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The Roots of Heaven ()

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In French Equatorial Africa, an idealist ecologist starts a campaign of public awareness to help save the African elephants from extinction.
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Photos and Videos

47 photos | 1 video

Cast verified as complete

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Forsythe
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Minna (as Juliette Greco)
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Morel
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Abe Fields
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Cy Sedgewick
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Saint Denis
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Orsini
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Habib
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Governor
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Peer Qvist (as Friedrich Ledebur)
Edric Connor ...
Waitari
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Baron
Pierre Dudan ...
Major Schölscher
Marc Doelnitz ...
De Vries
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Father Farque (as Francis de Wolff)
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Madjumba
Maurice de Canonge ...
Haas (as Maurice Cannon)
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Cerisot
Habib Benglia ...
Korotoro
Bachir Touré ...
Yussef
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A.D.C.
Roscoe Stallworth ...
N'Dolo
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Inguele (as Assane Fall)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Beverly Aadland ...
Blonde Dancer (uncredited)
Colin Drake ...
Journalist (uncredited)
Jacqueline Fogt ...
Madame Orsini (uncredited)
Billy Kearns ...
Sarcastic Man in Bar (uncredited)
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(uncredited)

Directed by

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John Huston

Written by

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Romain Gary ... (novel "Les Racines du Ciel")
 
Romain Gary ... (screenplay) and
Patrick Leigh-Fermor ... (screenplay)

Produced by

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Michael Holden ... production executive (uncredited)
Robert L. Jacks ... associate producer (as Robert Jacks)
Darryl F. Zanuck ... producer

Music by

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Malcolm Arnold

Cinematography by

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Oswald Morris ... director of photography

Editing by

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Russell Lloyd

Art Direction by

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Stephen B. Grimes ... (as Stephen Grimes)

Set Decoration by

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Bruno Avesani

Costume Design by

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Rosine Delamare

Makeup Department

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George Frost ... makeup artist

Production Management

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Guy Luongo ... production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Carlo Lastricati ... assistant director

Art Department

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Raymond Gabutti ... associate art director
Will Williams ... movie poster artist (uncredited)

Sound Department

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Basil Fenton-Smith ... sound (as Basil Fenton Smith)
Ray Bomba ... sound editor (uncredited)
Ralph Hickey ... sound editor (uncredited)
Don Isaacs ... sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by

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Fred Etcheverry ... special effects

Visual Effects by

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L.B. Abbott ... special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department

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Gilles Bonneau ... photographer: second unit
Skeets Kelly ... photographer: second unit
Henri Persin ... photographer: second unit

Location Management

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Eva Monley ... location manager (uncredited)

Music Department

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Malcolm Arnold ... conductor
Alfred Newman ... composer: additional music (uncredited)
Henri Patterson ... music recordist: African drums and chants (uncredited)
Edward B. Powell ... orchestrator: Alfred Newman (uncredited)

Script and Continuity Department

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Angela Allen ... script girl
Lucie Lichtig ... continuity (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Claude Hettier De Boislambert ... technical advisor (as Claude Hettier de Boislambert)
Anna-Marie Cazalis ... publicist (uncredited)
Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

In Fort Lamy, French Equatorial Africa, idealist Morel launches a one-man campaign to preserve the African elephant from extinction, which he sees as the last remaining "roots of Heaven." At first, he finds only support from Minna, hostess of the town's only night club, who is in love with him, and a derelict ex-British Army Major, Forsythe. His crusade gains momentum and he is soon surrounded by an odd assortment of characters: Cy Sedgewick, an American TV commentator who becomes impressed and rallies world-wide support; a U.S. photographer, Abe Fields, who is sent to do a picture story on Morel and stays on to follow his ideals; Saint Denis, a government aide ordered to stop Morel; Orsini, a professional ivory hunter whose vested interests aren't the same as Morel's; and Waitari, leader of a Pan-African movement who follows Morel only for the personal good it will do his own campaign. Written by Les Adams

Plot Keywords
Taglines Of human laughter, wonder and tenderness ! See more »
Genres
Parents Guide Add content advisory for parents »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Les racines du ciel (France)
  • Las raíces del cielo (Spain)
  • Taivaan juuret (Finland)
  • Коріння небес (Ukraine)
  • Rădăcinile cerului (Romania)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 126 min
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Box Office

Budget $4,500,000 (estimated)

Did You Know?

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Trivia Errol Flynn's alcoholism had become a round-the-clock problem, and he was frequently at odds with John Huston. At one point, he provoked Huston into a fight; while Flynn was a former amateur boxer, the years of fast living had taken a heavy toll on him, and Huston, himself a former professional boxer, flattened Flynn with a single punch. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in From the Journals of Jean Seberg (1995). See more »
Soundtracks Minna's Theme See more »
Quotes Morel: Do you know that tens of thousands of elephants are killed every year? Thirty thousand last year, to be exact. Thirty thousand. If they go on like that, there won't be any left. Anyone who's seen the great herds on the march across the last free spaces of the earth knows they're something the world can't afford to lose! But no... We have to capture, kill, destroy. All that's beautiful has got to go. All that's free! Soon we'll be alone on this earth with nothing to destroy but ourselves!
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