South Africa -- or a reasonable facsimile -- was the setting of the Universal melodrama Man and Beast. During a period of drought, despotic landowner Carl von Haagen (Harry Clifton) refuses to share his water supply with his neighbors, the Townsends. The feud that develops between the two families does not prevent Carl's daughter Gretel (Eileen Sedgwick) from falling in love with Ned Townsend (Parks Jones. Despite the opposition of their elders, Gretel and Ned run off together, marry, and become the parents of a cute little boy. It is this "bundle from Heaven" who brings the two families together when the toddler gets lost in the jungle. Happily, he is rescued from the marauding wildlife by a friendly elephant (played by "Charlie," who like the other animal characters in the film receives screen billing!)
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
