Jungle Book (1942)

This is a Movie adaption of a Tale written by the famous Rudyard Kipling a fellow of English Blood who was born and Raised in the foothills of the Himalayas in India. CINEMATOGRAPHY GREAT. The BEGINNING of the MOvie is a wonderful scene of Wildlife. This is a colored film but has the resolution of black and white, so I am guessing was quite a cinematographers delight in the day. IF you can get a good quality version and watch it on a really good flat TV or better yet an HD CRT, you will get the richness of the movie. SO much of it is dark spaces. MUSIC was very nice. NOt quite Indian, somewhat orchestral, and interesting mix of what seems like very original music, carries the film wonderfully. Folksy and majestic at the same time, fitting to the story!!ACTING very good. Solid acting , nothing stupendous, some nice subtle performances within. Most of this movie is carried by the story and the action. SCENES are generally small, and very cozy, almost like a stage play ,from a modern perspective. I get hungry for sandwiches when i watch this movie. for you in Cold Weather climates, watch this movie in the WINTER!!!This is an ACTION ADVENTURE movie with Political and Dramatic Strings, an Deservingly classic tale, and this movie is quite well made. CULTURALLY & ETHNICALLY sensitive people who object to a lot of stuff may have some internal issues to defeat to enjoy this movie, but other than that, it is an Epic Story made into a great adventure movie.T H A N K S F O R R E A D I N G ! ! ! !

As a child, I loved this 1942 film Jungle Book. As a 20-year old adult, I still do, my favourite version of the story alongside the less faithful but just as fun 1967 Disney film. As with all Korda Brothers films(The Four Feathers being my personal favourite), the film is full of beautiful scenery and cinematography as well as an exotic atmosphere. Miklos Rozsa's score is suitably stirring with an authentic touch, while the story is exciting and amusing with a real adventurous streak about it and the pace not dragging too much. The jungle animals look great and are colourful characters in their own right, and the film is lovingly directed as always. Sabu is a likable and athletic lead, Joseph Calleia is terrific as Buldeo and Rosemary De Camp is a sympathetic mother figure. My only complaint is the romance, which was not as developed as it could have been. Overall though, I still love this film and still thinks it holds up today. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is a rather amazing production for 1942. The lavish sets, costumes and full-color are quite amazing for the time--especially considering it was made during one of the darkest years of WWII. So, instead of the typical black & white propaganda film, here we have pure escapism.Now if you are looking for the Disney version of the Kipling story, you'll no doubt be disappointed. Aside from names and a few plot elements, the story really bears little in common with the 1967 film. Unlike the cartoon, this film does address how Mowgli becomes stranded in the jungle as an infant plus about 80% of the film consists of Mowgli's life AFTER returning to the village where he was born. And, also unlike the Disney film, humans are pretty greedy and awful in this film. In fact, instead of the tiger, Shere Khan, trying to kill Mowgli, the plot mostly has to do with a jungle treasure and the terrible lengths greed drives men to have it. By the end of the film, Mowgli is sick of the humans and their wicked ways--and leaves to live in his beloved jungle once again--quite the opposite of the Disney story.Aside from very nice production values, there is a lot to admire about the film. The story is rather timeless and has some depth to it due to its examination of human nature. The only serious negative is the same negative you'd have with all adventure films of this era--no one in the film is actually Indian other than Sabu! Remember, this was the time of Charlie Chan (played originally by a Swede) and actors such as Errol Flynn and Katherine Hepburn playing Asians!! Here, such reliable Hollywood actors as John Qualen and Joseph Calleia play Indians! It's all rather laughable, though perhaps it was tough finding Indian actors at the time (especially with India in the thick of things in the war). Still, it's all very forgivable considering that it's otherwise a quality production from start to finish.

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.