''Congo Crossing'' is a 1956 American
adventure film
An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...
directed by
Joseph Pevney
Joseph Pevney (September 15, 1911 – May 18, 2008) was an American film and television director. and starring
Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...
and
George Nader
George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including ''Sins of Jezebel'' (1953), ''Congo Crossing'' (1956), and ''The Female Animal'' ...
. Most of the exterior sequences were shot in the
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 127 acres (51.4 ha), is an arboretum, botanical garden, and historical site nestled into hills near the San Gabriel Mountains in Arcadia, California, United States. Open daily, it only closes o ...
.
Plot
Congotanga,
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
, has no extradition laws; the government is controlled by foreign gangsters, headed by Carl Rittner (
Tonio Selwart
Antonio Franz Theus "Tonio" Selmair-Selwart (June 9, 1896 – November 2, 2002) was a German actor and stage performer.
Biography
Selwart was born in Wartenberg, Bavaria, Germany, and raised in Munich. After studying medicine like his fathe ...
). The latest plane from Europe carries Louise Whitman (
Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...
), (fleeing a French murder charge), and Mannering (
Raymond Bailey
Raymond Thomas Bailey (May 6, 1904 – April 15, 1980) was an American actor, and comedian on the Broadway stage, films, and television. He is best known for his role as greedy banker Milburn Drysdale in the television series ''The Beverly Hill ...
), who pays resident hit man O'Connell (
Michael Pate
Michael Pate OAM (born Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who also worked in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s.
Biography Early life
Pate was born in Drum ...
) to kill her. Through a chain of circumstances Louise, O'Connell, and heroic surveyor David Carr (
George Nader
George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including ''Sins of Jezebel'' (1953), ''Congo Crossing'' (1956), and ''The Female Animal'' ...
) end up alone in the jungle on Carr's mission to determine the true border of Congotanga... in which Rittner is keenly interested.
Cast
*
Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...
as Louise Whitman
*
George Nader
George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including ''Sins of Jezebel'' (1953), ''Congo Crossing'' (1956), and ''The Female Animal'' ...
as David Carr
*
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
as Colonel John Miguel Orlando Arragas
*
Michael Pate
Michael Pate OAM (born Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who also worked in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s.
Biography Early life
Pate was born in Drum ...
as Bart O'Connell
*
Rex Ingram as Dr. Leopold Gorman
*
Tonio Selwart
Antonio Franz Theus "Tonio" Selmair-Selwart (June 9, 1896 – November 2, 2002) was a German actor and stage performer.
Biography
Selwart was born in Wartenberg, Bavaria, Germany, and raised in Munich. After studying medicine like his fathe ...
as Carl Rittner
*
Kathryn Givney
Kathryn Givney (October 27, 1896 – March 16, 1978) was an American actress on stage and in films.
Biography
In 1928, Givney was a member of the S. E. Cochran Repertory Company. In 1930, she appeared in ''Stepping Sisters'' at the Hollywood Pl ...
as Amelia Abbott
*
Tudor Owen as Emile Zorfus
*
Raymond Bailey
Raymond Thomas Bailey (May 6, 1904 – April 15, 1980) was an American actor, and comedian on the Broadway stage, films, and television. He is best known for his role as greedy banker Milburn Drysdale in the television series ''The Beverly Hill ...
as Peter Mannering
* George Ramsey as Miguel Diniz
* Maurice Donner as Marquette
*
Bernie Hamilton
Bernard Hamilton (June 12, 1928 – December 30, 2008) was an American actor. Best known as Captain Dobey in '' Starsky & Hutch'' (1975-1979).
Biography
Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles; his brother was jazz drummer Chico Hamilton. He a ...
as Pompala
* Harold Dyenforth as Steiner
See also
*
List of American films of 1956
A list of American films released in 1956
''Around the World in 80 Days'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-B
C-D
E-I
J-M
N-R
S-Z
See also
* 1956 in the United States
Sources Footnotes
References
*
*
External links
19 ...
External links
*
*
*
1956 films
Universal Pictures films
1956 adventure films
Films directed by Joseph Pevney
Films set in Africa
Films set in Belgian Congo
American adventure films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films
{{adventure-film-stub