RIP Eva Monley

Eva Monley, a location scout, assistant director, production manager and, later, producer who brought her expertise on Africa to many films and worked with the likes of John Huston, John Ford, Otto Preminger, David Lean and Steven Spielberg, died at her home in Nanyuki, Kenya, on Nov. 12. She was 88.Born in Berlin, Germany on April 29, 1923, Monley escaped from Nazi Germany with her mother, landing at a farm in Kenya; over time she developed a detailed knowledge of the country and became fluent in Swahili. While working as a secretary in Nairobi, she picked up her first film job, as an assistant and script supervisor on 1950's "King Solomon's Mines," shot in Africa in the Belgian Congo, Kenya and Tanzania. After following that assignment with similar work on Huston's "The African Queen," she was soon frequently employed by American and British film producers shooting in Africa, including Hemingway adaptation "The Snows of Kiliminjaro"; "White Witch Doctor," with Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward; and John Ford's "Mogambo." Monley also worked on films lensed outside Africa, such as 1955 Lana Turner-Richard Burton starrer "The Rains of Ranchipur" and George Cukor's 1956 "Bhowani Junction," both lensed in India, and on 1957 Hemingway adaptation "A Farewell to Arms," shot in Italy. Monley spent two years working as a location manager on Lean's epic "Lawrence of Arabia." Eva was a production supervisor on "El Condor" 1970 with Lee Van Cleef and Jim Brown.