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

Elizabeth Taylor and not much else

Essentially a story of man versus nature, this film has beautiful cinematography, the lush jungles of Ceylon and the presence of Elizabeth Taylor but a plot that results in a dull and uninteresting movie that should be better than it is. Taylor's Ruth Wiley, a newlywed, finds herself ignored and neglected by her boorish, inattentive husband who seems to prefer the company of his cronies when they visit his plantation for drinking binges and games of polo while riding on bicycles. The plantation is under the spell of Mr. Wiley's late father and his ghost casts a pall over Elephant Walk that becomes a major point of contention between the Wileys. Restless and unhappy, Ruth becomes drawn to the plantation's foreman who desires the beautiful young wife for himself. The elephants are determined to reclaim their traditional path to water that was blocked by Wiley's father when he deliberately built his mansion across their right-of-way, and an ornery bull leads them on a rampage at the end of the film. Taylor and Dana Andrews have some good moments as she struggles to remain a faithful wife in spite of Carver's pursuit of the pretty brunette.