Elephant Boy *** (1937, Sabu, W E Holloway, Walter Hudd, Allan Jeayes, Bruce Gordon) – Classic Movie Review 9845

Producer Alexander Korda’s 1937 British black and white adventure film Elephant Boy about an Indian boy called Toomai, who discovers a huge herd of elephants in the jungle, was a big hit and made a star of 12-year-old Sabu.

Apart from the effortless, delightful performance by Sabu, there is ravishingly pretty and poetic filming by director Flaherty on Indian jungle locations. Though you might expect Technicolor, it is beautifully shot in black and white by Osmond Borradaile.

But it was a troubled production: Korda scrapped much of documentary maker Robert Flaherty’s work as director and his brother Zoltan Korda shot a lot of new footage including sequences with giant rubber elephants. Some of it is shot in Wales and at Denham Studios, Buckinghamshire, England.

The screenplay by John Collier, Akos Tolnay and Marcia de Sylva is taken from Rudyard Kipling’s story Toomai of the Elephants.

Director Robert Flaherty spotted Sabu as a Mysore stable boy and turned him into a star.

It won the Best Foreign Director award at the 1937 Venice Film Festival.

Also in the cast are W E Holloway as Father, Walter Hudd as Petersen, Allan Jeayes as Machua Appa, Bruce Gordon as Rham Lahl, D J Williams as Hunter, Wilfrid Hyde White as Commissioner, and Iravatha.

Elephant Boy is directed by Robert Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, runs 90 minutes, is made by London Films, is written by John Collier (screenplay), Akos Tolnay (screenplay collaboration) and Marcia De Silva (screenplay collaboration), based on Rudyard Kipling’s story Toomai of the Elephants, is shot in black and white by Osmond Borradaile, is produced by Alexander Korda and is scored by John Greenwood, with Film Editing by Charles Crichton. Muir Mathieson conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. Lajos Biró is script editor. André De Toth is production assistant.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9845

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