The Roots of Heaven

The Roots of Heaven is a 1958 American adventure film in CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color made by 20th Century Fox, directed by John Huston and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Romain Gary and Patrick Leigh Fermor is based on Romain Garys 1956 Prix Goncourt winning novel The Roots of Heaven Les racines du ciel.

Set in French Equatorial Africa, the film tells the story of Morel Trevor Howard, a crusading environmentalist who sets out to preserve the elephants from extinction as a lasting symbol of freedom for all humanity. He is helped by Minna Juliette Grco, a nightclub hostess, and Forsythe Errol Flynn, a disgraced British military officer hoping to redeem himself.20th Century Fox bought the film rights the novel in April 1957 for a price of more than 100,000. In May, Darryl F. Zanuck announced he would produce the film independently for Fox he had a contract with the studio to make films for them, and wanted John Huston to direct. This was before the novel had even been published in the US, but it had sold over 300,000 in Europe. Zanuck said the theme of the film was simple... A man comes to the conclusion that if we dont stop killing people w destroy ourselves. And he says, Why not start with our biggest companions on earth, the elephants, whose only enemy is man? He later added ........

Source: Wikipedia