Elephant Walk (1954)

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (writer)
Robert Standish (novel)

Release Date:

21 April 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

One man claimed the land. Two men claimed the woman who lived there.

Plot:

The young bride of a rich planter finds herself the only white woman at Elephant Walk tea plantation, British Ceylon.

Plot Keywords:

Elephant | Plantation | Ceylon | Tea | Cholera

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Ruth Wiley
Dana Andrews	...	Dick Carver
Peter Finch	...	John Wiley
Abraham Sofaer	...	Appuhamy
Abner Biberman	...	Dr. Pereira
Noel Drayton	...	Planter Atkinson
Rosalind Ivan	...	Mrs. Lakin
Barry Bernard	...	Planter Strawson
Philip Tonge	...	Planter John Ralph
Edward Ashley	...	Planter Gordon Gregory
Leo Britt	...	Planter Chisholm
My Lee Haulani	...	Rayna (as Mylee Haulani)
Jack Raine	...	Norbert
Victor Millan	...	Koru (servant)
Henry Carr

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Australia:G | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16612) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Vivien Leigh was originally cast. Her mental illness begun affecting things during filming, and so she was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor. Many long shots and shots from behind are still of Leigh.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the film, John Wiley (Peter Finch) does a voiceover reading of a page from "The Diary of Elephant Walk", shown on screen. Near the bottom of the page, Wiley (Finch), reading it aloud, says, "It was pouring with rain," even though the text seen on the screen reads "It was pouring rain." (In fact, as an Englishman, Wiley would normally have said - and written - "pouring with rain". "Pouring rain" is the American usage.)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Many Dreams Ago

Stop me if you've herd this one before...

William Dieterle's Elephant Walk is basically Rebecca in the Naked Jungle, with a dead father replacing a dead wife, Abraham Sofaer made up to look surprisingly like Ben Kingsley in the Judith Anderson role and elephants bringing the house down instead of ants. This time it's Elizabeth Taylor (replacing an increasingly erratic Vivien Leigh, who is still reputedly visible in some long shots) as the nice English girl who discovers that her nice husband Peter Finch is still living in the terrible shadow of his father, who bloody-mindedly built their tea plantation bungalow across the path the elephants used to use to get to the river. While the elephants try to reassert their right of way, the rains are late and the natives go down with cholera, Liz falls for Dana Andrews' more clear-eyed overseer, but this being 1953 and as in thrall to the ghost of Daphne Du Maurier as Finch is to 'The Governor', it's a foregone conclusion that this one will end in flames and the sanctity of marriage reaffirmed. Fairly typical studio product, but entertaining enough in its shamelessly derivative way. And don't forget to look out for the present the lead elephant leaves in its wake as it heads down the hill to Elephant Walk!