Elephant Boy, directed by Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North) and Zoltan Korda, was made on the Maharajah of Mysore's private estate and he really did have a lot of wild elephants in their genuine unspoilt habitat. The restoration work on the film may be incomplete but, oh boy, the charm still works. Really this is two films for the price of one: a good solid Kipling story of empire – bad things happen but our hero's spirit triumphs over all – and a film of elephants which rivals modern natural history documentaries.
It was made in 1937, so most of the Indians are played by blacked-up white men and the dialogue is at times edgy to modern ears, but all characters are treated with dignity. This was Sabu's first film, he was a 12 year-old stable boy on the Mysore estate where Flaherty found him and cast him as Toomai, the elephant boy, and he is definitely the real thing. The white hunter is a model hero, the villain is really nasty and the wise old elephant is perfect.
The Jungle Book, again starring Sabu, was made in 1942 just after The Thief of Baghdad, and is here presented in a beautifully clean Technicolor print with wonderful wildlife scenes with real wild animals.
Outstanding African wildlife photography and a touching performance by thirteen year-old Sabu combine in this beautiful film from Robert Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, who shared the Best Director award at the 1937 Venice Film Festival.
Little Toomai longs to be a great hunter like his father, who he accompanies on a government expedition to hunt for wild elephants. The other hunters teasingly tell him that he must first see the legendary Elephant’s Dance. Then tragedy strikes - Toomai’s father is killed by a tiger and Kala Nag, his elephant, runs amok and throws his new driver. With demands that the animal be killed in accordance with tradition, Toomai flees with the elephant deep into the jungle.
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s 'Toomai of the Elephants' this film launched the career of Sabu, who had previously been a stable boy to a maharajah and who was cast as the lead by Flaherty when filming on location in India. Flaherty returned to the UK with the location footage, and the film was then finished by Zoltan Korda.
The Thief of Bagdad
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Elephant Boy
