Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927)

Cast: Chantui, Bimbo, Kru, Ladah, Nah

Director: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

Rating: NR

Running Time: 70 min.

Synopsis: Like their previous docudrama Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness can be seen in retrospect as a dry run for the same production team's King Kong. With the actual Siamese jungle as their backdrop, Cooper and Schoedsack fashioned a narrative concerning a simple native family's struggle to survive in a daunting environment. The family's confrontations with rampaging animals very closely resemble the close calls endured by Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot and Robert Armstrong when meeting up with Kong and his prehistoric compadres. The film's climax is an elephant stampede which levels an entire village. Only the closest scrutiny reveals the artificial means by which the producers achieved this climax: they built a miniature village, then unleashed a herd of baby elephants!