(Saw the new 2024 version. It was rebuilt from the original one, but I guess there was just so much you can rewrite with already shot scenes)

It's a rather dull story. A british girl grows up in India, she has a pet elephant. Later she goes to study in England then comes back. It's mostly the story of people trying (and failing) to hunt this elephant.

The characters are not interesting. The "bad guys" are simple and caricatural. There's not even a real feeling of a relationship between her and the elephant to make a story.

There's a relationship between her and the hunter though. Which makes no sense at all. When he leaves she hates him for going to hunt elephant (which is his work). But she seems all excited when she hears he's coming back. He comes back to offer her father an elephant hunting opportunity, agrees to offer Tusk to the Maharadjah in the deal, later when offered money to hunt Tusk down, he wants to do it for free. And yet, she still falls for him at the end... ok.

There's also very little plot to make things interesting. Basically everyone wants this elephant (though they all decide to go for it at the same time when it's been there for 25 years). Can't say the hunting scene are anything to remember either.

The colonialism at this level is also kinda difficult to see nowadays.