In Shillingworth-on-Thames, England,
book shop clerk Ruth has high hopes for her upcoming marriage to
John Wiley, the owner of a Ceylon tea plantation, despite having
known him for only two weeks. Upon arriving at Elephant Walk,
John’s plantation, Ruth is thrilled to discover that John’s
“bungalow” is an exotic mansion filled with servants, including
John’s devoted head servant, Appuhamy. Troubling her, however,
is the fact that John’s father Tom deliberately built the mansion
across the path long taken by elephants on their way to the river
and constructed a wall to keep them at bay. John’s violent
hatred of one particular bull elephant surprises Ruth, and she is
also startled to learn that Tom is buried in a lavish marble grave
behind the house, while John’s mother is buried in England, because,
according to Appuhamy, she hated Ceylon.
Soon after his return, John’s friends,
fellow English planters and his American overseer, Dick Carver, drop
by the house to meet Ruth. The men welcome Ruth, the only
white woman in the area, then proceed to get drunk while toasting
the greatness of John’s father. Dick, who is leaving for Paris
the next day, assures Ruth that Tom was more vain than heroic and
counsels her not to take his legacy too seriously.
Later, Ruth is awakened in the middle of
the night by the sound of John and his friends playing polo on
bicycles across the mansion’s spacious floors. When Ruth tells
John she was frightened by the noise, he coldly dismisses her fears
as childish. Ruth runs crying back to her bedroom, and
suddenly shamed, John follows and apologizes.
The next day, Ruth notices Appuhamy
praying at the foot of Tom’s grave and tours the enormous kitchen
with him. Appuhamy shows Ruth the items that were special
favorites of “the old master,” which are still being purchased, and
balks when she offers to plan the menu so as to reduce the amount of
waste generated by the plantation. Appuhamy also refuses to
give Ruth the key to Tom’s old study, piquing Ruth’s curiosity.
That night, Dick stops by to say farewell and, before going,
encourages Ruth to contact him if she needs help. Later, John
fractures his leg while drunkenly playing bicycle polo and is
confined to his bed.
During his convalescence, Ruth tries to
sneak into Tom’s study but hides when Appuhamy appears. After
overhearing Appuhamy declare to a portrait of Tom that Ruth “does
not belong” at Elephant Walk, Ruth learns from John’s doctor that
John’s belligerent attitudes are impeding his recovery. Ruth
writes to Dick for help, and he quickly returns and resumes his work
as overseer. John’s mood does not improve, however, as the
expected monsoons have not started and the elephants have become
agitated over the lack of water. When John yells at her for
changing his lunch menu without permission, Ruth rushes to Dick, and
while out riding with him, confesses that John is still ruled by his
dead father. Dick kisses Ruth, who, despite her attraction,
pulls away, protesting that she still loves John.
Back at the plantation, John apologizes
to Ruth and tries to appease her by announcing a special upcoming
celebration. The celebration turns out to be an elaborate
birthday party for Tom, and Ruth finally explodes with frustration,
ordering John’s drunken friends out of the house. The next
morning, John condemns Ruth for driving his friends away and, when
she insists that he hates Tom as much as she does, slaps her.
Stunned, Ruth runs to Dick’s quarters and begs him to take her to
Paris. At the same time, however, one of John’s servants
collapses with cholera and the plantation is placed under
quarantine.
Trapped at Elephant Walk, Ruth and Dick
toil long hours to help John curb the epidemic and soothe the
terrified workers. When John, who is aware of Ruth’s plans to
leave him, insists on burying the dead himself, Ruth is impressed by
his selfless dedication. Later, after the quarantine is
lifted, Ruth tells Dick that she cannot leave John before the rains
come, despite Dick’s protests that John has not changed. As a
final precaution, the workers’ huts are set ablaze, and the
elephants, agitated by the fire, start to stampede. With no
workers available to beat them back, the elephants crash through the
plantation wall and storm the house. Appuhamy, who has finally
recognized Ruth’s true worth, rushes to alert her and is killed by
an angry elephant. While crashing through the house, the
elephants cause a fire to erupt, and John barely arrives in time to
rescue Ruth. Just then, the rain starts, and as Elephant Walk
burns to the ground, John and Ruth embrace and pledge to start a new
life together.
Notes
The film opens with Peter Finch as his character “John Wiley”
reciting off-screen the first few paragraphs of Robert Standish’s
novel Elephant Walk. Contemporary news items add the
following information about the production: in October 1951,
Dougfair Productions, a company owned by
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Alexander Macdonald, acquired the
screen rights to Standish’s novel as a vehicle for Fairbanks and
Deborah Kerr. In June 1952, Dougfair relinquished the
property to Paramount in order to concentrate on television
production, and Irving Asher, who had been stationed in Ceylon (now
Sri Lanka) during the war, was assigned to produce. Fairbanks,
who had already made arrangements with the British, Ceylonese and
Indian governments, agreed to stay on as a consultant, but the
extent of his contribution to the final film has not been
determined.
In January 1953, Paramount announced
that
Dana Andrews was to co-star with
Vivien Leigh, after plans to co-star Leigh with her then
husband,
Laurence Olivier, fell through. Olivier, who had just
starred in Paramount’s Carrie, turned down the role after
reading the script and meeting with Asher in London. According
to modern sources, Olivier then recommended Peter Finch, a complete
unknown in Hollywood, for the part.
Elephant Walk marked
Australian-born Finch’s American motion picture debut.
Principal photography began in Colombo, Ceylon, in early February
1953, but after the company returned to Los Angeles a month later,
Leigh, who suffered from manic depression, had a complete breakdown
and was removed from the film in mid-March. Although her
doctors declared that the breakdown was the result of the long
flight from Ceylon and Leigh’s fear of flying, some contemporary
reports, as well as modern sources, note that Leigh’s erratic
behavior was evident at the start of production.
A few days after Leigh’s departure,
Elizabeth Taylor,
Jean Simmons and
Claire Bloom were announced as Leigh’s possible replacement.
Paramount cast Taylor and paid MGM $150,000 for the loan-out.
Modern sources claim that Asher had actually offered Taylor the role
before Leigh, but that she had turned it down due to pregnancy.
Because Taylor was about the same height as Leigh and the Ceylon
footage featured Leigh only in long, establishing shots, most of the
Ceylon footage (ninety percent, according to modern sources) was
retained in the final film. In order to match up shots of
Leigh and Taylor, Leigh’s wardrobe had to be refitted or replaced,
as Taylor was a bit heavier than Leigh, and Taylor had to wear a wig
to cover her “poodle” haircut.
Elephants used in the picture were
borrowed from the Cole Brothers Circus in Chicago. Emmy, a
female elephant, was fitted with false tusks for the production, and
a mechanical trunk was constructed for one of the stampede shots.
Modern sources note that furniture on the plantation set was
partially sawn away to facilitate its destruction during the rampage
scene, but that the elephants initially balked at orders to wreck
the place. A HR news item adds E.A. Gould-Porter to the
cast, but his appearance in the final film has not been confirmed.
According to the Time review, the film’s budget was
approximately $3 million. Taylor required eye surgery after a
piece of metal, thrown by a wind machine, damaged one of her eyes
during a publicity still session, according to modern sources.
On May 3, 1955,
Joan Fontaine, John O’Malley and Les Tremayne appeared in a
Lux Radio Theater
version of the story.
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