| Booloo | |
| Director: | Clyde E. Elliott |
| Producer: | Clyde E. Elliott |
| Screenplay: | Robert E. Welsh |
| Story: | Clyde E. Elliott |
| Starring: | Colin Tapley Jayne Regan |
| Music: | Boris Morros |
| Editing: | Eda Warren |
| Studio: | Paramount Pictures[1] |
| Distributor: | Paramount Pictures |
| Runtime: | 60–61 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Booloo is a 1938 American adventure film directed by Clyde E. Elliott. It stars Colin Tapley as a British soldier who attempts to prove the existence of a legendary tiger.
Captain Robert Rogers, a British Army officer, publishes a book about his father's exploits. After it is ridiculed as a hoax, Rogers leaves for the Malay Peninsula to prove the existence of Booloo, the legendary tiger that killed his father.[1]
Paramount wanted another jungle adventure film after The Jungle Princess proved popular, and they recruited Clyde E. Elliott to shoot a film in Singapore. Elliott's two previous Malayan films, Bring 'Em Back Alive and Devil Tiger, had been criticized for lacking authenticity. Booloo addressed these concerns by using Asian actors when available. However, Paramount cut much of the footage starring these actors and reshot scenes in Hollywood. For example, the role of a native girl, originally played by an Indonesian actress, Ratna Asmara, was recast to a Hawaiian actress, Mamo Clark.[2]
Paramount released Booloo in the US on July 29, 1938.[1]
Booloo received negative reviews, which criticized the story and editing.[2] Frank Nugent of The New York Times called it "an exciting and quite entertaining blend of the real and the make-believe".[3]