Jungle Book is one of three films in Eclipse Series No. 30, entitled Sabu! (with exclamation point), being released Nov. 29, 2011, retail price $44.95. The two other titles are Elephant Boy and The Drum.
shareI just found out about it recently. Cool! However, in reading the Criterion website, I did not find the word "restored" which gave me some question marks.
JUNGLE BOOK has been one of those movies that I've been dying to see get a proper restoration. The Eclipse series doesn’t always provide that, however. I have the George Bernard Shaw features which have great prints in all three of their films. But, I also have early Kurosawa as well, and none of them are what one would call "pristine". However, my thoughts are that Criterion would have to have gone through a lot of red tape with Toho in order to get them cleaned up.
My biggest fear is that Eclipse will grab the JB print that has been available for years in public domain, and slap their label and basically the only difference is that it will cost more. I hope that won't be the case.
I have ELEPHANT BOY on VHS. Interesting film. Eventhough, it was Sabu's first and he's just a child here, he was already a natural. And my goodness, that pet elephant of his is probably the biggest I've seen in any movie (even Ray Harryhausen's animated elephant in 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH).
As for THE DRUM, I've never seen that one before.
Well, as you know, the Eclipse series consists of collections of films that have not undergone the painstaking remastering, or have the supplemental features, Criterion normally puts into its own series. But I've never found any bad Eclipse films, and in fact most of them seem perfectly acceptable, almost as pristine as Criterion discs.
I suspect the Sabu set will feature good prints, not crummy ones. Criterion may not put the exhaustive restoration process into Eclipse films they do for their own, but they always seek out the best possible prints.
Still, I take your point about the Early Kurosawa set. I thought the films looked fine, but then, knowing the technical problems facing the Japanese film industry as World War II went on (and it wasn't as technically proficient as Hollywood to start with), I wasn't expecting flawless prints. (Shades of our Gojira discussion!) Some other Eclipse series, particularly of older foreign films from Japan, Italy and elsewhere, feature movies in slightly-less-than-pristine condition. Even so, under whichever label -- including the apparently now defunct Essential Art House -- Criterion has never issued a film in a poor quality print. I think they issued the two Kurosawa Eclipse sets not due to any problems with Toho but simply to get those films out on DVD, perhaps regarding them as "lesser" Kurosawa works than the better-known ones released by Criterion itself.
As to this set, I intend to get it, but believe it or not I've never seen either Jungle Book or Elephant Boy. My Sabu collection is thus far limited to two Criterion films, The Thief of Bagdad and Black Narcissus, plus a bottom-budget sci-fi (!) cheapie he made in 1956 called Jungle Hell, and his penultimate movie (and the last one he lived to see), Rampage (1963). I saw The Drum on TCM around a year ago. It was good but not great. (In the US it was titled Drums, which I suppose someone thought sounded more menacing.)
I’m surprised you’ve never seen this Hobnob. However, I myself only saw this movie for the first time around 10 years ago. Like many others of my generation, when JUNGLE BOOK is mentioned many of us think of the Disney animated feature.
The Sabu JB is quite lavish, although not as elaborate as THE THIEF OF BAGDAD. It has great production values and a well deserved Oscar nomination for its special effects. It is one of the reasons why I’ve been aching to see this restored or at least in a better print than what has been available for years.
And in actuality, this is the one I prefer even over the Disney version. In the animated feature, the character of Mowgli, I feel ends up as more-or-less a supporting player, when compared to the animals and all the great voice talent behind them. In the Korda version, the spot light is first and foremost on Mowgli, and played with efficiency by Sabu.
And just like he did in other Korda features, Miklos Rozsa does the score here, and in truth, the opening theme is my favorite of any Rozsa score he did for the Kordas.
One surprise is the appearance of Noble Johnson, seen at the beginning and speaking English, which is the only time I’ve heard him speak that!
I hope this Eclipse version will at least reinstate the familiar Korda opening with Big Ben. The public domain versions I’ve seen always omit that.
Like you, I too think first of the Disney version when I hear this title...but then, I've never seen that film either. To put it simply, the only "JB" I've seen is the stage play of that name. (Yes, I'm duly ashamed.)
On an irrelevancy, why do they call the 1942 film simply Jungle Book but the remakes tack on The? Was that Kipling's title?
However, I'd be willing to bet that the Eclipse release will indeed carry the London Films logo. They always have, and I assume they'll use the original source prints from Britain. This seems to be their normal practice. As you know I, too, am a fanatic on films remaining intact, most definitely including the original studio logos.
Interesting that you mention Rosza's score. In perusing this site I noted a bit of trivia that stated that this was the first Hollywood film score to be released directly onto records, instead of being re-recorded by the record company's orchestra. In other words, the first movie soundtrack ever sold. With your praise of the score, I'm really looking forward to hearing it.
Are you sure this is Noble Johnson's only English-speaking part in any film? I haven't looked but I'd have thought he'd spoken it someplace else. Oh, well. As he said in King Kong, "Mala mapokeno! Kow bisa por Kong!" Of course, in his defense, blondes were scarce around there.
I have no idea why "The" was put in the Disney version. My guess was that they wanted to differentiate between the two (although one is an animated form, so that is a difference enough). Don't exactly know how Kipling titled his book.
And I also think the Korda London Films logo will be reinstated. For that, they probably needed to find a good British print. So my fingers are crossed that this movie will finally look better than what has been seen here for many years.
JB is the only movie I've heard Noble Johnson speak English. Perhaps he does speak it in other films, however, I have yet to come across those. But it was unusual hearing him talk that way and not some language similar to that of the Nias Islanders!
Just for fun I looked up Noble Johnson's films on his IMDb site. He certainly made a ton of films, though many of his roles seemed to have been little more than bits. But in looking them over, and the description of the roles he played, it seems certain he must have had other English-speaking parts: Queequeg in the 1930 Moby Dick, a bartender in Dream Girl, the Indian Chief Red Shirt in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (I think he spoke English, albeit of the broken sort), Night in New Orleans as Carney, and it looks like a number of others too.
Another thing I wonder is how much money he made in his career. He has 146 films listed to his credit, but as a black man, working in that era, doing mainly small or bit parts, I can't imagine the studios would have paid him particularly well. Yet he retired in 1950, at age 69, and lived until 1978, when he died at 96. I hope he was at least comfortable and not in need all those years.
This "The" business in movie titles is kind of interesting. Look how many remakes of original films that began with "The" dispensed with the definite article and simply went right into the substantive portion of the title: (The) Hurricane (1937/1979), Narrow Margin (1952/1990), War of the Worlds (1953/2005), plus some others. Of course, in most cases the "The" is omitted in the remake. Here, it's the other way around. Only The Sabu knows.
I have SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, but don't recall if Noble even spoke at all!
It seems that Noble played everything - Native Americans, Russians, Indians (and I'm talking from India like in JUNGLE BOOK). And he probably wasn't paid much, but at least enough to retire on. Not sure if actors had royalties back then. If so, then hopefully he got something significant for KING KONG. And I understand that he was also friends with Lon Chaney Sr.
Wish more of his movies were out on DVD. Would be interested in seeing his portrayal of the devil in DANTE'S INFERNO.
Dante's Inferno has been run on FMC every so often. I never realized NJ played the Devil. Another instance of a talented actor born in the wrong era, compelled to scrape along with whatever roles he could get. At least most of Johnson's parts were more dignified than those accorded most other black actors of the same period -- few if any of those demeaning, racist "Gone With the Wind"-type "darkie, yes-massa" roles.
shareWell, I believe Noble was the first or one of the first black actors to start-up his own studio for black performers to really act rather than being portrayed as racist stereotypes (and I'm glad he was not in something like GONE WITH THE WIND, although Selznick was probably aware of him during their KING KONG days, and may have been thinking of him for a part in GWTW).
I remember when Sidney Poitier got his Honorary Academy Award back in the 2000s, he gave a great speech about “standing in the shoulders” of those who paved the way before him. When I heard that, the first person that came to my mind was none other than Noble Johnson.
Yes, but think of all the black performers (and others) who never had even Johnson's chances to portray dignified characters, or work in other aspects of the film industry, and certainly never to be rewarded as well as their white counterparts. Sidney Poitier stood on their shoulders too. Interestingly, there are many who condemn Poitier for having played so many quiet, dignified black characters instead of standing up to whites -- ignoring the difficulties he had to cope with in making the most significant breakthrough not only for himself but for all other people of color in the industry. It was mainly a matter of timing beyond anyone's control. Poitier was born at the right, pivotal era. Denzel Washington and others were able to build on his work. And before all of them were those decades of black acors who had to struggle in often demeaning roles, but who in their own ways paved the way for better things to come.
Besides Noble Johnson, another black actor who got many better parts in that era was Rex Ingram, whom Korda used so effectively in The Thief of Bagdad and Sahara. Paul Robeson was another such performer who made some headway in his career. But I always recall the words of Hattie McDaniel, who (amazingly, given the prejudices of the time) was not only nominated for but won an Oscar (for GWTW), but whose career, even after her AA, was largely limited to playing domestics. She was often criticized, even at the time, for this, but her reply was as pragmatic as it was refreshing for its honesty: "I'd rather play a maid than be one."
ALL of them had to stand up to the ugliness that was surrounding them, and the ones you mentioned certainly made their marks on the industry. Hattie McDaniel was not even invited to the premier of GWTW in Atlanta (Gable objected to that and threatened not to go himself, but she convinced him that it was OK and that he should attend).
Rex Ingram was always an interesting actor to watch. The man was able to play God, Lucifer and a giant Genie twice (if you've seen A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, he is more-or-less playing the same character as in THIEF, expect he talks less and his scenes are much shorter).
Given the segregation that existed in the South at that time, Hattie was probably right not to try to attend. She would have been relegated to a segregated area of the theater (in fact, were blacks even allowed at the premiere?), and housed in a segregated hotel.
That's what happened to black performers in Las Vegas as late as the 50s: they could perform in the big hotels but not stay there, instead having to find fairly squalid digs in the segregated area of the town. It was Frank Sinatra who forced one of the hotels (I think the Sands) to finally allow Sammy Davis, Jr., to stay there, which broke the color barrier in Vegas.
I did hear that Olivia deHavilland was so angry that she'd lost the supporting Oscar to McDaniel that she refused to congratulate her or shake her hand. Fay Bainter (the 1938 winner) was furious, took deH. aside to dress her down for her bigotry and bad manners, and told her to turn right around, go out and congratulate McDaniel, which she did. I was stunned that Olivia was so ill-mannered, petty and racist.
It is kind of a shock to hear that regarding Olivia. That is something I never heard of before (and I just saw her in LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA on TCM - which also has now been finally released on DVD via the Warner Archives). Of course, decades later, Olivia would be in ROOTS: THE NEXT GENERATION, where her son, Richard Thomas, would end up marrying a black woman, much to the chagrin of her and her husband Henry Fonda (who did a hell of job playing a bigoted man on that show. I remember I wanted to beat the living daylights out of him!).
The subject of race probably can’t escape this Sabu series either, and I’m specifically talking about ELELPHANT BOY. Some of today’s movie goers may not like the master-servant relationship between the British Petersen (Walter Hudd), and the Indians. Many of them refer to Petersen as the very un-PC “The White Lord”, while the Petersen himself was at times condescending towards them.
However, things like that did exist in the past, and in some strange ways, I’m glad it wasn’t cleaned up for this film (if this was done today, it is a good bet any perceived racial elements would have removed from the script as if it didn’t exist back then).
As you know, I hate and am absolutely opposed to any changes, of any kind, to films (or books, plays, anything), for any reason. We've seen attempts to "clean up" the books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn because of their use of the "n-word", and at least one company cuts and alters films to create "family friendly" versions (without the filmmakers' consent).
You're exactly right, as always -- the past is what it is [was?], and shouldn't be changed to suit the mood of the day or individual sensibilities. Art must be left as is, and understood in the context of its time.
So, if anybody doesn't like the racial aspects of Sabu's films, the answer is easy: don't buy or watch them. Let the rest of us who understand and appreciate them keep and enjoy them as they were made, and meant to be.