LeonLouisRicci A Near Flawless Fantasy Full of Magnificent Matte Work, Glorious Technicolor, an Intense Lead Performance from Sabu, Fantastic Animal Work, and an Almost Seamless Inclusion of a Talking Snake and Other Extravagances.The Movie was Not Ignored at the Oscars Winning Multiple Statues and the Movie was a Success at the Box Office. But Over the Years it Somehow got Ignored and Relegated to the Background and has been Overlooked and Pushed Aside by Inferior Movies with Similar Themes.To Add Insult to the Injurious Injustices, the Movie Fell into Public Domain and During the Home Video Revival of Old Movies it was Blasphemously Released on Highly Inferior Tapes and Discs that Diminished the Spectacular Production Values and Artistic Merit.Then there was the Disney Animated Version that also Made This Somehow Irrelevant and the Film has been in the Netherlands of the Public Consciousness and Hardly Well Known. But it is a Wonderful Achievement and Deserves to be Rediscovered and Brought Back and Regarded as a Masterpiece of Movie Making and Marvelous Entertainment for All Ages.

boymac2008 Saw this at the San Val Drive-in, Sun Valley, CA ..... During the war, most theaters had "Black-outs" ... and they would stop the movie for awhile, and turn out all the lights, till the warning was lifted ....I was fascinated that the Snake & Tiger could talk to the little boy, that memory has stayed with me all my life ..... most of the animals wanted to Eat him,but he had a gift of gab which got him off the hook most of the time.The Theater was located on San Fernando Road, near Lockheed Airport and many nights the movies were interrupted by low-flying aircraft, or the Bright searchlights along Empire Ave.Another GREAT depiction of this was a later film, "1941" with John Beluishe

ma-cortes Based on Rudyard Kipling's known classic , it concerns about a little boy named Mowgli (Sabu). He's living in an Indian village with his warmhearted mum (Rosemary DeCamp). But he's lost and raised by a wolf pack . Along the way he encounters a variety of jungle animals , including a complete menagerie , such as the ferocious black panther named Bagheera , the evil tiger named Shere Khan , the Croc , the bear, elephant , monkeys... Mowgli stays among his animals friends . He takes on a jungle journey and knows the location of a hidden treasure ; then three of the village men (Joseph Calleia, John Qualen, Puglia) follow him and many adventures ensue .This lavish version of the great classic displays adventures, fantasy , exotic atmosphere , and breathtaking scenarios . This is the first acting to the young Indian actor named Sabu , he followed a Hollywood 's successful career : ¨The thief of Bagdad, Elephant boy and Arabian nights¨ . Rudyard Kipling's two Jungle Book anthologies comprise fifteen stories, four of which were used is this film: "Mowgli's Brothers," "How Fear Came ," "Tiger! Tiger!," and "The King's Colorful cinematography by Howard Greene and Lee Garmes in shimmer Technicolor with matte shots that make some landscapes look like they were added with magic markers . Exotic and oriental musical score by the great master Miklos Rozsa . It was the first film for which original soundtrack recordings were issued . This big budgeted movie is well made by Korda family . Vincent Korda created the impressive sets , Zoltan Korda directed brilliantly this familiar story and magnificent production by Alexander Korda . A must see for children of all ages. Adults will find the picture a little boring , but the younger to be amused.Other adaptations about the vintage tale are the followings : the Walt Disney animated classic version by Wolfgang Reithman (1969) and its sequel (2005) , and in the 90s , a beautifully and enchanting filmed version , live-action by Stephen Sommers with Jason Scott Lee, Lena Headley and Sam Neill .

Ron Oliver Reared in the Indian Jungle, a young man must learn to live amongst the most rapacious of Nature's creatures, Man.Sir Alexander Korda's splendid film uses Kipling's book as a launching pad to tell Mowgli's story after he left his animal friends. It is told with great verve and excitement and its evocative views of the great jungle and the Lost City, as locations for Mowgli's further adventures, revealed in vibrant Technicolor, are an indication of the excellent production values lavished to make the story come alive.As teen-aged Mowgli, Indian actor Sabu couldn't be more perfect. Whether as the Wild Boy who first enters the village, or, later, as the completely competent young man who ferrets out the secret of the Lost City's treasure, fights the tiger Shere Khan and communes with deadly snakes, elephants & wolves, he is completely believable. Kipling would have been proud.Rosemary DeCamp is a quiet delight as Mowgli's gentle mother, her scenes with Sabu are most effective and tender. John Qualen, Frank Puglia, and especially Joseph Calleia, all score as the members of the man-village who want to see Mowgli destroyed. Playing his character as an old man, Calleia also bookends the film as its storyteller, using his somber demeanor to add to the mystery of the plot. That's Silent star Noble Johnson as the Sikh whose female companion encourages the telling of the tale.Born Sabu Dastagir in 1924, Sabu was employed in the Maharaja of Mysore's stables when he was discovered by Korda's company and set before the cameras. His first four films (ELEPHANT BOY-1937, THE DRUM-1938, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD-1940, JUNGLE BOOK-1942) were his best and he found himself working out of Hollywood when they were completed. After distinguished military service in World War II he resumed his film career, but he became endlessly confined for years playing ethnic roles in undistinguished minor films, BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) being the one great exception. His final movie, Walt Disney's A TIGER WALKS (1964) was an improvement, but it was too late. Sabu had died of a heart attack in late 1963, only 39 years of age.