An African Adventure with Attilio Gatti is a short film on the Gatti-Hallicrafters Expedition to British East Africa in 1947 that is presented by International Harvester of Chicago. The film opens with a shot of members of the expedition on deck of a ship as it sails to South Africa. A man holds a cobra at the Port Elizabeth Snake Gardens to extract its venom. At Kilindini Harbor (01:44), the ship docks and the expedition’s trucks are unloaded from the cargo bay; trucks and trailers hoisted out by cranes. Gatti inspects the expedition’s flag before the caravan heads out (02:44). The expedition is ferried across the harbor. A man in the expedition’s radio trailer radios Chicago with their status. The caravan of trucks drive over an old bridge (04:33). Mt. Meru in British East Africa (Kenya/Tanzania) looms in the distance. A bull rhino eats grass (05:22); viewers also see a cow and calf rhino. A cheetah approaches one of the trucks used to lure the animals near for photographing. Several cheetahs climb on the truck looking for food (06:45).

There is a good shot of three cheetahs on the roof of the truck. Gatti gives cigarettes to the Africans assisting the expedition (07:28). The expedition drives to Ngorongoro Crater. The film then shows members of the Maasai meeting with the expedition (07:59); the young men of the tribe are initiated as warriors during a ceremony (08:47). The expedition drives through the Serengeti (09:08), passing zebras, antelope, giraffes, oryxes, and an albino zebra (09:48). Giraffes eat leaves from trees (10:45). The trucks pass along a muddy road heading to a Tsonga tribe (11:20). A Tsonga man plays a tom-tom near the water to signal the expedition’s arrival (11:43); the chief smokes a cigarette with a member of the expedition. Sentries guard the gates to the village with its huts and goats (12:17). Women of the tribe make pottery. An elderly man takes a drink of wine. A young woman cultivates corn. Gatti goes out to shoot a zebra (13:58), and later the Tsonga men celebrate with the zebra dance (14:27). As the expedition continues, viewers see ostriches approach one of the expedition’s station wagons (15:15), eating feed left by the expedition. A lion rests by a tree (16:15), and there are more shots of lions relaxing and walking around the plains. At Kavirondo Gulf on Lake Victoria (17:22), the expedition films various flowers. Next, the expedition meets with local chief and gives the chief a ride in a motor boat (17:50). Viewers see a hippo, fishing nets, and fishing boats on the lake. The final stop is the main purpose of the expedition: Lake Nakuru to film its flamingos. Men unload boats and haul them out to the lake. They then push out toward the flamingos. A man sits in one of the camera blinds (20:13), and this is followed by close-up shots of flamingos. The film concludes by showing the men crating their equipment back at camp as they prepare to head back to Kilindini.

Attilio Gatti (Voghera (Lombardy, Italy) 10 July 1896 – Derby Line (Vermont, USA) 1 July 1969; 72 years old) was an Italian-born explorer, author and documentary film maker who travelled extensively through Africa in the first half of the 20th century. Gatti, a member of the Società Reale Italiana di Geografia ed Antropologia, was among the last great safari expedition men. He led thirteen expeditions to Africa from 1922 on. Broke after the financial disaster of his 7th African expedition, Gatti settled in the USA (1930). His (second) spouse Ellen accompanied him from his 8th expedition on. They did the 10th expedition (in Belgian Congo, 1938-1940) and the 11th expedition (“To the Mountains of the Moon” i.e. the Rwenzori Mountains at the border of Uganda, 1947-1948) with a caravan of motor vehicles, including a fantastic motor home, the 9 ton “Jungle Yacht”, especially build for their expeditions by International Harvester in Chicago.

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