The 1942 film "Jungle Book" is based on Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book" stories of British India. Mowgli is a young man who was raised by wolves in the jungle. He returns to the village where he was born and begins living a regular life. He takes a young woman, Mahala, to see an ancient city, they find a treasure pit where Mahala is allowed to take a gold coin. Her greedy father Buldeo finds the coin and with two accomplices attempts to find the treasure. Several prop coins are used to represent the gold coins which are shown several times singly or in piles.

An English woman accompanied by a Sikh officer arrive in a small village in British India.

They and some local residents listen to a storyteller.

Buldeo offers to tell the story of his life and the woman gives him a coin.

A little village boy's father is killed by a tiger leaving the boy lost in the surrounding jungle. A family of wolves takes the boy in and raises him with the knowledge of the jungle, including the ability to talk to animals. The boy is given the name "Mowgli" which means "Little Frog." Mowgli is grown and returns to the village where he is adopted by Messua, a local woman who believes that that Mowgli may be her missing son. Mowgli is given the job of herding cows.

Messua shows Mowgli some coins, he asks "what is money?", and she explains.

Messua gives Mowgli three copper coins and he heads for the house of hunter Buldeo and admires some knives. Buldeo sells him one for two annas (small Indian coins) and warns Mowgli to stay away from his daughter Mahala. Mahala is curious about the jungle and Mowgli takes her to an abandoned ancient city now overrun with monkeys.

Mahala always wears a necklace of silver coins.

The coins appear to be old Indian coins with Arabic writing on them, possibly Mughal or the British East India Company. Mahala falls into a pit and Mowgli climbs down to her. The pit turns out to be a treasure storehouse and is full of gold coins and jewels. And something else.

Mowgli is able to talk to the snake (a king cobra) who warns the pair about the treasure. Mowgli picks up a scepter with a large ruby on it.

Mowgli asks the cobra about the item.

The cobra warns the pair that the ruby means death and the pair decide to leave.

Mahala is allowed to take one coin and the pair head back to the village. The next morning she is in her bed.

The coin prop appears to be quite large. Mahala wakes up and tells her father about the temple, he scoffs at her until he sees the coin. He asks her where she got it and she tells him about her visit to the temple.

Buldeo accidently shows the coin to two friends, a barber and a pundit. There are a couple of scenes of the coin laying on the ground.

These pictures show a prop coin with an unreadable design and a copy of an ancient Roman coin which has the large letters "SC" on it. Mowgli has an old enemy from the jungle, Shere Khan the tiger.

Both Shere Khan and Mowgli have sworn to kill each other, and after they meet again, Mowgli manages to kill the tiger with his new knife.

Buldeo and his two friends decide to follow Mowgli into the jungle to find the treasure.

Buldeo, the pundit, and the barber bring ancient firearms with them. They locate the treasure room.

The prop coins here appear to be manufactured brass coins, different from the ones shown earlier.

The men play around with the loot and find some old bejeweled turbans to wear. The cobra doesn't appear but is no doubt watching the men.

But others are watching.

The men fill bags with coins and start walking back to the village. The pundit and the barber fight over the ruby and the "winner" is then eaten by a crocodile, leaving Buldeo who walks away leaving a trail of coins. Buldeo has to cross a creek and is forced to hand the ruby scepter to someone more deserving.

Mowgli returns to the village.

Buldeo, empty handed, now wants revenge and sets the ancient ruins on fire.

Mowgli, tired of "civilization", decides to move back to the jungle. Messua and Mahala wave goodbye to Mowgli.

Back in the present, the English woman asks the storyteller what happened to Mowgli and Mahala.

The storyteller gives his reply.

Sabu as Mowgli
Joseph Calleia as Buldeo
Rosemary DeCamp as Messua
Patricia O'Rourke as Mahala
Faith Brook as English woman
Noble Johnson as Sikh officer
John Qualen as Barber (Buldeo's accomplice)
Frank Puglia as Pundit (Buldeo's accomplice)
Director: Zoltan Korda
Writers: Laurence Stallings, Rudyard Kipling (books)