Colonial Cinema, in a brief review of The Wives of Nendi in 1949, stated that the film ‘shows the good work done in the Mangwendi Reserve of Southern Rhodesia by Chief Mangwendi’s (sic.) wife. She has formed women’s clubs throughout the reserve, raising the standard of cleanliness, hygiene, cooking and housewifery generally’ (Colonial Cinema, September 1949, 28). James Burns noted that the film was intended to inspire the formation of women’s clubs in rural areas, a goal, which according to a 1954 Central African Film Unit report, it successfully achieved (Burns, 2002, 91 and Smyth, 1983, 142).

Timothy Burke considered The Wives of Nendi in his study of the growth of African women’s clubs in Rhodesia during the 1940s. He noted that the largest African women’s club was the Mrewa Bantu Women’s club, with a membership of over 700 in 1950. ‘The size of the club’, Burke suggested, ‘was largely due to the influence of Helen Mangwende, the second wife of Chief Munhuwepayi Mangwende of Murewa’. Burke noted the ‘enormous impact’ Helen Mangwende had on the ‘organisation and tone of domesticity and hygiene in post-war colonial Zimbabwe’, and suggested that her personal dedication and commitment to domesticity were outlined in The Wives of Nendi (Burke, 1996, 58).

The story of The Wives of Nendi is credited to Mai Magwende. James Burns suggests that the film was ‘based on an outline provided by E.D. Alvord, Southern Rhodesia’s chief officer for native agriculture’, but the film’s director, Stephen Peet, described Mangwende as ‘unofficial director and scriptwriter’ during the film’s production (Burns, 2002, 72, Burke, 1996, 58). Certainly an understanding of Mai Mangwende’s image and public persona is essential in evaluating the success and impact of The Wives of Nendi.

In particular, Mai Mangwende was a figure that transcended racial boundaries. Burke suggested that her work increasingly intersected with that of the all-white Federation of Women’s Institutes of Southern Rhodesia (FWISR). Lady Kennedy, writing upon Helen Mangwende’s death in 1955, explained that many clubs were started by white women and sponsored by white women’s organisations. ‘She [Mangwende] knew well’, wrote Lady Kennedy, ‘that the success of her work depended on the active support of the white women, and she sought their help directly and indirectly everywhere’. Lady Kennedy saw this as an example of the racial partnership ‘which is the cornerstone of the new Federation’ (The Times, 6 July 1955, 13). These claims are rejected by some of the African women within the club, but further obituaries – written by Europeans – argued that ‘her vision and ideology was to bridge the gulf between the races’, and noted that there were two European pallbearers at her funeral (The Times, 28 June 1955, 11). Amy Kaler suggested that ‘both European and African women created what amounted to a personality cult’ around Mai Mangwende. She referred to the establishment of Helen Mangwende Day (14 March), while Timothy Burke quotes a former colleague of hers who described Mangwende as being ‘as good as Christ himself’ (Burke, 1996, 60). Kaler implies that this image is fostered within the ‘immensely popular’ The Wives of Nendi, as Mangwende ‘appears as a slightly removed maternal figure dispensing spiritual inspiration and practical suggestions to a younger woman’ (Kaler, 1999, 305).

James Burns credits the film’s success to its ‘being unique among CAFU films in presenting strong female protagonists, which would undoubtedly have held great appeal for the predominantly female audiences’. Burns suggests that the CAFU avoided using female actors, except ‘when absolutely necessary’ on account of a widespread belief that female actors were ‘unreliable and difficult to work with’ (Burns, 2002, 229). Burns added that the only CAFU productions that regularly featured female protagonists were ‘the “profile” films intended to popularize stories of Africans, who had successfully adopted some aspect of colonial life’. ‘Many of these’, he suggested, with reference to The Wives of Nendi, ‘showcased the role women played in the adoption and dissemination of Western practices’ (Burns, 2002, 91).

Reports emphasised that The Wives of Nendi was successful in encouraging the formation of women’s clubs within Rhodesia, but the film also played extensively in Nigeria in 1952 as part of research into rural audiences there. ‘This film was intended to encourage the formation of women’s clubs’, the subsequent report surmised, ‘but it did not communicate this intention to any of the audiences’. The report suggested that all audiences regarded the film as an attempt by a woman ‘to change, single handed, the habits of her neighbours, a thing none of the village women who saw it would do’. One screening was followed by a lengthy discussion ‘not about the lesson it intended, but about the strange ways of people in that far country’, while the main interest at another screening ‘seems to have been in seeing a strange place and people’. A further report noted a few members of the audience chuckling at the Africans enjoying a tea party at the end of the film, and remarking “They’ve become Europeans!” (Morton-Williams, 1952, 34-35, 134-137).