Elephant Walk (1954)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

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

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 15

6:00 PM

TCM

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

A truly underrated Elizabeth Taylor film

The scintillating Elizabeth Taylor stars in this lesser-known classic as a young girl from London who falls in love with a tea plantation owner from British Ceylon (current day Sri Lanka). Upon arrival she instantly feels out of place and is forced to adapt to the new culture as well as be in constant awareness of the angry elephant herd. William Dieterle, who also directed The Life Of Emile Zola and Portrait Of Jennie , does a masterful job of bringing a somewhat dark, and almost eerie, undertone to this romance and the setting is one of the most beautiful I've seen with the black and white themed mansion and the gorgeous island scenery.