Harry Black and the Tiger

This is strictly run of the mill stuff, but it passes the time if anything, filmed in India it has good photography and stars one of my favourite actors stewart granger, he looks like his character in 'king solomon's mines' - alan quatermain, he also has a faithful sidekick called Babu.

The story is about a killer tiger on the loose in a local community and the various problems it causes to its captors.In the film granger's character has a steel leg, he lost his real leg in the war, so we get a few exciting flashbacks of his war experiences which are done nicely, these scenes would have to be the best in the film.

Besides GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, BWANA DEVIL, MANEATER OF KUMAON, you have this tremendous movie, where it is question of hunting a man eater tiger down. I always more or less confound it with Phil Karlson's RAMPAGE, starring Bob Mitchum; but it was then question of a black panther. And also because Wendell Corey was the hunter in MAN EATER OF KUMAON, and Stew Granger the hunter here. I discovered Granger and Corey together when I was a kid and saw THE WILD NORTH for the first time, where both Granger and Corey confronted each other. This is quite a pretty good atmospheric adventure yarn, the kind that Andrew Marton could have given us. Excellent, jaw dropping settings and landscapes and never boring. The drama element is very important, the character study too, and the Moby Dick - Captain Ahab tribute not so fra from this script.

Part Snows Of Kilimanjaro, part Moby Dick, Harry Black And The Tiger will never attain the literary ranks of those Hemingway and Melville classics. Still the book turned into a good movie with Stewart Granger giving a good performance in his first film after he was loose from his MGM Hollywood contract.

There's a tiger on the prowl in a remote corner of India and the government has contracted white hunter Stewart Granger for the job of killing it. There's not much you can do with big cats once they've gotten an appetite for human flesh. But the job gets personal with Granger when he discovers the tiger has chosen for its hunting grounds, the vicinity of a tea plantation run by Anthony Steel and his wife Barbara Rush who's always had a thing for Granger in any event.

There are some flashback sequences telling how the three main players have arrived to the point they are now. Steel did not go through with his part of an escape plan during World War II and as a result Granger lost a leg. And both are in love with Rush, but Granger bows out and now they're thrown together again.

Steel was weak during the war, but now Granger questions his own fitness for the job especially after getting mauled by the tiger. Still he has developed his own Ahab like fixation on the beast.

I have to say Stewart Granger sure looks the part, a carryover when he scored such a big hit in King Solomon's Mines. Later on he did a film called The Last Safari in the Sixties and it was hardly a success.

Look for I.S. Johar and Kamala Devi as Granger's guide and his Indian nurse when he is recovering from his encounter with the tiger. Devi has some really sharp observations about what she's around her.

Not the best jungle films, but the Indian cinematography is nice and fans of the leads will be pleased enough.

During a hunt for a carnivorous tiger , the two-fisted white hunter Harry Black , Stewart Granger, comes across his prior wife , Barbara Rush , now married to Tanner , Anthony Steel , an old friend of Harry . Both of whom met long time ago at a POW concentration camp during WWI where they attempted to escape .The motivation grows with each intent to catch the man-eating tiger, but things go wrong when the son , Martin Stephens , is lost somewhere in the perilous jungle. And to make matters worse the dangerous beast goes on attacking .

This is an adventure/drama movie , though I think of being more a loving drama than an adventure film . This is a passable jungle drama of acceptable quality , including a cracking final highlight with the ferocious tiger terrorizing people and other bonus attractions . Decent cast as Stewart Granger as a tough white hunter and ex-army Major , a role that sits easily on his shoulders .Barbara Rush gives one of his best acting as the figure from Black's past .Anthony Steel plays the old friend who teams up with the ex-war buddy . Support cast is pretty good, such as the sympathetic IS Johar who played in Lawrence Arabia , Kamala Davi who performed in Jeronimo , and Martin Stephens , the prodigy boy who acted in such classic movies as The innocents, Village of damned, and A touch of larceny .

Colorful cinematography shot on location in India by John Wilcox, though a perfect remastering being really necessary . Wilcox was a prestigious cameraman and Hammer regular , including known titles as Hound of Baskerville, The last valley , Kung Fu against 7 gold vampires, Chairman , Express Bongo , Zarak , Safari , Black Knight, Secret agent SZ , Operation Robinson , High below Zero , Hysteria, Judith , and Craze. Atmospheric musical score by Clifton Parker , including India sounds , and musical director by habitual Muir Matheson .

Interesting though a little boring script by Sydney Bohem , a prestigious writer who wrote notorious films such as : The big heat , The tall men , The savage, When worlds collide , Branded , Side street and Shock treatment . The motion picture was profesionally , though with no enthusiasm made by Hugo Fregonese and it won a Bafta film award . He was a good Argentinean craftsman who worked in his country Argentina : Pampa Barbara , Hollywood : Wind blow , Man in the attic , Apache drums , Untamed frontier , Decameron nights , Mark of the renegade and directed great stars as Gary Cooper , Barbara Stanwick , Anthony Quinn , Cesar Romero ,Cyd Charysse, Jack Palance. And also worked in Europe in films as Marco Polo , 3 Musketeers , Pampa Salvaje , Old Shatterhand , Dracula vs Frankenstein .Rating : 5.5/10 . The flick will appeal to Stewart Granger fans .

I won't cover the ground concerning the setting and the main conflict. This movie is about the theme, the importance of ethical standards in a man,the ability to make difficult decisions, personal sacrifices, moral choices, and confront danger with courage. Courage doesn't mean the absence of fear, rather the ability to suck it up when necessary.

Not unlike other movies with similar themes, such as, The Mountain, Zulu, The Ghost and The Darkness, Battle Los Angeles, and The Naked Prey, Harry Black and the Tiger deals with the personal traits inherent in the nature of men, and what separates them from adult males.

There's nothing phony in this story. The characters' true selves and motivations are laid bare like raw nerves. The tension is incredible for those who appreciate the essence of the interactions and inner struggles of the characters. If you think this movie moves too slowly, you don't get it.