Sammy Going South
Incredible Adventure in a Land That Knows a Thousand Dangers!
After he is orphaned by an air raid on Port Said during the Suez Crisis, a young boy attempts to go by himself from the Suez Canal to Durban in South Africa where his nearest relative, Aunt Jane, lives. On the way he meets a variety of different people who help or hinder his journey - including an ageing diamond smuggler.
Production
Production
Trailers & Videos
Joe Dante on A BOY TEN FEET TALL
Cast
Edward G. Robinson
Cocky Wainwright
Fergus McClelland
Sammy Hartland
Constance Cummings
Gloria van Imhoff
Paul Stassino
Spyros Dracondopolous
Zia Mohyeddin
The Syrian
Orlando Martins
Abu Lubaba
John Turner
Heneker
Zena Walker
Aunt Jane
Jack Gwillim
District Commissioner
Patricia Donahue
Kathy Hartland
Guy Deghy
Doctor
Marne Maitland
Hassan
Frederick Schiller
Head Porter Luxor Hotel
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Reviews
Wuchak
**_A 10 years-old boy’s colorful adventures in western Africa_**
After a tragic bombing during the Suez Crisis in November, 1956, an English lad is forced to flee Port Said, Egypt, and travel to Durban, South Africa, a journey of some 5000 miles. Along the way he runs into an Arab “guide,” a concerned white woman tourist (Constance Cummings) and an old man hunter (Edward G. Robinson).
“A Boy Ten Feet Tall” (1963) is also known by the name of the 1961 novel it’s based on, “Sammy Going South” (an inferior title). It’s, thankfully, not a Disney kid’s flick, but more along the lines of the future "The Black Stallion Returns" and, especially, “Duma,” which happens to be the best of the lot. Both this movie and “Duma” feature a galago (bush baby) scene.
The director went on to do “A High Wind in Jamaica,” which is cut from the same cloth, an exotic adventure featuring kids and adults.
It runs 1 hour, 53 minutes, and was shot at Shepperton Studios, just southwest of London, with location work done in Kenya (Mombasa), Uganda and Tanganyika, which is now Tanzania.
GRADE: B-
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