The Jungle Book (1942)

Directed by Zoltán Korda. Starring Sabu, Joseph Calleia, Rosemary DeCamp, John Qualen, Frank Puglia, Patricia O’Rourke, Ralph Byrd, Noble Johnson.

First feature-length (loose) adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s tome looks great most of the time, but never comes together as a consistent—or consistently engaging—narrative. Lacking the episodic charms of the later Disney animated version, human characters figure more prominently into the adventures of Mowgli (Sabu), a boy raised by wolves who belongs to the jungle instead of his birth mother (DeCamp), framed as a long flashback story told by an elderly villager who once knew the wild child. Without any truly memorable vignettes, the shapeless structure, erratic flow, and clunky dialogue will test the patience of more seasoned moviegoers, but kids might get something out of it. Marginally worth seeing for the spectacle, however, courtesy of the vibrant and glossy Technicolor photography—as seen in the climax, rarely has fire looked so forbidding yet gorgeous on film. Diverse musical themes composed by Miklós Rózsa. The great python, Kaa, is voiced by Mel Blanc.

55/100