Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch, Abraham Sofaer, Abner Biberman Directed By: William Dieterle Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Paramount Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: July 12, 2005 Running Time: 103 minutes Theatrical Release Date: April 21, 1954
Description: Elizabeth Taylor plays a newlywed who accompanies Finch to his sprawling tea plantation called ELEPHANT WALK...and falls for overseer Andrews. But this love triangle is soon dwarfed by other events. A cholera epidemic breaks out, drought blights the land and herds of thirst-maddened elephants devastate the plantation in a thundering stampede. The palatial "bungalow" is reduced to rubble as onrushing elephants pound across polished floors, rip walls from their foundations and knock over kerosene drums to ignite a terrifying inferno.
Amazon.com: It's never been as revered as The African Queen, but Elephant Walk is a similarly prestigious entry in the exotic adventure movie trend of the 1950s. This is one of those glossy Technicolor melodramas that inevitably climaxed in a scene of tragic destruction, typically intended to teach men a humbling lesson about the forces of nature. In this case, a seemingly delicate newlywed (Elizabeth Taylor) joins her husband (Peter Finch) on his tea plantation in Ceylon, only to uncover mysteries about the plantation and her husband's long-dead father, whose ghostly presence looms over the stately estate where elephants once roamed freely. Dana Andrews is the plantation foreman who catches Liz's attention when Finch is injured during one of many drunken interludes with a band of snobby sycophants; she grows intolerant of them, and impatient with the enigmatic Appuhamy (Abraham Sofaer), a Ceylonese valet who knows more than he's telling. After the plantation endures an outbreak of cholera and a drought that sends thirsty elephants into an stampeding frenzy, Elephant Walk delivers a spectacular finale that's still quite impressive; the sight of Liz fleeing from a pack of rampaging pachyderms is enough to make this a worthwhile diversion. With its exotic settings and fashionable wardrobe, Taylor's fans should consider Elephant Walk a must-see, and everyone else will enjoy the fiery climax. It's this movie's version of the burning of Atlanta, which is fitting because Gone with the Wind star Vivien Leigh was replaced by Taylor shortly after filming began, and can still be glimpsed in a few long shots. --Jeff Shannon
Journey back in time I saw this movie back when it first came out back then. It's a little quaint by today's standards. However, Elephant Walk, The Naked Jungle, Foxes of Harrow, Blood on the Moon, etc., etc. where post-WWII films made back in the days of innocense and great filming and action. The days of big bands and great films are gone, and pretty soon I will follow. Thanks. George W. Barclay Jr.
Elephant Walk is Great! This film is a great Elizabeth Taylor flick. She is absolutely gorgeous and makes the right decision in the end. I liked that for a change. Good family night movie.
"Elephant Walk" An "Almost" Epic of Drama & Intrigue! This sweeping, almost epic film, opens in a quaint little book store in London, England. Colonial tea planter John Wiley (Peter Finch), is visiting England at the end of World War II, and during his visit to the book store, he encounters "love at first sight" with lovely English rose Ruth (Elizabeth Taylor) and after their wedding (which the viewer never sees the courtship or the wedding) he takes her home to Elephant Walk, Ceylon. A vast plantation of beauty and wealth, where the local elephants have a grudge against the plantation house blocking their ritual route to the "elephant graveyard." Ruth's delight with the tropical wealth and luxury of her new home is tempered by isolation as the only white woman in the district. She's challenged by the silently hostile plantation servant Appuhamy (Abraham Sofaer) and the memory of her husband's dead father, who is very much kept alive by constant "toasts" and "traditions," that Ruth notices effects her husband badly and seems to be pulling him away from her! As time goes by, Ruth finds her world spinning into chaos as her husband's occasional imperious arrogance is becoming more resentful and cruel. Ruth finds a mutual physical attraction with plantation manager Dick Carver (Dana Andrews) who see's his friend , John, becoming more distant with Ruth. As Ruth struggles with her emotions "Elephant Walk" is threatened by an outbreak of cholea and by the hovering, ominous menace of the hostile elephants...
Gorgeous photography, sets, and costumes abound in this richly entertaining tale of romance, adventure, and suspense as the viewer is swept into a world of challenging circumstances that is beautifully filmed in glorious technicolor! Each time I watch this film, I am thoroughly entertained and find so many things to like about it! The stage sets of the planatation house are breathtaking! With ivory staircases, ornately carved designs in the walls, ceiling, and doors throughout, with beautifully detailed furnishings. Everything works to accomplish the films overall look as more of an "epic film" than just a two hour melodrama. There's a variety of details and elements to "Elephant Walk" that makes it such an entertaining watch, including- Elizabeth Taylor's gowns by Hollywood costuming legend, Edith Head, are stunning! The mystery of "what's behind the massive locked door?" in the plantation house! The creepy acting servant Appuhamy speaking to John's dead father at his tomb! "Elephant Walk" works on so many levels to bring it's story to an exhilarating finale that you'll want to see it again! Beautifully presented on DVD with a great print and audio! A must own DVD for all classic movie lovers and especially Elizabeth Taylor fans!!
Good movie I remember watching this movie when I was younger and loved it, then! It just didn't do for me now what it did back then. Still, I'm glad I bought it. It's nice to watch them good ol' classics when you don't have cable:) Besides, they don't make them like they use to!
A movie I'll never forget... This is a great movie. So what if it's somewhat of a soap opera? It's actually a lot better than a soap opera to me. After all, how many soaps have rampaging elephants in their finale?
Elizabeth Taylor is stunning in this movie, and her acting looks convincing most of the time. Basically, two men are competing for her, one of them her husband, the other his colleague. Just as Elizabeth's character, Ruth, is about to leave her husband for the other man, a cholera epidemic breaks out, triggered by a drought. That also triggers the elephant stampede that destroys the mansion--while Ruth is still in it. I won't say what happens, but I've never seen a stampede as convincing or scary as this. It's unbelievable.
You have to see this movie. I won't forget it and I'd watch it again. I dare to say you would do the same.
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