Andre Luguet

An idealist tries to save the elephants from extinction from hunters. He enlists the help of a dubious group of followers.

In this fizzy romantic comedy, self-made cupid Etienne Pimm (Charles Boyer) sees penniless Duke Gaspard Ducluzeau (Ricardo Montalban) as a perfect match for heiress Millicent Mehaffey (Hope Lange), so he plants chauffeur John Lathrop Davis (Glenn Ford) in Mehaffey's Riviera home to help engineer the hitch. The trouble is, Mehaffey has a different Mr. Right in mind, while Ducluzeau cottons to a certain party -- but it isn't Mr. Pimm's pick.

In Fort Lamy, French Equitorial 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.

In Fort Lamy, French Equitorial 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.