Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1942
Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book
Buy Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Jungle Book
| caption = Film poster
| image = Jungle Book FilmPoster.jpeg
| director = Zoltan Korda
| based_on =
| screenplay = Laurence Stallings
| starring =
| producer = Alexander Korda
| music = Mikls Rzsa
| cinematography = Lee Garmes
W. Howard Greene
| editing = William Hornbeck
| studio = Alexander Korda Films, Inc.
| distributor = United Artists
| released =
| runtime = 108 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
United States
| language = English
| budget = 250,000
| gross = $11 million
}}
'Jungle Book' is a 1942 independent Technicolor action-adventure film by the Korda brothers, loosely adapted from Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book' (1894). The story centers on Mowgli, a feral young man who is kidnapped by villagers who are cruel to the jungle animals as they attempt to steal a dead king's cursed treasure. The film was directed by Zoltn Korda and produced by his brother Alexander, with the art direction done by their younger brother Vincent. The screenplay was written by Laurence Stallings. The film stars Sabu as Mowgli.
The cinematography was by Lee Garmes and W. Howard Greene and the music was by Mikls Rzsa. Because of World War II, the Korda brothers had moved their filmmaking to Hollywood in 1940, and 'Jungle Book' is one of the films they produced during that Hollywood period. The film was a commercial success at the box office.
Plot
In an Indian village, Buldeo, an elderly storyteller, is paid by a visiting British 'memsahib' to tell a story of his youth.
As a younger man, he recalls his village being attacked by Shere Khan the tiger. The attack leads to the death of a man and the loss of the man's child. The child is adopted by wolves in the jungle and grows to be the wild youth Mowgli. Years later, Mowgli is captured by the villagers and taken in by his mother Messua, though she does not recognize him as her lost child. He learns to speak and tries to imitate the ways of men, as well as becomes friendly with Buldeo's daughter, Mahala. When Mowgli and Mahala explore the jungle, they discover a hidden chamber in a ruined palace, containing fabulous wealth. Warned by an aged cobra that the wealth brings death, they leave, but Mahala takes one coin as a memento. When Buldeo sees the coin, he tries to force Mowgli to tell him where the treasure is, but Mowgli refuses. Buldeo resolves to follow Mowgli to the site of the treasure.
Mowgli fights and kills Shere Khan, with some last minute help from Kaa, the python. As he is skinning the body, Buldeo arrives. He threatens Mowgli with a gun, but is attacked by Mowgli's friend Bagheera, the black panther. Buldeo becomes convinced that Bagheera is Mowgli himself, shape-shifted into panther form. He tells the villagers that Mowgli is a witch, as is his mother. Mowgli is chained up and threatened with death, but escapes with his mother's help. However, she and another villager who tries to defend her are tied up and themselves threatened with burning for witchcraft.
Mowgli is followed by the greedy Buldeo and two friends, a pandit and a barber, to the lost city. They find the treasure and leave for the village with as much as they can carry. When they stop for the night, the priest tries to steal the treasure and murders the barber when the barber wakes up. The priest tells Buldeo that the barber had attacked him and that he had killed in self-defense, but Buldeo knows better. The next day, the priest attacks Buldeo while his back is turned, but Buldeo knocks him into the swamp where he is killed by a crocodile. Mowgli tells Bagheera to chase Buldeo from the jungle, and Buldeo flees for his life, jettisoning the treasure.
Buldeo tries to murder Mowgli and destroy the jungle by starting a forest fire. The wind turns and the fire threatens the village. The villagers flee, but Mowgli's mother and her defender are trapped. Mowgli brings the elephants to the village and breaks open the building, escaping to the river with his mother, Mahala and other villagers. He is invited to follow them to a new life downriver, but refuses to leave the jungle, turning back to help animals trapped by the fire.
The scene returns to the present day, with the elderly Buldeo admitting that the jungle defeated his youthful dreams and destroyed his reputation. When asked how he escaped from the fire and what became of Mowgli and his daughter, Buldeo says that is another story.
Cast
* Sabu as Mowgli
** Daniel and David Valdez as Baby Mowgli
* Joseph Calleia as Buldeo
* John Qualen as The barber
* Frank Puglia as The pundit
* Rosemary DeCamp as Messua
* Patricia O'Rourke as Mahala
* Ralph Byrd as Durgaived
* Faith Brook as English girl
* Noble Johnson as Sikh
* Mel Blanc as Kaa, Gray Brother
* Martha Wentworth as White Hood
Production
In 1940, the three Korda brothers left London for Hollywood, where two of their films that had begun production in the UK were completed: 'The Thief of Bagdad' and 'That Hamilton Woman'.
United Artists lent Alexander Korda $300,000 to finance the production of 'Jungle Book', which was produced by the American company he set up for his Hollywood productions: Alexander Korda Films, Inc.
Laurence Stalling's adaptation was criticised for straying too far from the original, and the frequent disagreements between brothers Alexander and Zoltn did not help matters. Zoltn wanted an underplayed realistic story, while Alex favoured an exuberant fantasist epic. Alex, as always, got his way in the end.
Reception
Box office
The film was a notable success at the box office. In the United States and Canada, the film earned in box office rentals. In total, the film grossed from approximately 12.2 million ticket sales in the United States, equivalent to adjusted for inflation in 2021. In the United Kingdom, its 1948 re-release earned 86,089..In France, it was one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 1946, drawing over 5 million admissions at the box office. At an average late-1940s admission price of 50francs, this was equivalent to an estimated francs . The film also sold box office tickets in the Soviet Union when it released there in 1944. At an average 1950 admission price of , this was equivalent to an estimated Rbls .
Critical response
Bosley Crowther of 'The New York Times' noted the filmmakers have "used a whole menagerie to get some remarkable effects, and a finer lot of sleek and lithe wild creatures has never been shown on a screen. But he hasn't put together a solid picture. It is mainly spectacle. Against the animal competition, the human actors show up quite badly." In summary, Crowther felt the "color is strikingly vivid and some of the individual scenes have natural charm. But the film, as a whole, is ostentatious." 'Variety' similarly wrote: "Depending almost entirely on the pictorial grandeur and the production novelty, Korda has neglected any but a slight development of the human equation. Players therefore have unimportant assignments, with the exception of Sabu, who swims and swings his way through the jungle with ease and grace."'Harrison's Reports' wrote: "This is a jungle fantasy, in which animals play an important part. It has been produced in gorgeous technicolor. The surroundings in which Sabu is cast are familiar ...But by being a fantasy, its appeal is not universal." Edwin Schallert of the 'Los Angeles Times' praised the visuals and the animals, but cautioned: "To say that 'Jungle Book' is as good in its narrative as 'The Thief' is not easy. Many will feel that it is, and certainly it rates right alongside its predecessor." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 57% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating 6.9/10.
Awards
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards.
;Nominated
* Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color (Vincent Korda, Julia Heron)
* Best Visual Effects (Lawrence W. Butler, William H. Wilmarth)
* Best Original Score
* Best Cinematography
Soundtrack album
In 1943 the film's score, in a recording made directly from the soundtrack, was released on a 78-RPM record album with narration by Sabu, the film's star, added. It became the first commercial recording of a non-musical U.S. film's orchestral score to be released. The album was a success.
Although the film is in the public domain, the master 35mm elements are with ITV Studios Global Entertainment. An official video release is currently available via The Criterion Collection.
See also
* List of films in the public domain in the United States
References
Bibliography
*
Buy Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1942