MOVIES - June 12, 1989

Clint Eastwood, in Zimbabwe to film his latest movie, said Sunday that he hoped his first African film venture will encourage the conservation of wild animals, particularly the African elephant. The movie, “White Hunter, Black Heart,” will criticize the obsessional hunting of big game animals for ivory or souvenirs, Eastwood said. “I think it is better in the long run to have animals alive than dead trinkets,” he said. “I personally will not buy ivory for this reason.” He is producer, director and star of the movie, based on Peter Viertel’s novel set in Africa during the filming of John Huston’s classic “The African Queen.” Marco Barla, spokesman for Eastwood’s Malpaso production company, said that the movie depicts the obsession of fictional movie director John Wilson--based on Huston--with the African bush and his desire to kill an elephant in its bush habitat.