Jungle Book (1942)
Director: Zoltan Korda
Starring: Sabu, Joseph Calleia, John Qualen
Synopsis:
Driven from his home in the jungle by the tiger Shere Khan, the feral boy Mowgli gains his tooth (a knife) in the human village and returns to get his revenge, stumbling on an ancient treasure in the process.
Impressions:
I'm so accustomed to the Disney adaptation of the story that I never took the time to look into the source material. As such, I was completely thrown by how different this story is. (After all, the Disney version is pretty much its own thing.) I like how Mowgli is portrayed much as a real feral child when he's first apprehended in the human village. The morality tale about human greed and destructiveness doesn't break much new ground but does its job. Sabu does quite well in the title role and Joseph Calleia is pretty solid as the villainous Buldeo. There are some really gorgeous matte paintings for the backdrops. All in all, it's a good film and well worth seeing.
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