The End of the River

A jungle adventure drama that has many of the attractions of a travelogue has been sent here by J. Arthur Rank for Prestige Pictures release. It is the story of an Indian boy and his struggles to find a place for himself in a seemingly hostile world. The picture was photographed mostly in Brazil. Produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and starring Sabu, it suggests many merchandising angles for the selective audience. The opening has Sabu on trial as a killer, the story then telling in retrospect all the hardships that befell the young Indian boy. When he was a child, his family was massacred by an evil tribal leader, and the incident burned in his memory. Through adolescence he gets a variety of jobs and is almost continually beaten or exploited by employers. His misfortunes culminate in the murder of a man. An acquittal ends the story, with the boy going to the end of the river to live in peace. Bibi Ferreira offers a natural portrayal as the young wife. The characterization of a seaman's trade union as a totalitarian outfit that deceives its membership and finally makes a thrust at overthrowing the government, may provoke some objection from labor-conscious patrons.