Elephant Boy

1937

1h 22m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

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Adventure

Drama

Family

In India, Toomai, a young mahout, helps lead the British on a large expedition to round up wild elephants.

Directors

Zoltan Korda

Robert Flaherty

Writers

Lajos Biró(script editor by)

John Collier(screenplay by)

Rudyard Kipling(short story by)

Stars

Sabu

W.E. Holloway

Walter Hudd

See production, box office & company info

Top cast

Toomai

Toomai's Father

Petersen

Machua Appa

Rham Lahl

Hunter

Commissioner

Kala Nag (uncredited)

Harry Lane

Bit Part (uncredited)

Udham Singh

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Directors

Zoltan Korda

Robert Flaherty

Writers

Lajos Biró(script editor by)

John Collier(screenplay by)

Rudyard Kipling(short story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

This has something of a documentary about it as Sabu portrays the young "Toomai" - the "Elephant Boy" based on the Rudyard Kipling story published in 1893. When an elephant goes on the rampage, only the young boy - the son and grandson of a mahout - can calm it down and in so doing attracts the attention of the leader of a hunting party "Petersen" (Walter Hudd) who agrees to take him on a hunt. What now ensues is a series of adventures that cause the boy to grow up quickly - and sometimes quite harshly. It's one of those films that rather glorifies the Raj and objectifies the local population, but having been filmed on the private reserve of the Maharajah of Mysore, the photography and authenticity of the story helps give it extra credence that, perhaps, the rather banal dialogue compromises. Sabu used to be the Maharajah's stable boy, so if nothing else the film serves as an excellent springboard for this charming and engaging young actor to get to Hollywood. Interestingly ironic that is was nominated for the "Mussolini Cup" in 1937.... I would not call this an exciting film to watch but it is - of it's time - an interesting one.

Geronimo196720 Jun, 2022