Sammy Going South narrative location Africa
Sammy Going South (retitled A Boy Ten Feet Tall for its later US release) is a 1963 British adventure film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, photographed by Erwin Hillier and starring Edward G. Robinson, Fergus McClelland and Constance Cummings.Sammy Going South was based on a 1961 novel by W. H. Canaway and adapted for the screen by Denis Cannan. It was produced by Michael Balcon Productions and Bryanston Films. The film had a difficult production period; Robinson suffered a heart attack and some cast members were bitten by snakes. It was first broadcast on British television on BBC2 on Christmas Day 1970 and on American television by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1971.Plot
Ten-year-old English boy Sammy Hartland lives in Port Said, Egypt, with his parents. When they are killed in a bombing during the Suez Crisis, the boy flees the city in the ensuing panic. He sets out to reach his only living relative, an aunt who lives 5,000 miles to the south in Durban, South Africa - at the other end of the continent and in a different hemisphere. Along his journey Sammy encounters a colourful array of characters. His first "guide" is an Arab peddler who dies in a freak accident.
Sammy is then rescued by wealthy tourist Gloria van Imhoff. When she wants to return him to Port Said, Sammy runs off and encounters a gruff old hunter/diamond smuggler, Cocky Wainwright, whose life is subsequently saved by the boy. When the police search for Sammy, they arrest the old man, who has been a fugitive for years. After Sammy is finally united with his Aunt Jane, he learns that the old smuggler left him his entire fortune.Reception
Released theatrically in the United States as the headliner of a double bill with Crack in the World, Sammy Going South was reviewed by Howard Thompson for The New York Times. He commented: "...  "Boy" is above average, in detailing the 2,000-mile trek of a war orphan during the Suez crisis in 1956, from Port Said to Durban, South Africa. The picture aims to convey the emotional growth of the battered youngster, played by 10-year-old Fergus McClelland, in his encounters with toughening, adult relationships. Most fortunately indeed, at about midpoint, that wonderful old actor Edward G. Robinson saunters into view as a grizzled, warm-hearted diamond smuggler, and gives the picture its real substance." Nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for best British cinematography in 1964, Sammy Going South was also entered into the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival. The film was a box office disappointment.