Maya

Adventures in India with Clint Walker

One day little Terry (Jay North) arrives at a busy train station somewhere in India. After his mother's untimely death, he is on the way to his father (Clint Walker), who lives in India and is a famous big game hunter. But no one is at the train station to pick Terry up. Alone, the boy is forced to trudge several kilometers through the jungle to his father's farm. The reception there is also cool; Terry's father has changed a lot. After an argument between father and son, Terry runs away and goes alone into the dangerous jungle. There he meets Raji (Sajid Khan), who is the same age and who is on a special mission with the elephant Maya and her white offspring Primo...

In 1966, Hollywood major MGM released a remarkable adventure film for children. Grief, being left alone and arguments between father and son are the central themes, which are told vividly and credibly from the perspective of a child. And all of this against the beautiful backdrop of India with its bright colors and exotic animals.

The German cameraman Günther Senftleben (1925-1982) achieved amazing things here with his beautiful landscapes and astonishing animal photos. Previously, cameraman Senftleben was responsible for such masterpieces as the West German musical "The Dream of Lieschen Müller" (1961) and the Cinecitta adventure film "Captain Sindbad" (1962) with the unforgettable EUROVISION star Heidi Brühl (1942-1991).

"Maya", as the film is called in the American original, was directed by John Berry and the music was by the Italian film composer Riz Ortolani (Mondo Cane (1962) / La piovra (1984)).

The Indian actor and director I. S. Bohar (1920-1984), who can also be seen from "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), the "Kali Yug" (1963) films and "Death on the Nil" (1978).

Casting the lead role with Western star Clint Walker (1927-2018) was very successful. Seeing that even a guy like a closet can suffer from anxiety disorder and exhaustion depression is very impressive. This film impressively explores unusually deep emotional worlds. And there are also great photos of elephants and tigers.

The rediscovery of this somewhat forgotten animal and adventure film classic is definitely recommended!

I recently watched toy story 3 with my grandson. And having stumbled across Maya, I remembered watching this as a kid. I loved it. In the 60's when there was no animation and real tigers were used for stunts in the fight between the elephant and the tigers - as a kid I was so fascinated. Technology has progressed and amazing new movies are being made for the children. However, this is what children loved to watch in the 60's. Now, having watched it recently, I was re introduced to its beautiful music track. Good one. This movie was much before Indiana Jones and most other adventure films- MGM took its viewers on a fantasy journey of a continent far away and introduced a whole new culture and cross cultural communication. Worth watching. A classic in the genre of jungle adventure.

There is no online summary, as opposed to a comment, so I offer the following:

Teenager Terry Bowen arrives in India to live with his father, a famous hunter. When he finds out that his father, who has reluctantly accepted his presence, is a supposed coward after a hunting accident, he runs away. He befriends a local boy who is on a pilgrimage with an elephant (Maya) and its white elephant offspring. They go through many travails as Terry's father searches the countryside for him.

Relatively good movie, starring the former "Dennis the Menace" star, Jay North. Surprising that North, who was a teenager at the time, had a scene showing his bare backside in a 1960's-era movie. While it isn't unusual to see this in any European movie from any era, it is with a US movie.

I remember the charm of this movie as a boy and it hasn't lost it (at least for me). Very nice elephant scenes. Very predictable coming-of-age type plot, but that's not bad! Although this was a more serious role for North as opposed to the "Dennis the Menace" TV programme & "Zebra in the Kitchen", etc., he performed it very well. If you like this movie, you'll also like "A Boy Ten Feet Tall."