Sabaka, O Demônio de Fogo

Gunga Ram, a boy in the employ of a maharajah vows revenge against the cult of Sabaka, the god of fire. The cult had burned his older sister and her husband alive in their home in order to help win converts.

Set in India, with a cast made up of entirely Hollywood vets, it was supposedly shot in India, its more dress up day at the back lot rather than a real shot on location film. Clearly much of the film, the animal and travelogue sort of stuff was shot on location, however I doubt any of the name actors stuff was.

The cast is for the most part is wasted in their small roles. Reginald Denny as a British Lord basically sits in a chair and watches a parade, top billed Boris Karloff plays a disapproving general, and while he's very good in his scenes has a role that means nothing to the proceedings. Only Victor Jory and June Foray as the heads of the fire cult have anything to do. (And its nice to have more than just Ms Foray's voice to keep us entertained.) The movie itself is okay. An unremarkable adventure for kids, its the sort of thing I could have seen my parents dropping me off at on a Saturday afternoon when I was a kid.Its not particularly scary, actually its not particularly anything, it just sort of is. It doesn't help that after an involving first third, where we meet all the characters and have a good number of possible plots set up, the film shifts gears and becomes primarily interested in the revenge story. This would be okay if it wasn't the only thing going on, but as the sole focus of the film its not enough to sustain the last 45 minutes to an hour.

An okay time killer this would be worth seeing if a decent, unfaded and worn print could be found. Its a good example of what family films used to be (and why they went out of favor). Frankly if it wasn't for the stars this film would have been lost to time.

5 out of 10.

1953's "Sabaka" was conceived as "Gunga Ram" before a title change to "The Hindu" to avoid being confused with the 1939 "Gunga Din," earning its final moniker on a very limited release after five months of location shooting in Mysore, India. The sole feature film from writer/director Frank Ferrin, expanding on his television collaboration with actor Nino Marcel from the series SMILIN' ED'S GANG, here starring as Gunga Ram, young mahout of Bakore, boasting a warm relationship with not only his elephant Tilah but also the Maharajah (Lou Krugman), in whose service his father had perished. It betrays its origins with a multitude of stock footage and barren sets behind its more distinguished performers, namely second billed Boris Karloff as General Pollegar (just over 7 1/2 minutes screen time), so disagreeable that one might believe him to be in league with the fire god worshippers of Sabaka, the high priestess (June Foray) holding villagers in the grip of fear by torching their homes and loved ones. This is how Gunga Ram stumbles upon them, his murdered sister leading him on the well worn path of vengeance despite doubts from the Maharajah and Pollegar's dismissals. Ferrin's focus on pageantry over suspense removes any tension that might have developed, the varied guest stars contributing little but name value. Victor Jory exits as soon as he arrives, Reginald Denny is also wasted, Vito Scotti a holdover from the small screen. Karloff never changes his tone in his few scenes, and after Sabaka is revealed as a fraud we see him merely wave a silent gesture, still seemingly unconvinced. He was so busy doing live television that his screen roles for the decade amounted to a meager total of just 9 features, its color photography marking it as only slightly less obscure than Italy's "The Island Monster."

I only watched this film due to Boris Karloff's presence; however, I don't know why he even bothered as his supporting role here gives him precious little to do! Still, this juvenile Indian adventure is harmless enough - and mercifully short. Despite being filmed on location, it's pretty obvious that most of its jungle sequences featuring wild animals are actually stock footage! I have to say, though, that for a kiddie film it's unusually mean-spirited: animals and human beings alike get burned alive, while Victor Jory as one of the members of a fire-worshipping cult is cruelly dispatched by his high priestess (played by June Foray, more familiar to film and TV buffs as a voice artist in animation, and the only one who manages to enter into the spirit of the thing) by leading him straight into the grip of a deadly cobra! By the way, the lead character is named Gunga Ram (I wonder how they ever came up with that one?)!!

I saw this film Sabaka many years ago when it was featured on Andy's Gang and on the black and white TV show I remember being impressed with, especially with Nino Marcel as Gunga Ram as a second incarnation of Sabu. Seeing it now in color it looks far more impressive with the location shooting in India. But I'm now some 60 years have passed and the story itself isn't anything to write home about.

There's a new cult of the Fire God Sabaka starting in Maharajah Lou Krugman's kingdom. It's headed by Victor Jory and June Forey and they seem like a Hindu version of Isis, basically a criminal enterprise wrapped up as religion.

Marcel takes a personal interest in it after his sister Lisa Howard is killed after she and the house she was in are set on fire. Fire is the favorite form of execution by these fire god cultists. Marcel has all kinds of problems trying to get the Maharajah's attention, especially with the kingdom's military commander Boris Karloff in the way.

Karloff in that role and Reginald Denny as the local viceroy are wasted in their parts. Both have little to do with the story, Denny next to nothing.

I'd see a Sabu film first in fact I'm curious why he wasn't cast. He was doing films over at Lippert Pictures, some of them worse than Sabaka.

"Sabaka" is not a great film by any standard, though, in a pinch, it's worth watching as a time-passer. I know this is faint praise, but it's just not a movie I can strongly endorse. The only reason I decided to watch the film is that Boris Karloff was in the film, though he was generally wasted.

The film is set in India and it was nice to see that the film crew actually went to this country to film it. HOWEVER, it was also a severe disappointment that none of the folks in the film were Indians! While Karloff looked rather Indian, most of the actors simply looked like Hollywood actors painted up to look like Indians--which they were. And, in addition to having Hollywood types in the roles, the film also suffered from 'travelogue-itis'--the horrible need to film lots of native scenes and place them into the film--often at the most inappropriate times. For example, during a scene where the jungle is on fire, there is a scene involving a leopard killing some helpless animal---why?!?! What does this have to do with a forest fire?! The story is about a cult started by a couple of scum-bags. They worship the false fire god Sabaka--who is evil and full of nastiness. So it's up to a nice young Sabu-wannabe to infiltrate the gang and bring them all to justice using his trusted jungle friends. None of it is all that interesting but at least it isn't all that dull. And at least it's in color--nice, pretty color. But the story is a bit uninspired and it's just a slightly below average time-passer.