By Richard Harland Smith
Maya
Brief Synopsis
An American boy runs away in the Indian jungle after a fight with his father.
Cast & Crew
Read More
John Berry
Director
Clint Walker
Hugh Bowen
Jay North
Terry Bowen
I. S. Johar
One-Eye
Sajid Kahn
Raji
Jairaj
Gammu Ghat
Film Details
Genre
Adventure
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1966
Premiere Information
New York opening: 22 Jun 1966
Production Company
King Brothers Productions
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "The Wild Elephant" by Jalal Din and Lois Roth (publication undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 31m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Metrocolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Synopsis
After the death of his mother, 13-year-old Terry journeys from Wyoming to India to join his father, Hugh Bowen, a big-game hunter whom the boy idolizes. Arriving a day earlier than expected, Terry walks to his father's house and is disappointed to find him reserved in his behavior. He then learns that his father has lost his courage after an almost fatal clawing by a tiger. Terry is further disillusioned when his father, in fear, shoots a cheetah the boy was trying to tame. Terry runs away and meets Raji, an Indian boy whose father's dying wish was for the boy to deliver a sacred white elephant, the calf of the mammoth elephant Maya, to a distant temple in the jungle. Terry persuades Raji to carry out his father's desire and accompanies him on the long trip. The boys are menaced by tigers and by the evil One-Eye, a man who wants to steal the valuable white elephant. With the help of Terry's father, who regains his courage, the boys safely accomplish their mission.
Director
John Berry
Director
Cast
Clint Walker
Hugh Bowen
Jay North
Terry Bowen
I. S. Johar
One-Eye
Sajid Kahn
Raji
Jairaj
Gammu Ghat
Sonia Sahni
Sheela
Ullas
Village spokesman
Nana Palsikar
Raji's father
Uma Rao
One-Eye's daughter
Madhusdan Pathak
Stationmaster
Crew
B. S. Achar
Stills
Pandurang Boloor
Recording
Clarence Eurist
Unit Production Manager
John Fante
Screenwriter
Chimankant Gandhi
Production Assistant
Don Guidice
Assistant film Editor
Edward S. Haworth
Art Director
Richard Heermance
Film Editor
Bluey Hill
Assistant Director
Frank King
Producer
Herman King
Associate Producer
Maurice King
Producer
Franklin Milton
Recording Supervisor
Mary Phillips Murray
Associate Producer
Riz Ortolani
Music comp & Conductor
Gunvant R. Patel
Stills
Milt Rice
Special Effects
Gunter Senftleben
Director of Photography
Baba Shaikh
Production Assistant
Reudiger Von Sperl
Makeup
Trudi Von Trotha
Cont
Gilbert Wright
Adaptation
Ram Yedekar
Art Director
Film Details
Genre
Adventure
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1966
Premiere Information
New York opening: 22 Jun 1966
Production Company
King Brothers Productions
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "The Wild Elephant" by Jalal Din and Lois Roth (publication undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 31m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Metrocolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Articles
Maya
A protégé of John Houseman and Orson Welles, who guided the Mercury Theatre player in his career transition from actor to director, John Berry ran afoul of the House on Un-American Activities Committee in 1951, after being named by Edward Dmytryk as a Communist. Though he had begun to enjoy the trappings of life as a studio director (and had just completed He Ran All the Way, starring another victim of the black list - John Garfield), Berry was sent to prison for contempt of Congress. Following his release, Berry relocated to Paris and made a number of films on the Continent, among them Tamango (1958), a tale of interracial love between Dutch slaver Curd Jurgens and African beauty Dorothy Dandridge, and Maya (1966), a Boy's Own adventure set in the jungles of India. Recently unemployed TV stars Clint Walker (of Cheyenne fame) and Jay North (three years out from his last season of Dennis the Menace) play a famed hunter traumatized by a near fatal mauling and his estranged son, whose attempts to form a new bond of understanding is disrupted when North joins a Hindu boy (Sajid Khan) on a quest to shepherd two elephants to sanctuary. Shot on location in Bombay (now Mumbai) with a script by novelist John Fante, Maya was a hit with critics and matinee crowds, prompting a short-lived NBC-TV series of the same name that reunited North and Khan for 18 episodes.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Maya
A protégé of John Houseman and Orson Welles, who guided the Mercury Theatre player in his career transition from actor to director, John Berry ran afoul of the House on Un-American Activities Committee in 1951, after being named by Edward Dmytryk as a Communist. Though he had begun to enjoy the trappings of life as a studio director (and had just completed He Ran All the Way, starring another victim of the black list - John Garfield), Berry was sent to prison for contempt of Congress. Following his release, Berry relocated to Paris and made a number of films on the Continent, among them Tamango (1958), a tale of interracial love between Dutch slaver Curd Jurgens and African beauty Dorothy Dandridge, and Maya (1966), a Boy's Own adventure set in the jungles of India. Recently unemployed TV stars Clint Walker (of Cheyenne fame) and Jay North (three years out from his last season of Dennis the Menace) play a famed hunter traumatized by a near fatal mauling and his estranged son, whose attempts to form a new bond of understanding is disrupted when North joins a Hindu boy (Sajid Khan) on a quest to shepherd two elephants to sanctuary. Shot on location in Bombay (now Mumbai) with a script by novelist John Fante, Maya was a hit with critics and matinee crowds, prompting a short-lived NBC-TV series of the same name that reunited North and Khan for 18 episodes.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Filmed on location in India.
