Paul L. Hoefler

Paul Louis Hoefler was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1893. As a Hollywood cameraman and cinematographer Mr. Hoefler gained early notoriety in the late 1920s when, as a member of the Denver African Expedition of 1925, he returned with what was reportedly the first film footage of Southwest Africa's Bushmen. Following his Colorado African Expedition of 1928-29, Mr. Hoefler produced the first sound film of Africa called 'Africa Speaks'.

Mr. Hoefler was nominated on November 8, 1929 by George Palmer Putnam to become a Member of The Explorer's Club in New York City and seconded for membership by Fitzhugh Green. On September 18th, 1930, he was honoured by the Chairman of the Executive Committee of The Explorer's Club with a testimonial dinner at the Hotel Dixie on West 42nd street between Broadway and 8th Avenue in New York City.

One of the expedition trucks of Paul L. Hoeflers Colorado African Expedition

According to the actual archived application, Mr. Hoefler wrote that he was the leader of the Colorado African Expedition of 1928-29, a 14 month journey from July 16, 1928 through September 16, 1929. In effect, the expedition accomplished the first complete trans-Africa journey by successfully crossing Central Africa from Mombasa, Kenya, on the Indian Ocean to Lagos, Nigeria, on the Atlantic Ocean. According to what Mr. Hoefler wrote in his book, the route went via "the Kenya Colony, Tanganyika, Uganda, West Nile, Belgian Congo, French Congo, a trip to Lake Chad in Chad and Nigeria."

The objectives of Mr. Hoefler's expedition were "to study and makes notes, to photograph and make a motion picture, of the native and animal life." Additionally, "'more particularly to study and picture the Nandi and Maasai of East Africa, the Efe or so called 'hairy pygmies' of the Belgian Congo, the Sara Kyabe of the French Congo, the lions of Tanganyika, the bird life at the lakes Baringo and Hannington and the white rhino on the west bank of the Nile near Lake Albert." During the expedition Mr. Hoefler collected over forty thousand feet of motion pictures and was able to secure remarkable scenes of the rare white rhino. In one scene he captures as many as eight white rhinos.

	Nandu Woman

Mr. Hoefler also became an elected Fellow with The Royal Geographical Society in London (with the Institute of British Geographers). According to the RGS archives Mr. Hoefler was nominated for his fellowship by Mr. James B. Pond. The RGS also confirmed that Mr. Hoefler was made a Fellow of the Society on February 9, 1931, "most likely as a result of his motor trips". Mr. Hoefler's name was removed from the membership lists in October of 1945 but he rejoined the RGS twenty years later and remained a Fellow until his death in 1982.

For the planning stages of the Colorado African Expedition of 1928-29, Mr. Hoefler along with his wife Maudie B. Hoefler and his daughter Jacqueline Hoefler Troyer resided in The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado. The financing of the Colorado African Expedition of 1928-29 began in a private banquet room at The Brown Palace Hotel where Mr. Hoefler and key Denver business leaders discussed the expedition. Among the original backers were Mr. Horace W. Bennett who was part owner of The Brown Palace Hotel at the time; Mr. Frederick Bonfils of The Denver Post newspaper; Mr. Charles Biettcher and other prominent citizens of Denver. Hence the expedition name, Colorado Africa Expedition of 1928-29.

While Mr. Hoefler was on expedition, both his wife and daughter lived in The Brown Palace Hotel. Upon Mr. Hoefler's return from the Colorado Africa Expedition of 1928-29, he moved back in with his family at The Brown Palace Hotel. They remained there while Mr. Hoefler wrote his best selling book, 'Africa Speaks - A Story of Adventure' that was released in 1931. On the evening of October 9, 1930, The Denver Junior Chamber of Commerce honoured Mr. Hoefler with a dinner at The Brown Palace Hotel where his motion picture Africa Speaks was given a special preview screening.

En route during the Colorado African Expedition of 1928-1929

The book Africa Speaks - A Story of Adventure' was published by The John C. Winston Company in 1931. It was dedicated to his wife Maudie. The book as Mr. Hoefler writes in the foreword, "is not a story of the motion picture, 'Africa Speaks', but rather a chronicle of events; a record of strange peoples and wild beasts; a history of varied adventures, crowded into fourteen eventful months." It contains maps detailing the route taken as well as 143 reproductions from photographs taken by the author.

He went on to say, "In the film, the course of the expedition moves from west to east, so that the lions and other exciting scenes woven around them can act as the climax of the production. There were very few lions on the West Coast and no tribesman comparable to the Maasai and the Nandi. Otherwise it would have been possible to follow in the picture the actual route of the expedition just as it will be presented in this book, that is east to west."

The movie 'Africa Speaks' was produced in 1929 and officially released in 1931. It was a Mascot Production filmed by Mr. Walter Futter and Mr. Hoefler. In the credits Mr. Futter is listed as the director, Mr. Hoefler the actor and the movie narrator was Mr. Lowell Thomas. The film has been referred to as a "sensational account of an expedition to the 'Dark Continent'. Footage from it was later interpolated into many jungle-themed adventure movies. There is also some remarkable footage of the Wasara tribe of the Congo and African wildlife that Hoefler captured.

Mr. Edward Brens, a pioneer of production sound recording in the first days of "talkies" who worked with legendary film star Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith is quoted in his book "Mr. Brens Goes to Hollywood" published by Scarecrow Publishing that he too worked on the motion picture 'Africa Speaks" Mr. Brens writes, "My next assignment was an odd kind of film, 'Africa Speaks'. Some film historians refer to it as a documentary film but it was far from being one. "

He continued, "A cameraman/promoter/adventurer named Paul Hoefler raised money in Colorado and went to Africa to make a film; he called his venture 'The Colorado African Expedition'. Hoefler shot a great deal of footage of African wildlife and African natives. He had a story in mind, but the film was not well-organized and needed connecting scenes to give the material a coherent storyline. Hoefler sought to market his film, and entered a partnership with a producer, Walter Futter, who brought the deal to Columbia. It was a low-cost, low risk project; Columbia bought it, agreed to shoot connecting scenes and to provide for finishing costs, including scoring, dubbing and editing. There was no script. Hoefler and Walter Futter had notes outlining what we were to film. I was assigned a new boom operator for 'Africa Speaks'. With no script it was an ad-lib kind of production. We shot on location, in Sherwood Forest, so called because Douglas Fairbanks filmed his silent film classic, 'Robin Hood' there, in what is now an area of million-dollar homes, Westlake Village. Futter and Hoefler would consult their notes, confer, then set out to find 'lion country'. The entire troupe would follow; a caravan of sound truck, grip truck, camera truck, and a truck acquired to match the one Hoefler used in Africa. It bore the lettering 'Colorado African Expedition' and the entire procession bumped over the rough terrain. When we found 'lion country' we filmed connecting scenes that made no sense to us, and then we were off again, in search of 'gorilla country'. For a long time afterward, when a director on location was searching for a set-up, someone who had been on the 'Africa Speaks' crew would say, "he's looking for gorilla country."

	Paul L. Hoefler and guide with a lion.
	Paul L. Hoefler with a Lion

The guide for the East African parts of the expedition was a Mr. Cottar. Mike and his younger brother Ted went along with Mr. Hoefler on the expedition. The Cottars later introduced many innovations to safari that are taken for granted today: they were some of the first to use vehicles, (beginning with those that assisted in making the first colour feature film in Africa 'Africa Speaks' produced by Paul Hoefler 1928), and designed tents and other equipment. They kept lion, cheetah, leopard, wild dog and chimpanzee for filming and as pets long before it became fashionable, and were amongst the first to advertise and operate dedicated photographic safaris in the early 1920's, guiding and providing logistical support for some of the most famous safari expeditions ever undertaken, including that of George Eastman, Martin and Osa Johnson and the Duke and Duchess of York.

Don Ker was also a member of the team for the Hoefler 1928 expedition. Our research has determined that the trucks used were most likely 1924 Brockway Model E's that were manufactured in Cortland, New York. Donald Ker and Syd Downey founded the Original Ker & Downey Safaris Kenya Ltd. Ker & Downey today is an active partnership of 15 guides taking great pride in the operation of this unique, luxury safari business. As they reflect on their website, "Our standard of service is of the best quality and highly personalized - we plan with you to shape each trip we guide according to your needs. Traditional safaris conducted by our guides revolve around a mobile, luxury camp in which the quality of personal attention is unsurpassed. Being self-contained allows each safari to be both organized and spontaneous; to visit remote areas, to move on or stay put as mood dictates, to be free of timetables. A Ker & Downey safari is a customized adventure. "

In 1936 before setting out on his Asiatic-Africa Expedition of 1936 Mr. Hoefler founded 'Paul L. Hoefler's World Picture Service', a negative library containing stills from his travels. Mr. Hoefler's other documentary films include 'The Bushman' a detailed account of his Denver African Expedition of 1925, which was released in 1927, and 'Leopard Men Of Africa' that was released in 1940. According to our research, "Leopard Men of Africa concentrates on a tribe of semi-cannibalistic leopard hunters, seen at work, at home, and at play. The footage has clearly been re-edited and re-assembled for maximum excitement value, but it still contains the air of authenticity. No narration is provided, and none is needed, thanks to the vivid imagery and the pulsating musical score by James Dietrich. The climax of Leopard Men of Africa is a tribal ritual ceremony, which may be a bit too strong for sensitive stomachs."

After serving as the Middle Eastern director of public relations for the US Air Force during World War II, Mr. Hoefler moved to southern California. There he began producing films for the educational market that focused on diverse locations around the globe, subjects such as Monument Valley in California, Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, the country of Jordan, and the Panama Canal. During this period of Mr. Hoefler's life he became a close friend of Walt Disney. Like Disney, Mr. Hoefler's films on international cultures were more like television travelogues than films with real educational value. The Disney-Hoefler link continued into the 1950s, as Hoefler distributed Mr. Disney's movies in South Africa in return for Disney's distribution of Mr. Hoefler films in the United States.

Following Mr. Hoefler's death in 1982 in San Diego, California, most of his estate was donated to the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology (formerly The Lowie Museum of Anthropology) at the University of California at Berkley and to the Denver Museum of Natural History.