Chang; The Silent Enemy; Simba; With Byrd At The South Pole

The second set of releases from "The Age of Exploration" series (the first four were reviewed in the September 1990 issue), these four films from the early days of cinema have been lovingly restored and, in the case of Chang and Simba, given new soundtracks. The standout is unquestionably Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1927 classic Chang. Cooper would call it "the best picture I ever made, "and he and Schoedsack would go on to make King Kong six years later. In fact, many of the ideas in King Kong would first appear in Chang. Filmed in Siam, the story follows the adventures and antics of a native family who are being terrorized by a leopard. After capturing and dispatching the leopard, the husband, Kru, magnanimously lends his talents to the village and all the men go on a big leopard hunt. This sets up an elaborate chase sequence reminiscent of the best of the Keystone Cops and similar in style to the more recent The Gods Must Be Crazy series. After solving the leopard problem, however, the village is next plagued by a herd of "changs"-a.k.a. elephants. And the villagers devise a fortress trap that viewers will recognize as the inspiration for the capture of King Kong. Even by contemporary standards, Chang leaves most modern adventure films in the dust, and offers some delightful humor to boot (the real star of the show is a mischievous monkey named Bimbo). An outstanding film.Nearly as exciting is W. Douglas Burden and H.P. Carver's 1930 classic drama about the Ojibway Indians The Silent Enemy. Using blue, yellow, and sepia tints, this beautifully filmed epic is set in the Hudson Bay area in pre-Columbian times, and tells the story of a mighty hunter named Baluk who advises that the tribe must move north to caribou country in order to escape the "silent enemy": hunger. Set against him is Dagwan, the local medicine man. Not only is Dagwan secretly envious of the macho Baluk (who makes such neat regional hunting boasts as "I will not return with an empty toboggan"), he also craves the attention of Neewa, the chief's daughter. Neewa, of course, only has eyes for Baluk. Basically, what we have here is a Harlequin-worthy plot being used to propel a lovely motion picture. As the tribe trudges northward, they encounter one of the highlights of the film: a huge caribou stampede (in a scene that would later be semi-duplicated in Never Cry Wolf). An excellent film. The other two entries in the batch, Simba and With Byrd at the South Pole are considerably less impressive. Filmed by the legendary husband and wife expeditionary team of Martin and Osa Johnson, Simba was a popular introduction to the wilds of Africa in the late 1920s. Many of the wondrous sights had never before been filmed. Modern audiences, however, who have seen their share of National Geographic specials, will not be impressed by the endless shots of lions and elephants roaming the savannah (although the footage of "bucking" camels is something to see). Too, there is no real story here, as the film is more of a record of interesting tidbits the Johnson's collected in their journey. With Byrd at the South Pole, which garnered an Oscar for Best Cinematography is also rather disappointing. Opening with a long and labored cue-card reading prologue by Byrd, the film follows the voyage of Admiral Byrd and his crew to Antarctica, the establishment of Little America (1928-1930), and Byrd's famous flight over the Pole. Except for the final third of the film when Byrd makes his flight, the film is basically a home movie of the crew who are there to perform scientific experiments: not particularly exciting stuff. Milestone Film & Video's earlier release 90 South With Scott to the Antarctic is much better. While With Byrd at the South Pole and Simba both have historical value they will be of limited appeal to the general public and are therefore optional purchases. Chang and The Silent Enemy are both highly recommended, and Chang is an Editor's Choice. [Note: Chang, Simba, and The Silent Enemy all contain graphic scenes in which animals are killed. These scenes were not at all unusual in their day, and are only mentioned here because of the major shift in the public consciousness concerning the rights of animals. ] (Available from: Milestone Film & Video, 275 West 96th St., Suite 28C, New York, NY 10025; (212) 865-744.9.)