Written by Dennis Cannan from 1961 W.H. Canaway novel. Another of Mackendrick's exercises in films about kids that are rather adult, this one more so even than A High Wind in Jamaica, as a young boy's parents in Port Said are killed, and he journeys solo all the way to Durban in South Africa, a mere 5000 miles. The kid is splendidly played in his debut by Fergus McClelland, who himself recalls on the DVD interview that there were even darker scenes filmed, such as when he murders a bunch of crabs, pretending to be a British bomber, reflecting the turmoil of what he's going through. Edward G. Robinson becomes his surrogate father, Harry H Corbett is his partner, Paul Stassino a frustrated pursuer, Zena Walker the elusive Aunt Jane, Orlando Martins as fellow traveller.
Fabulously photographed by Erwin Hillier in Cinemascope, scored by Tristram Cary (though weirdly, re-scored for the US, where it was also retitled A Boy Ten Feet Tall).
Also great is the way he instinctively trusts certain locals rather than whites. He's a most resourceful and resilient boy.
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| Orlando Martins and Fergus McClelland on the Nile |
Google Maps usefully informs us that the journey will take 1,783 hours on foot (74 days). Which doesn't actually seem that long.
It was an independent Bryanston Production - the company was headed by Michael Balcon, and included Tony Richardson and Ronnie Neame in the team. It ran 1959-1964.
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