Elephant Walk (1954)

Elephant Walk (1954) (DVD) (*)

$22.99

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Italy ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
98 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Remastered

Movie filmed in 1954 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
William Dieterle

Written By:
John Lee Mahin
Robert Standish

Actors:
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

Synopsis:

A young bride of a rich tea plantation owner tries to cope with life in Ceylon (now Indonesia) with her new husband. Bride Ruth (Elizabeth Taylor) comes to realize that her groom John Wiley (Peter Finch) still lives in the shadow of his late father, the 'Governor.' Every weekend John hosts all the planters from the area for three-day stag parties involving non-stop alcohol consumption and indoor bicycle polo. Ruth is the first non-native woman to be seen in the area in two years, and only Elephant Walk Plantation overseer Richard 'Dick' Carver (Dana Andrews) can provide a listening ear. But after rebuffing Dick's advances, he leaves for Paris. However, John breaks his leg before the next plane out, so Dick returns to take up the slack. Ruth learns the plantation is named for the fact that it sits astride a major pachyderm trail. In the midst of a severe drought, cholera breaks out. The plantation is quarantined, and the natives who serve as 'beaters' to keep the elephants away fall ill or desert the Wiley homestead. A herd of elephants breaks into the main house, setting it on fire while Ruth (exhausted from fighting the epidemic) is napping. Back on his feet, a reformed John rushes in to carry Ruth to safety. He promises to build Ruth a new place, 'somewhere else.'

Ruth Wiley (Taylor), a young English bride whose wealthy husband, John (Peter Finch), has spirited her off to his vast tea plantation in the jungles of Ceylon. Initially excited to be in this new environment, Ruth soon discovers that her new husband considers her no more than an attractive possession who can't compete for his attention with activities like indoor polo with his cronies. Since this and similar games absorb much of John's time, his friend Dick Carver (Dana Andrews) actually runs the plantation. No mere businessman, the sensitive Carver likes to rattle off Chopin nocturnes, and he and Ruth soon become involved. Now eager to leave a house that has become like a prison, Ruth asks Dick to take her to Paris, and he agrees. But an epidemic of cholera suddenly breaks out, and everyone on the plantation is put under quarantine. To add to their problems, Ruth has learned that her husband's father built their house directly in the path of an elephant walk--and the local elephants have suddenly become very restless!

Elephant Walk was several weeks into production when the film's original leading lady, Vivien Leigh, was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor (you can still see Leigh in a few long shots). Based on a novel by Robert Standish, the film casts Taylor as Ruth Wiley, the new bride of solemn plantation owner John Wiley (Peter Finch). At first thrilled at the prospect of living in the wilds of Ceylon, Ruth rapidly becomes a beautiful bird in a gilded cage. When American overseer Dick Carver (Dana Andrews) arrives on the scene, Ruth falls in love. Before she can leave her husband, though, the region is devastated by cholera. Making things worse, the local elephants go on a rampage, destroying her husband's mansion, which his father had maliciously built in the middle of the pachyderm's ancient right of way. Fraught with sexual symbolism, Elephant Walk works on a high-gloss soap opera level. The climactic stampede, however, is disappointingly filmed on a studio interior set, robbing what should have been a rousing climax of much of its credibility.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 21 December, 2023.