The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 16 – Sabu!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:39:15 — 45.5MB)

This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Trevor are joined by Ryan Gallagher to discuss Eclipse Series 30: Sabu!

About the films:

In the thirties and forties, the young Indian actor known as Sabu (born Selar Shaik) captured the hearts of moviegoers in Britain and the United States as a completely new kind of big-screen icon. Sabu was a maharaja’s elephant driver when he was cast in Elephant Boy, a Rudyard Kipling adaptation directed by documentary trailblazer Robert Flaherty and Zoltán Korda that would prove to be enormously popular. Sabu went on to headline a series of fantasies and adventures for the British film titans the Korda brothers, transcending the exoticism projected onto him by commanding the screen with effortless grace and humor. This series collects three of those lavish productions (which also included the classic The Thief of Bagdad): Elephant Boy, the colonialist adventure The Drum, and the timeless Jungle Book.

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Timeline for the podcast:

Introduction/Background (00:00:01 – 00:12:47)

Elephant Boy (00:12:48 – 00:33:19)

The Drum (00:33:20 – 00:57:28)

Interlude: The Thief of Bagdad (00:57:29 -01:01:40)

Jungle Book (01:01:41 – 01:22:00)

Conclusion (01:22:01 – 01:39:15)

Buy The Box Set On Amazon:

Episode Links:

Background and Overview:

• Sabu by Philip Liebfried from Films in Review (1989)
  • Star of India: The Life and Times of Sabu (book) by Philip Liebfried
  • Liebfried’s account of meeting Sabu’s widow and writing Sabu’s biography from Bear Manor Blog
• BFI Screenonline Biography by Michael Brooke
• Hollywood Star Walk entry from the Los Angeles Times (1963)
• Anybody Remember Sabu, the Elephant Boy? on MovieFanfare.com by Richard Williams
• That wonder boy Sabu from the Deccan Chronicle (India) by Khalid Mohamed
• Sabu “Elephant Boy” comic book adaptation (from 1949) in Fury Comics
• Sabu tribute video by Jon Rendell:

• Zoltan Korda article from Film Reference
• Sanders of the River review from Criterion Reflections
• London Film Productions list from Wikipedia

Box Set Reviews:

• DVD Savant review by Glenn Erickson
• Cagey Films review by Kenneth George Godwin
• Green Cine review by Philip Tatler IV

Elephant Boy:

• David’s Journey Through the Eclipse Series review
• Criterion Confessions  review by Jamie S. Rich
• Criterionized review by lundstormy

The Drum:

• Criterion Confessions review by Jamie S. Rich
• Criterionized review by lundstormy
• Selection from Colonial India and the Making of Empire Cinema: Image, Ideology and Identity by Prem Chowdhry
• Selection from Cinema at the End of Empire: a Politics of Britain and India by Priya Jaikumar

The Thief of Bagdad:

• Criterion Reflections review by David Blakeslee
• Criterion Cast podcast Episode 58: The Thief of Bagdad

Jungle Book:

• New York Times review by Bosley Crowther (1942)
• Criterion Confessions review by Jamie S. Rich
• Three Movies Buffs review by Patrick and Eric
• Basement Rejects review by JPRoscoe

Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 25: Basil Dearden’s London Underground

Contact us:

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Email: theeclipseviewer (at) gmail.com

David Blakeslee ( Twitter / Website )

Trevor Berrett ( Twitter / Website )

Ryan Gallagher ( Twitter / Website )