Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927)

Elephants disrupt the lives of a family deep in the jungles of Northern Siam, and an entire village.

Directors:

Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writer:

Achmed Abdullah (titles)

Stars:

Kru, Chantui, Nah

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Credited cast:
Natives of the Wild	...	Themselves
Wild Beasts	...	Themselves
The Jungle	...	Itself
Kru	...	Kru - the Lao Tribesman
Chantui	...	Chantui - His Wife
Nah	...	Nah - Son and Heir of the House of Kru
Ladah	...	Their Little Girl
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bimbo the Monkey
Namul
Than	...	A Friend from the Lao Village

Storyline

Kru is a pioneer, living deeper in the jungle of northern Siam than any of his predecessors. He solves the problems caused by leopards and tigers attacking his stock by setting traps and killing those beasts. A baby chang (the Siamese word for elephant) is caught in his trap, and thinking he would tame it so it will work for him one day, he tethers it to a post under his house, which is on stilts. Its mother comes and destroys his house. Kru and his family flee to the village, where a mammoth herd of elephants suddenly appear and decimates the buildings in the village. But the villagers fight back.

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Plot Keywords:

elephant | village | trap | jungle | siam | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Documentary

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

3 September 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chang

Filming Locations:

Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$60 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White (tinted and toned)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the first feature films to be shot entirely on panchromatic stock.

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Connections

Referenced in King Kong (1933)

User Reviews

A product of its time; great music in the re-issue

There is more than a little irony in seeing a film that is so much like an anthropological field work, but with a superimposed plot structure and characterization that we now find unacceptably corny. The music is marvelous, by the famed Thai group Fong Naam, and the ethnographic details are rich.