Karen Blixen - Isak Dinesen home

Trivia Copyright © 2001 by Linda Donelson

• QUESTION #1: in the film Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) washes the hair of Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) on safari in the Serengeti Plains. A real life photo of a very similar event exists. What two Blixens are in the photo?

 
• QUESTION #4: You have been invited to a party at the Muthaiga Club in 1924. What distinguishing physical characteristic will help you identify each of the following: Denys Finch Hatton, Sir Northrup McMillan, Lord Delamere, Berkeley Cole, Hugh Martin, Gustav Mohr, Ingrid Lindstrom, and Karen Blixen?

• QUESTION #5: It is September 1918. In different parts of Africa, Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hatton are both in hospitals with serious leg injuries. Describe the injuries and explain the lasting consequences.

• QUESTION #11: In one scene in the movie, the Karen Blixen character (Meryl Streep) says "Shoo!" to a lion. This scene corresponds to a real life situation but a different person was involved. Who really said "Shoo" to a lion? What amusing circumstances necessitated this behavior?

ANSWER #1: A photo on the cover of The Man Whom Women Loved by Ulf Aschan captures Bror Blixen arranging the hair of his third wife, Eva, on safari.

ANSWER #4: The friends Karen Blixen mentions in her book were physically distinctive. You identify Denys Finch Hatton by his height, 6'3", and his baldness; Sir Northrup McMillan at over 300 lbs; Lord Delamere by his shoulder-length hair; short and wirey Berkeley Cole by his red hair; portly Hugh Martin looking like a Chinese idol; big-nosed young Gustav Mohr; blond and freckled Ingrid Lindstrom with a seductive separation between her front teeth; and Karen Blixen with a hat and heavy make-up to mask the discoloration in her skin from taking arsenic.

ANSWER #5: On a trip to Lake Naivasha, Karen Blixen was tossed from a mule; the open wound, from her hip to her knee, took eight months to heal and left an ugly scar. While serving with British Forces, Denys Finch Hatton tripped on a piece of barbed wire in Egypt; his injury, which didn't heal before the war ended on November 11, kept him out of flying school during the Great War. Reference: Linda Donelson's Out of Isak Dinesen.

ANSWER #11: Patrick Chalmers, aide to Edward VIII (later Duke of Windsor), wrote an account of the 1928 royal safari to Kenya: "Blixen (whose attitude towards lions is that of the prophet Daniel) decided to be the sole beater. He had not gone far when a lion appeared at the edge of the covert. It turned rapidly and re-entered the bush. 'Shoo!' said Blixen, not to be denied. 'Shoo!' He clapped his hands. Out bounded the lion. He really looked rather fine...The grass was tallish and the great yellow beast went bounding through in great leaps." The Prince's prize, when dressed, measured 104 inches. Source: Silence Will Speak by Errol Trzebinski.

Cover illustration: The Man Whom Women Loved by Ulf Aschan

Illustration from Out of Africa movie directed by Sydney Pollack

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Comments or questions: Write to Clare (not Grace) at karenblixen.com.

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Supported misspellings: karen blixon, karin, isaac, isak dineson, isak denison, dinison, dinisen, denesen, coolsong, donaldson