Tales from the Jungle

CHANG: A DRAMA OF WILDERNESS

Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
USA, Siam 1927
68 min
V'06

Shot on location deep in a Siamese jungle (now Thailand), Chang is from a scripted story that follows a small family (played by native, nonprofessional actors) setting up house away from the tribe. Cooper and Schoedsack open with scenes of domestic bliss and, offsetting title card warnings of the dangers of the jungle, a bucolic Eden ripe for development. But the tone soon shifts as tigers and leopards attack, and the picture evolves into a succession of episodes concerning their survival. The manipulated perils in Chang often feel rigged, most conspicuously in places where animals appear to have been killed simply for the benefit of the camera. By most accounts, Schoedsack did most of the filming while Cooper covered him with a rifle, and their patience and endurance netted a number of breathtaking scenes. Chang is from that rare mind that believes squarely in the survival of the fittest. (Ray Young)

Credits
  • Kru
  • Chantui
  • Nah
  • Ladah
  • Merian C. Cooper
  • Achmed Abdullah (Zwischentitel)
  • Ernest B. Schoedsack
  • Merian C. Cooper
  • Ernest B. Schoedsack
Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

Milestone Films P.O. Box 128 Harrington Park, NJ 07640, USA T 201 767 3117 milefilms@aol.com

35 mm
bw
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