Search - The Wonderful World Of Disney : A Tiger Walks on DVD

Brian Keith Tries to Bag a Tiger

Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 11/15/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is somewhat standard fare for The Wonderful World of Disney from the early 1960's. I tended to watch these shows faithfully every Sunday night. At that time I was able to ignore the inconsistencies in the plots and the occasionally bizarre acting because I was young and had few preconceived notions regarding people and their behavior. As an adult I have a very different perspective of this movie.

Brian Keith plays rural sheriff Pete Williams. This movie adds a small complexity in that Williams is up for re-election. A circus truck driving through the town in which Williams lives has a flat tire. One of the drivers stops in the local watering hole and quickly becomes obnoxious. Soon the driver is showing off and tormenting one of the tigers in the back of his truck. The tiger soon makes a break for the wilderness surrounding the small town and shortly thereafter everyone gives chase.

The tiger decides that he is tired of being tormented and chased and kills someone in self defense. The bloodthirsty locals decide it is time for a tiger hunt, and they go heading off into the countryside, with the national guard following close behind. Things become even more interesting when the sheriff's daughter Julie (Pamela Franklin) appears in an interview and makes it appear that her father wants to capture the tiger rather than killing it.

The intensity of the movie slowly increases as we see the National Guard using helicopters and mortars in their attempt to kill the tiger. Will Sheriff Williams try to capture the tiger rather than killing it? How will he be able to capture the tiger when handler Ram Singh (Sabu, in his last role) was unable to capture him? A viewer has many mysteries to learn the answers to!

This movie is actually a decent movie to watch, though the movie is somewhat dated. There are bizarre incongruities in the film that will give some viewers pause. The strangest characteristic of this movie is the daughter's English accent. Her accent seems strange in the middle of a small town in what appears to be a western state. I generally like Brian Keith, and he has had a number of very good appearances in Disney films. However, in this movie there was a point where I thought he was going to hit daughter Julie. He was a bit scary at that point.

This movie is a treat for movie star fans. Vera Miles plays Sheriff Williams' wife Dorothy. The late Edward Andrews plays the bumbling governor, who is also up for election. The late Una Merkel, whose acting career dated back to the 1920's, plays the owner of the only hotel in town. Peter Brown plays a deputy. Kevin Corcoran also had a supporting role in this movie. Kevin appeared quite a few Disney movies and shows in the early 1960's and late 1950's. The late Jack Albertson also makes an appearance. The late Doodles Weaver also has an uncredited role in this movie. There are many other actors appearing in this film who have or had varying degrees of fame.

This film is nominally a family film, but a few scenes in this film may distress very young family members. The most intense scenes involve the driver's tormenting of the tiger, the death mentioned earlier, and Brian Keith yelling at his daughter.

This movie falls short of being a must-have for the average family library. Fans of the various versions of The Wonderful World of Disney from the 1950's and 1960's will likely enjoy this film. I have watched this movie twice since I purchased it and enjoyed it both times, but I admit to being a fan of the Disney show in the era I mentioned.

Good luck!
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F "A Tiger walks", A movie worth seeing

Joseph Thompson | N.C. | 03/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I Love the movie "A Tiger walks" in my opinion, this is one of the best movies that Walt Disney has ever done. This movis shows how impotant the life of an animal is. This movie has true emotion and heart warming feelings in it.

Truly, A great movie,

Joseph Thompson"

A Tiger Walks- Disney's Finest

Ellen R. Fissel | South Mountain, PA USA | 06/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A Tiger Walks is an awesome Disney live action film about a tormented Tiger who breaks loose and starts a panic in a small town.

This film has a solid cast, memorable scenes, and is highly entertaining for those who love the original series: The Wonderful World of Disney.

Buy it. It's worth the price and you will surelly enjoy and watch it over and over again. Trust me it is awesome! Buy it and enjoy the entertainment! :)"

Entertaining Family Drama from '60's Disney

Monty Moonlight | TX | 01/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""A Tiger Walks" is the tale of a Bengal Tiger that escapes one day from a Circus truck to run loose in and around a small town, quickly turning the place into a media frenzy. With fear, greed, and a heavy fog in the air, people's bad sides come out as they rush to capture, kill, and exploit the creature. Besides the tiger's kind, surviving keeper (a crueler keeper gets killed in pursuit of the animal), only the local sheriff (Brian Keith) is concerned with the animal's safety. That is, only the sheriff and kids across the country who have started a "Save That Tiger" campaign in response to the sheriff's daughter Julie's television interview. Julie is the real crusader for the tiger's plight, and campaign or not, without her persistence against her father's uncertainty the tiger would not stand a chance, especially when the governor has the military brought in to destroy him!

"A Tiger Walks" is a sufficiently gripping family-drama from 1964 Disney, and though it appears on this totally bare-bones DVD with the Wonderful World of Disney opening before it, it is in fact a theatrical feature film (though presented here in fullscreen). If you are a fan of Disney films of the time and can get behind the idea of saving dangerous animals from being needlessly slaughtered, "A Tiger Walks" will not disappoint. Most notably, it boasts a great Disney ensemble cast, with The Parent Trap's Brian Keith in the lead and Vera Miles as his wife, cutie Pamela Franklin co-starring as their young daughter Julie (you may happily remember seeing her some years later in the all-together in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brody"; she has trouble hiding her British accent a bit here), Disney Legend Kevin "Moochie" Corcoran as Julie's friend Tom, "Great Gildersleeve" Hal Peary as an exploitative kids' TV show host, Una Merkel as a greedy hotel proprietor, and Sabu in his final role as the kind Tiger trainer, among other fine and well-known performers. Nicely directed by Norman Tokar, who directed many films for Disney including a personal top fave, "The Happiest Millionaire", "A Tiger Walks" may have been labeled too childish by critics or aimed squarely at animal-film addicts at the time, but it provides solid entertainment if classic Disney live-action has ever been your cup of tea. You don't have to be a child or an animal-film lover to enjoy it!
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