Elephant Boy (1937)

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is quite clear from the beginning that we have to be understanding about Sabu's acting ability in this his first film.He undertakes the opening narration in a very stilted form.It is quite apparent that he is reading off of boards placed behind the camera.The scenes in India are very well photographed in black and white and the music is quite captivating.the dramatic scenes though are often rather awkward.Not just because of Sabu.the scenes of him with the white trappers are very redolent of the Empire,upon whom the sun never set.Korda did rather have an obsession about this.Bearing in mind that he had previously made Sanders of The River and was about to embark upon "The Drum" and of course "The Four Feathers".Sabu would shortly become a much more skilled performer.

In his first film, young Sabu introduces himself as "Toomai of the Elephants" before leading an expedition to find a herd of elephants in the jungles of India. Though this is based on an adventure story by Rudyard Kipling, it runs more like a documentary. There is much time spent on filming Sabu cavorting with his elephant "Kala Nag" and others. Sabu relies on acting natural and hasn't perfected his English; people found him highly appealing, but he's sometimes more of a liability, herein. Sabu and the Korda productions got better. "Elephant Boy" is for viewers who really, really like Sabu and/or a lot of elephants on screen.**** Elephant Boy (4/5/37) Robert Flaherty ~ Sabu, Walter Hudd, Allan Jeayes, W.E. Holloway

1937. Technicolor still waiting (and expensive and technically demanding), it's no surprise this is in black and white. And, sorry to say, much more black than white. Many scenes look light night, even if from context they should be in daytime. I had to squint my eyes sometimes to see what goes on. (This may also be due to the fact that it's in public domain, and not much was invested into digital remastering. Hey.. they sold it for €1 at Woolworth..) I also had to squint my ears - sound quality is not crystal-clear, and Indian English takes some more getting used to. But...Atcha! Against those odds, I enjoyed Elephant Boy tremendously. A simple but strong story, great shots of elephants.. (who needs monster movies when you have these creatures?) I can now better understand Sabu's short success story in the movies. He's ... well, more authentic than say, Douglas Fairbanks as the Thief of Bagdad (which I loved too). Between Prapancha Pash (1929 silent made on location in India), and Sabu's later highlights in Jungle Book (1942) and Black Narcissus, Elephant Boy fits very well in my collection, and I'll keep it in fond memory and re-watch it. Relatively short and quite mono-thematic (it's all about elephant & boy), for me it was a great and memorable experience.

I didn't like this movie at all Too much of the "hysterical elephant goes berserk" routine,and the horrid racket to go with it Sabu as the earnest,young Hindu boy was at best,cloyingly maudlin. The patronizing British Head Honcho was also a bit too much to take. I'm not even sure a child would like it.The pathetic elephant screams might be a bit scary. Parental Guidance Recommended (by me at least)