The Snows of Kilimanjaro Blu-ray review
May 17, 2026- Permalink
Henry King’s 1952 film The Snows of Kiliminjaro is based on Ernest Hemingway’s 1936 short story of the same name. Gregory Peck stars as Harry Street, a writer who is slowly dying from a gangrene infection he received while on safari. He is tended to by his companion, Helen (Susan Hayward), and as he lies there, he reflects upon his life, and his love for Cynthia (Ava Gardner) when the two were part of the Lost Generation in Paris. The film was a commercial success and was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Color and Best Art Direction, Color. Film Masters has released the film on Blu-ray as part of their Archive Collection. Thanks to them and Allied Vaughn, I was able to take a look.
The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. I don’t have detailed notes on what restoration was done, but given the quality of the presentation, I assume the quality of the sources varied. There is some good detail in some textiles and locations, but the grain appears to have been smoothed away with faces almost appearing waxy at times. I wasn’t sure if I was watching Gregory Peck or his Madame Tussauds waxwork. The colour palette still looks pretty good, from the muted tones on safari to the popping primaries of Paris, but stock footage of Africa seems quite faded and flesh tones sometimes seem off.
On the audio side of things, there’s an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack. English subtitles are available. The mono soundtrack is chock full of ambient effects. Though there is occasional hisses and pops, the dialogue and score fare well in the mix.
The Blu-ray of The Snows of Kiliminjaro does not come with a digital copy. Par for the course of Film Masters’ Archive Collection it does not contain extras either, unlike Film Masters’ Special Editions which bubble over with supplements.
The Snows of Kiliminjaro was the third highest grossing U.S. film of 1952, but it doesn’t hold a place in our memories like the lower-grossing 1952 films High Noon and Singin’ in the Rain. If you’re a Peck completionist, you may want this Blu-ray release, but the video presentation stops it from being recommended when, as a public domain film, it’s available everywhere.