Elephant Walk (1954)
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60% of critics liked it
(10 reviews) -
45% of users liked it
(1,792 ratings)
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… More 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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- William Dieterle
- Written By
- John Lee Mahin
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Romance, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Apr 21, 1954 Wide
Critic Reviews
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, TIME Magazine
Elephant Walk, though hardly a work of art, is an astonishingly neat feat of manufacture.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Robert Standish's novel about life among the pekoe-planters rates a sprawling script and direction that lacks attention-holding pace from William Dieterle.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Unfortunately, the script that John Lee Mahin prepared from the Robert Standish book is lengthy and hackneyed in the build-up, and William Dieterle's direction does not provide anything more than gaudy panoramas of a tropical palace to fascinate the eye.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
I was 11 when I saw William Dieterle's 1954 adaptation of the Robert Standish novel Elephant Walk... and I loved it, though I don't know what I'd think today.
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Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television
Delirious mixture of romance and melodrama, with gorgeous location shooting.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Elizabeth Taylor
as Ruth Wiley
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Dana Andrews
as Dick Carver
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Peter Finch
as John Wiley
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Abraham Sofaer
as Appuhamy
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Abner Biberman
as Dr. Pereira
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Noel Drayton
as Atkinson
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Rosalind Ivan
as Mrs. Lakin
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Barry Bernard
as Strawson
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Philip Tonge
as Ralph
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Edward Ashley
as Gregory
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Leo Britt
as Chisholm
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Delmar Costello
as Native Patient
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Victor Millan
as Koru
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Jack Raine
as Norbert
- Rodd Redwing
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Norma Varden
as Mrs. Beezely
- Charles Heard
- Leslie Sketchley
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Satini Puailoa
as Foreman
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Carlos Rivero
as Car Servant
- Reginald Lal Singh
