This is a film every boy should see. Full of adventure, and life lessons. Edgar G Robinson is perfect. This is a film that deserves a remake with a modern story, and cinematography.Its a crime it hasn't been released to DVD, until just recently, and then only in the UK(so not playable on US players...). I've been looking for it for 10 years, and couldn't even find a VHS all that time. I finally found it on the pirate bay, and downloaded it. I figure I earned a free copy with all the hours I've put in trying to get it at any price... The new DVD release is under the British title, Sammy Going South. I hope it gets a US release soon.

Found this little gem on DVD via Amzon.co.uk.The film is about a little boy (excellently played by a very young Fergus MacClelland), whose British parents die under a British bombing of Port Said during the Suez crisis, and he is left to his own devices to, if possible, get to and to find his aunt in Durban, near the other end of the African continent. After many adventures he gets there, involving life and death, but on his way there he meets many people, including an old diamond smuggler, excellently played by Edward G. Robinson, at that time around 70 years old, and doing his very best of acting. The supporting cast is equally good, by the way. The masterful director is the man who made British classics like 'The Guns of Navarone', 'Lady Killers', and 'The Man in the White Suit', Alexander MacKendrick.On the DVD there is an excellent interview with the lead actor, Fergus MacClelland (now with the Royal Shakespeare Company), and with an American director, who had had MacKendrick as teacher in directing.Well worth watching both! You learn that originally the film was over three hours long, but the released copy is just under two hours!

I saw this movie only once when I was somewhere between the ages of 7 and 10 years old. I remember this movie vividly and somehow feel that it has affected my life in a subconscious manner, as some other people have written on here.As I read the other reviews of this movie, I find it strange to see how many people also had the same impression of this film. I don't remember it as Sammy Going South or A Boy Ten Feet Tall, but as The Ten Foot Tall Boy. Funny that I remember it that way. I have mentioned this movie, with the title I remembered it by, to many people (many of whom are movie buffs) but no-one seems to remember it at all.I did a search online and found nothing and nowhere to purchase it. But, fortunately, I am a UCLA alumnus and did a search of The UCLA Film Archives and found it there. I think it is the American edited version, but I would be very glad to be able to see even that version (which is probably the one I did see about 35 years ago, once).It's amazing to see how many people have had the same experience with this film, having seen it only once. This movie must be released on DVD. How does one go about doing that? Who does one need to contact to have this done?

I showed this film ( U.S. version titled "A Boy Ten Feet Tall")at the base theater while stationed with the U.S. Navy in Asmara, Eritrea in 1973 and I thought it was one of Edward G. Robinson's finest. The basic premise of the movie, as I recall after all these years, is a boy is orphaned during an air raid in Egypt and then compelled to live with a foster parent. Having heard that he had an aunt living in South Africa he ran away from the foster parent and set out on his own to South Africa. The story tracks him through many adventures on his way and the best was when he came upon a diamond smuggler, Edward G. Robinson, who eventually befriends the boy and takes him under his wing. Of course this 'soft' gesture eventually leads to Edward G's demise and capture by authorities but he was able to instill a keen sense of responsibility and independence in the boy during their time together. The boy travels further across Africa and does eventually turn up at his Aunt's doorstep. I searched for this movie for years but no one seems to have heard of it. I think it would be a great candidate for a re-release or to come out on DVD.