynn are astonishing in their roles.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

J'avais beaucoup aime le livre et le film n'est pas en reste.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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John Huston

Director

Errol Flynn

Forsythe

Juliette Gréco

Minna

Trevor Howard

Morel

Eddie Albert

Abe Fields

Orson Welles

Cy Sedgewick

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Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

Well worth seeing, but somewhat disappointing nonetheless, this is ace director John Huston's screen version of Romain Gary's famed novel.

Oct 21, 2019

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Sean Axmaker

Parallax View

...a different kind of African wildlife adventure: the heroes are early eco-warriors, animals rights activists who take on both private elephant poachers and government indifference...

Feb 19, 2012

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Synopsis

A drunken British ex-major (Errol Flynn) and a prostitute (Juliette Gréco) join an African elephant crusader (Trevor Howard).

Director: John Huston
Screenwriter: Romain Gary, Patrick Leigh-Fermor
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 15, 1958, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2010
Runtime: 2h 11m

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