Roosevelt in Africa

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Roosevelt in Africa is a film by Cherry Kearton, released in 1910. It was a documentary featuring Theodore Roosevelt himself in Africa. Shot in black and white and in silent film.

One of the biggest headlines of 1910 was former president Theodore Roosevelt's safari into Africa. Quick to cash in on the media frenzy, the Selig company of Chicago, employed a Roosevelt lookalike and filmed a fake documentary at its own California game preserve. Motion Picture Patents Company, using Pathe as its distribution arm, responded by releasing its own Roosevelt in Africa -- and this one was without a doubt authentic, as verified by Teddy Roosevelt himself. Supervising the authorized cinematic record of the Roosevelt safari was famed British bird-and-animal photographer Cherry Kearton, who later became a prolific documentary filmmaker. Among the images captured by Kearton's camera were the first-ever captured scenes of Zulu tribeswomen in their native habitat. Kearton’s dream of filming an African lion was unfulfilled though. The fake Selig version did feature a lion though, a tamed aged lion, forced to give up his life for the sake of show business.

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