Ava Gardner's letter from the set of "Mogambo"

Ava Gardner once said that John Ford's Mogambo (1953) was as close to a pinnacle as anything she had ever done. The film, for which she received her only Oscar nomination, was not an easy shoot, though. During production in Africa, cast and crew had to deal with the Mau Mau uprising, the excruciating heat and heavy rainfall, and wild animals that formed a constant threat of danger. And besides all that, Ava also had to face the most personal crisis of her life.

A year earlier, Ava had married Frank Sinatra who had accompanied her to the shoot in Africa. The couple was having marital problems and on the set they were constantly fighting. After Sinatra went back to Hollywood to do a screentest for From Here to Eternity (1953), Ava discovered she was pregnant. With Sinatra in Hollywood, she decided to have an abortion in London, keeping her husband out of the loop and telling the press she was receiving medical treatment for a tropical infection. Ava said in her autobiography Ava: My Story (1990) that she wasn't ready to have a child, unable to offer it a stable home life. Mogambo cinematographer Robert Surtees claimed, however, that she had the abortion because she couldn't stand the thought of having Sinatra's baby. It was Surtees' wife who had gone to London with Ava and to whom Ava had said: "I hated Frankie so much. I wanted that baby to go unborn." (After Mogambo had wrapped, Ava said in her book that she got pregnant a second time and had a second abortion, this time with Sinatra being in the know.) 

On 29 October 1953, after a very tumultuous marriage, Ava and Frank formally announced their separation. While Ava filed for divorce in June 1954, the divorce wouldn't be finalised until 1957. The two would remain good friends until Ava's death in 1990, at age 67.

Above: November 1952, Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra at London Airport on the first leg of their journey to Nairobi, Kenya. Below: (left to right) Donald Sinden, Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, Denis O'Dea, Ava Gardner and Eric Pohlmann on the set of Mogambo. While circumstances during production were difficult, Ava said that everyone in the cast got along famously. She and Grace Kelly even became lifelong friends.

In January 1953, from the set of Mogambo, Ava wrote the following letter to her sister Myra. Ava came from a North Carolina family, the youngest of seven children, and was very close to her siblings. In the letter, she talks about having been "sick" in London; about Africa getting "more unbearable every day"; about Sinatra leaving her again for months (he got the Maggio part in From Here to Eternity and had gone back to Hollywood); and about the presents he gave her, for their first anniversary, her birthday (on 24 December she had turned 30) and Christmas. 

Incidentally, Sinatra was broke at the time so he had to borrow money to pay for Ava's presents. For the diamond anniversary ring Ava had to advance the money herself (to Robert Surtees she had said: "You know what that son of a bitch did? I got the bill for the ring!"). Still, Sinatra did make sure everybody on the set had a wonderful Christmas. He secretly went to Nairobi to get a tree and decorations and also arranged for an African choir to sing French Christmas carols.

Transcript:

Jan. 1953

Myra dear -

I just got your very first letter today- It was sent to me in London (from Africa) while I was sick + just got back to Africa today. But anyway I got your others + incidentally I sure do enjoy them 'cause this place gets more unbearable every day + any word from home is like a breath of fresh air. Frank just left a few days ago + now I'm really lonesome- This time he is going to be gone for four months or more -

Looks like we'll never be together long enough to really find out if we can live together or not-

Honey, if I didn't tell you in my last letter- I got all your cards at Xmas + birthday time + tell Jean [Myra's daughter] I got hers too + I do hope she's a little happier- She deserves it- to sacrifice so much- I never did receive the [illegible] but maybe they will catch up with me like the letter did- Mail is not too reliable in this part of the world- thank you anyway honey-

We're hoping to get out of here in another week or ten days- I'm going back by the jet plane as far as Rome where I'll spent a couple of days having fun + eating some good food- then back to London

My address in London will be

4 Abbey Lodge

Honour Gate

Regents Park

London N.W.

I never did tell you about my anniversary present. It was a beautiful diamond ring- I can't draw very well but it looked something like this [sketch] - That's a side view - It is dome shaped + is filled with little round diamonds- And for my birthday he brought me another diamond ring like this [sketch] - A marquis diamond with three baguettes on each side + for Xmas a beautiful mink stole - We really had a wonderful Xmas- as you can imagine even tho' it was in the middle of Africa-

Sweetie, I must stop + get ready to leave on the plane - we're going to our last location and I sure am glad it's the last- it's another safari where we live in tents right out in the open with all the lions + hippos + everything-

We were in one safari for 8 weeks - that's where we spent the holidays - Take care of yourself + give my love to Beatrice + the kids

love + kisses

Ava 

Source: Leading Lights Autographs

Ava Gardner with her sisters Myra and Inez (above) and Beatrice "Bappy" (below)

Grace Kelly's letter from the set of "Mogambo"

In November 1952, location shooting started on John Ford's Mogambo (1953). Cast and crew members flew to Africa, where in the ensuing months scenes were filmed in Tanganyika, Uganda, Belgian Congo and Kenya. The shoot was not without problems, though. With the Mau Mau Uprising taking place in Kenya, MGM had hired armed guards to protect the cast and crew in case of an attack. For extra security everyone was given a weapon, so they could also defend themselves. Apart from the tense situation with the Mau Mau, production was plagued by rain and mud and bad quality roads. As a result, three of the crew members were killed in road accidents, among them assistant director John Hancock.

There were also things happening on a more personal level. Leading lady Ava Gardner had learned that she was pregnant —at the time her marriage to Frank Sinatra was on shaky ground— and took a break from filming to return to London, reportedly to receive medical treatment for a tropical illness but in reality she had an abortion. The film's male lead Clark Gable got sick some time later, having developed a gum infection and briefly left Africa to see his own dentist in Los Angeles. And there was also a romance going on behind the scenes between Grace Kelly (Mogambo's second female lead) and Gable, which ended shortly after production had moved from Africa to the MGM studios in London. 

So it was a turbulent production, yet ultimately with positive results. Mogambo became a huge commercial hit and received generally good reviews. Both Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly were nominated for Oscars (resp. for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress), and Grace also won a Golden Globe.

Above: Grace Kelly knitting on the set of Mogambo while co-star Clark Gable looks on. After the shooting had moved from Africa to London, Grace's mother flew to London and started chaperoning the couple; the affair ended not long thereafter. Below: Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner on the set in Africa; the women became good friends and remained friends until Grace's untimely death in 1982.

Grace Kelly and her friend Prudy Wise

While in Africa on location, Grace Kelly wrote several letters to Prudence Wise, her close friend and personal secretary. Here is one of those letters, written just before Christmas in December 1952. 

Source: icollector.com

Transcript:

Dear Prudy, 

Ava just arrived in camp and with her came your letter- I’m sorry I haven’t written very much - but mother told me she was sending you that letter so I didn’t want to send more of the same news- The other letter I wrote - I sent to Florida - I hope your mother will forward it - Oh God! I just this very minute thought - How dumb can I be? I sent the other letter to Mallory St. - Anyway all I said in it was to tell John when you want to come back to the apt. after Christmas - 

This is the first day off we’ve had in a long time. It’s about 4 o'clock and Gable and I are sitting in front of my tent sipping warm beer - It’s a disgrace how fat I’m getting - The food is so starchy and I am always so hungry - Haven’t heard from Phillippe - but then of course I haven’t written -

Excuse the horrible writing but am leaning on my knees and the wind is blowing - 

Ava just came into my tent and she + Clark are running a scene they are going shoot tomorrow - so it’s hard to concentrate. There really isn’t too much news we’ve been working hard- It’s hot as can be during the day - I miss New York so much this time of year - I imagine the stores are so beautiful - Please give my love to everybody and apologize to them all for my not writing - My baby giraffe - the one named after me - arrives in camp tomorrow she is so sweet - I’ll send pictures as soon as I get them - 

Clark + I went shooting the other day - shot game for the natives and a guinea hen - we ate for dinner - It was simply delicious - 

Later - 

It is now 7:30 am waiting for Gable to have his bath and pick me up for dinner - he got rather high cocktailing with old Ava next door - about 6 o'clock we all went out in the wagon with Bunny Allen - a divine looking guy - who is the white-hunter in charge of the camp - We went to see the lion down the road - a lioness + her two grown sons - they were just beautiful - we were able to get quite close to them - They put out game every few days for them to feed - in order to tame them a bit - I took pictures with the movie camera - so I hope they turn out - but it was rather dark - 

Got a letter from Sherman today as well as old John Foreman - Was in the sun a lot today and my poor nose is like a red light - 

Am sitting by a kerosene lamp as I write this being eaten by mosquitos. The hippos are starting their series of evening grunts + Gable should be along any minute so I will sign off - 

with love - 

Gracie

Above: Frank Sinatra had accompanied his wife Ava Gardner to the set of Mogambo in Africa, the two photographed here at Nairobi airport with Grace Kelly. Sinatra was in between acting jobs and during production flew back to Hollywood to do a screen test for the role of Maggio in From Here To Eternity (1953), eventually landing the role and winning the Oscar. Below: The Christmas holidays took place during the Mogambo shoot and thanks to Sinatra the cast and crew could still enjoy Christmas. In the photo Ava Gardner is seen with some of the Christmas decorations Sinatra had brought back from Nairobi. (Watch Grace Kelly in this lovely clip tell the story of how Sinatra had saved their Christmas.)