mannbarbara Review of Elephant Walk

Elephant Walk (1954)

Why do film makers think they can write a story better than the original author?

[2/10 · 7 December 2019]

Elephant Walk was a great book about a tea planter in Ceylon who fell in love with a lovely girl in England just before the First World War. Ruth was an English girl who couldn't find a suitable husband and decided George (not John) Wylie was her last chance. She liked George who was a big, genial fellow who loved his whiskey and she believed she could make him happy. Having grown up in India, Ruth wasn't shocked at the way the men lived and she was a sensible girl, who was prepared to adapt. Taylor played her too shrewishly, but then she always sounded as if she was hysterical! Ruth's only real problem was (as in the film) the way Elephant Walk controlled George's life. However George was willing to help Ruth to make changes and was far more amenable than the way Peter Finch portrayed him. The story was really about their gradually getting to know one another and developing a liking and respect for each other. Appuhamy was similar to his film character only more interfering and Carver (in the book his name was John Geoffrey Wilding) was a user who never loved Ruth. There was so much more to this excellent book that it is a shame that Hollywood had to ruin it. Of course, the setting and the elephants were much the same and, visually, the film is beautiful, but that is the only thing I can say in its favour. Hollywood even changed the ending. The bungalow was only destroyed by one elephant, the lop-eared old bull. I can, however, heartily recommend the book.