Filmed with the co-operation of the Indian Government and the Maharajahs of Jaipur and Bundi. Copyright 29 November 1950 by Loew's Inc. An M-G-M picture. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 7 December 1950 (ran 6 weeks). U.S. release: 26 January 1951. U.K. release: 12 March 1951. Australian release: 20 April 1951. 10,137 feet. 113 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Young Kim (Dean Stockwell) has grown up in the India of 1885 as a Hindu gamin but is really the orphan of Sergeant O'Hara and a regimental nursemaid.
VIEWERS' GUIDE: The 1951 Australian censorship certificate reads: "Rated suitable for General Exhibition. Passed without eliminations."
COMMENT: So far as Australian picturegoers were concerned, Errol Flynn could do no wrong. Hence Kim was a great success in Oz even though it had factors which elsewhere had managed to turn many of Flynn's ardent fans away. In the first place, of course, Flynn's role was described by many critics and commentators as a subsidiary one. As in The Prince and the Pauper, Flynn plays second fiddle to a lad, in this case Dean Stockwell.
Worse still, his character make-up often militated against his usual rather dashing appeal (especially with the ladies). And worse still, the movie had strong elements of religiosity which seemed to gain equal screen time with the more typically M-G-M blends of exotic settings and escapist action.
Frankly all the business with spies is strictly Saturday matinee stuff, although big boys as well as young lads seemed to enjoy it all well enough. But, as noted above, Kim did prove a real disappointment to some of the ladies. Motherly instincts may have been aroused by young Stockwell, but there was no romance in the movie. Absolutely none at all!
Still, I guess you can't have everything. Errol Flynn, Technicolor and India were enough to bring in a fair slice of his usual Australian crowds. They appreciated an outstandingly good support cast too.
SYNOPSIS: Young Kim (Dean Stockwell) has grown up in the India of 1885 as a Hindu gamin but is really the orphan of Sergeant O'Hara and a regimental nursemaid.
VIEWERS' GUIDE: The 1951 Australian censorship certificate reads: "Rated suitable for General Exhibition. Passed without eliminations."
COMMENT: So far as Australian picturegoers were concerned, Errol Flynn could do no wrong. Hence Kim was a great success in Oz even though it had factors which elsewhere had managed to turn many of Flynn's ardent fans away. In the first place, of course, Flynn's role was described by many critics and commentators as a subsidiary one. As in The Prince and the Pauper, Flynn plays second fiddle to a lad, in this case Dean Stockwell.
Worse still, his character make-up often militated against his usual rather dashing appeal (especially with the ladies). And worse still, the movie had strong elements of religiosity which seemed to gain equal screen time with the more typically M-G-M blends of exotic settings and escapist action.
Frankly all the business with spies is strictly Saturday matinee stuff, although big boys as well as young lads seemed to enjoy it all well enough. But, as noted above, Kim did prove a real disappointment to some of the ladies. Motherly instincts may have been aroused by young Stockwell, but there was no romance in the movie. Absolutely none at all!
Still, I guess you can't have everything. Errol Flynn, Technicolor and India were enough to bring in a fair slice of his usual Australian crowds. They appreciated an outstandingly good support cast too.