Jungle Book (1942)

A boy raised by wolves tries to adapt to human village life; tenuously based on Kipling's stories.

Director:

Zoltan Korda

Writer:

Laurence Stallings (adaptation)

Stars:

Sabu, Joseph Calleia, John Qualen

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sabu	...	Mowgli
Joseph Calleia	...	Buldeo
John Qualen	...	The Barber
Frank Puglia	...	The Pundit
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Messua (as Rosemary De Camp)
Patricia O'Rourke	...	Mahala
Ralph Byrd	...	Durga
John Mather	...	Rao
Faith Brook	...	English Girl
Noble Johnson	...	Sikh
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bagheera	...	The Panther

Storyline

Teenaged Mowgli, who was raised by wolves, appears in a village in India and is adopted by Messua. Mowgli learns human language and some human ways quickly, though keeping jungle ideas. Influential Merchant Buldeo is bigoted against 'beasts' including Mowgli; not so Buldeo's pretty daughter, whom Mowgli takes on a jungle tour where they find a treasure, setting the evil of human greed in motion.

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Plot Keywords:

jungle | village | india | treasure | greed | 

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Taglines:

I'll show you the mysteries--the wonders of the jungle's savage heart!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Center Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alexander Korda Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 102 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Merian C. Cooper did considerable preproduction work but it was abandoned when he decided to re-enlist in the armed forces in June 1941.

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Goofs

Kaa states that cats do not like water; therefore, Shere won't follow Mowgli through water. However, tigers do like water, so it should not be surprising that Shere follows Mowgli when he jumps into the water.

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Connections

Referenced in Road Trip: Beer Pong (2009)

User Reviews

The Greatest Animal Classic

I had seen this movie in late 80's when i was a kid. I loved it. When i first saw this movie, i knew it was old maybe released in late 60'- early 70's. Few days back i saw it again after many many years on TV. And I was shocked to find this movie was released in 1942. Which is years before the independence of India and this makes the movie older than most of the so called Great Hollywood Classics. During the time it was released it might not have been heard by many.Mostly forgotten over number of years. But i have no doubt its one of the first Hollywood movies to star an Asian actor in the lead.And probably the first Indian actor. Also the first color movie which involves lots of Animals.I'm not surprised that few 100 people have voted for this movie. Maybe because it was released during the world war days.I was really surprised this movie was given a rating of just over 6. And why is that? The Movies good. it involves animals..Its made for Kids. Then i felt maybe because some don't want to see an Asian actor Leading in a Hollywood Classic. When you see movies like the much hyped king kong (1933)which was released just 9 years before this movie and was a B&W Classic and involved a stuffed monkey dancing on a sky scraper to get a vote of 8 and voted by almost 18,000 people i think this justifies my Answer.