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You would think that a movie about a kid being gifted an honest-to-goodness lion from a circus would be about the adventures and challenges that the kid faces with said lion! But, nope! Somehow a kid owning a lion gets treated as an incidental subplot! And yet, the movie is actually a good one! Let’s take a look at Disney’s Napoleon and Samantha!
And remember, SPOILERS AHEAD!
Directed by Bernard McEveety, the film takes place in a small town wherein we’re introduced to two childhood best friends: Napoleon, played by Johnny Whitaker, and Samantha, played by Jodie Foster in her film debut.
Napoleon lives with his elderly grandfather, Grandpa Seth, played by Will Geer. (His parents are deceased, if I remember correctly). Samantha’s parents are currently out of town, so she’s looked after by their housekeeper, Gertrude, played by Ellen Corby. Gertrude is strict with Samantha, but only because she’s her responsibility to make sure she’s safe.
One day after walking home from the cinema, Napoleon and his grandfather pass by a forest clearing where currently encamped there is a clown named Dimitri, played by Vito Scotti, and his lion, Major, played by Zamba.
Dimitri is returning home to Europe after having been a successful circus performer for many years. However, he can’t take Major with him nor has he found any zoo or person who could care for Major in the best way. Somehow he feels that Napoleon and his grandfather can do the job though, so he gifts Major to them! Grandpa Seth tries to refuse as they can’t have a wild animal at their home, but it’s to no avail.
Grandpa Seth tells Napoleon not to tell anyone about Major, but he tells Samantha and even brings her home to show her the lion!
Later on, Grandpa Seth has a serious talk with Napoleon; not about Major, but about his life. Grandpa Seth is dying and soon Napoleon won’t have anyone to take care of him. However, he’s written for one of Napoleon’s uncles from New York to come down and take care of the boy after he passes away. It’s a very mature and somber scene for a live-action Disney film from the 70s.
Napoleon is very sad at thinking about his grandfather passing away, but he tries to make the best of it. When he returns home from school the next day, he peeks in his grandfather’s room and says, “Oh, I’m sorry Grandpa, I didn’t know you were asleep.” And that’s when he realizes.
He’s heartbroken as you can imagine and confides in Samantha about his grandfather’s death. He also receives the letter that his grandfather sent to his uncle that has been returned due to the post office not being able to find his uncle. So now Napoleon is all alone with nobody coming to take care of him. He tells Samantha not to tell anyone that his grandfather has died because they’ll take him away to an orphanage.
He then goes into town to the job center and finds a guy there named Danny, played by Michael Douglas in one of his early film roles. Danny takes a liking to the kid and after Napoleon offers to pay him money to buy a book he wants, Danny agrees to do a job for Napoleon. Napoleon drops the bomb on Danny and asks him to help him bury his grandfather as well as not to divulge the secret.
Danny is taken aback, but helps Napoleon bury his grandfather by a hill near their house. They even perform a small service with both Samantha and Major present.
Danny is worried about what will happen to Napoleon, but Napoleon lies and says that his uncle is coming to take care of him. Danny is skeptical of this, but after Samantha says that Napoleon can stay at her house in the meantime, he feels better. Danny has to go back to work as a shepherd/goat herder for a friend somewhere in the mountains and tells the kids to feel free to visit him if they ever need him.
After Danny leaves, Napoleon tells Samantha that he can’t stay by her. Instead he decides to go find Danny’s place in the mountains the next day hoping to stay with him. Samantha joins Napoleon in this trek (along with Major) leaving a note for Gertrude telling her that she’s staying by Napoleon’s for a couple of days.
As they travel through the mountains, they face multiple obstacles from wild animal attacks to rough terrain to lack of food to getting lost. Nevertheless, they stick together and eventually find Danny.
Danny is really happy as well as surprised to see them and Napoleon tells him the truth. Danny can’t have Napoleon stay with him, so he decides to go into town to at least let Gertrude know that the kids are with him in case she’s worried. He leaves the kids at his shack in the mountains to be watched by a guy he just met the day before named Mark, played by Rex Holman.
By now however, Gertrude has come to know about Samantha and Napoleon being missing and the authorities are involved. They also found Napoleon’s grandfather’s grave. Suspicion falls on Danny as Gertrude remembered seeing Danny speak with Napoleon at the job center. So when Danny returns to the town, Gertrude calls the cops on him and they take him in for questioning.
He tries to tell them that the kids are fine and at his shack, but nobody listens to him. At the police station, he sees a picture of Mark and realizes that Mark is a dangerous escaped patient from a mental hospital and that the kids are in trouble. He rushes out of the police station, steals a motorcycle, and tries to get to the shack in time. The cops chase him as they’re now convinced of Danny’s guilt.
Eventually they arrive at the shack in time to arrest Mark. He’s tied the kids up, but they think it’s a game wherein he’s pretending to be a giant.
The cops realize that Danny’s innocent and take Mark back to the mental hospital. Danny convinces Napoleon to go back to town and that foster care isn’t all that bad. Napoleon agrees and Major will stay with Danny in the mountains.
And that was Napoleon and Samantha! It’s a very interesting movie storywise because like I said, you’d think a movie about a kid and his lion would be about a kid and his lion! The lion serves no real purpose other than just as a pet for Napoleon to have and as a protection to the kids when they’re traveling through the mountains. In that case, you could have just had a dog!
Anyway, the story we have is also interesting because it feels like three different stories. The first third of the movie is about Napoleon’s relationship with this grandfather and tackles heavy subjects like death. The second third of the movie is about Napoleon and Samantha surviving in the mountains. And the third third of the movie is a police chase. Yet somehow, these three distinct stories provide an interesting and enjoyable narrative!
The acting by Johnny Whitaker, Jodie Foster, and Will Geer was very good! Michael Douglas wasn’t that bad either. Zamba, the lion, seemed very well-trained, but poor Jodie Foster was injured by him. Again, you couldn’t pay me enough money!
In the end, this was an enjoyable watch and a film you should check out if you haven’t already!
So, my final score for this film is 29/35 = 82.86% (B-) !
The next review will be posted on October 17, 2023.
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