Name: Sammy Going South
Genre: Adventure
Released: 1963-03-18
Duration: 128 min
Rating: 6.3
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Fergus McClelland, Constance Cummings, Paul Stassino, Harry H. Corbett

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.

Adventure

DirectorAlexander Mackendrick

WritersW.H. Canaway, Denis Cannan

StatusReleased

LanguageEnglish

Release DateMarch 18, 1963

Runtime2h 8m

Wuchak

@Wuchak

August 22, 20256/10

**_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-