Colonel James Livingston-Graham is a central character and major supporting protagonist of the 2007 natural horror film Maneater. He is a retired British soldier who was born and raised in India where he hunted and killed 11 man-eating tigers during his career as a specialist.
Background[]
Colonel Graham was born and raised in India. He married and had two children. One hot summer night, while sleeping on the floor, a tiger crept inside Graham's family's home through a window that had been left open to circulate the air and quitely killed his twelve-year-old son, awakening Graham after getting the boy's body stuck trying to carry it out the bathroom window. This prompted Graham to become a specialist of hunting man-eating tigers. Whether he was already in the British Army, or if he joined at this point is unknown. Graham became very successful as a specialist, hunting and killing 11 man-eating tigers and becoming highly regarded by the government. When he attempted to hunt his 12th man-eating tiger, Graham finally had bad luck at a hunt and tried and failed for two years to kill the tiger, a time period in which the tiger killed 228 victims. Embarrassed just before elections, the government exiled Graham and he was forced to relocate to England as his new home. Whether he was still married and if his wife moved with him is unknown. He eventually retired from the army sometime afterwards.
Maneater[]
After a Bengal tiger being transported by a black market truck escaped along the Appalachian Trail and killed five people, Colonel James Livingston Graham, a wise and experienced professional at hunting man-eating tigers, arrived in the area, paralleling the arrival of six National Guardsmen. When Sheriff Grady Barnes came to his tent and informed him that the area was restricted, Graham says that's obvious sense the tiger was hunting in the woods. Introducing himself to Barnes, Graham told the Sheriff to call him "Jim" and when Barnes tries to tell him he really shouldn't be there, Graham told him of his confidence that he knew more about tigers and how to hunt them than anyone in the world and that no time could be waisted. Assuring Barnes that the guardsmen will fail to kill the tiger, Graham told him he would start is hunt for the tiger when they finished, before politely bidding the Sheriff good day. After the guardsmen tried to find the tiger and it silently killed one of them, Graham appeared and advised against sending for more men as it would only mean putting more lives at risk because, for the inexperienced, stalking a man-eating tiger is an exotic means of suicide. Graham easily showed and explained that the tiger killed the guardsman by cruising his windpipe and then drug him backwards and found his body. As he left, Graham told the Sheriff of his past when he lost a son to a tiger and told him that he couldn't simply pass along the knowledge of how to hunt a man-eater as idol advice, before telling him to go back to town and tend to his people as a way to help him instead of coming with him.
Graham tracked the tiger through the woods to the house of Roy Satterly, a boy whose mother kept him at home and taught him the bible, and is amazed at seeing the tiger had been there many times and gone to Roy's window to sit. Later, Graham encountered Roy at a pond and the two discussed tigers. Walking a little together, Graham was astonished by Roy's natural hunting and tracking abilities and, when Roy asked if he would kill the tiger, Graham told him he had to because it would only keep hunting people and that he couldn't let that happen. Graham shook Roy's hand and continued to track the tiger. He later arrived at the scene of another attack the tiger had done on the National Guard, as well as a deputy Sheriff. Graham explained to Barnes that the tiger had attacked one of the guardsmen and ultimately killed him and caused him to shoot his partner when they fired in panic the wrong way while the tiger was behind them and that it crawled up to the patrol car and dragged away the deputy. Graham asked Barnes if he could avoid the press as he didn't want the coverage and the Sheriff agreed.
Later, Barnes visited his tent and asked him about his last, failed tiger hunt which had been revealed at a press conference earlier that day and Graham told him that the tiger was too elusive for him and that he had tried his best to kill it, but failed and became hated in India and was forced to leave and relocate to England. When Barnes asked him, Graham told him he was there for the chance to redeem himself. Roy later paid Graham a visit after having a nightmare that the tiger killed him and Graham escorted him to the store where Roy's mother worked. When they arrived, the tiger attacked and killed her and Graham busted into the store and told Roy to stay close to him. However, Roy didn't listen and the tiger got inside and attacked Graham after he barely failed to kill it with both shots from his double rifle. After Barnes blew the tiger up by shooting a gas tank, Graham appeared beside the store, bloody but alive. Graham politely declined Barnes' offer to let him live with him if he wanted to stay in America and told him that his hunting days were over and that it was time for him to go home, while also telling Barnes that Roy was a rare spirit and that he had fallen into Barnes' hands.
Trivia[]
- Colonel James Livingston Graham was based on legendary big-game hunter and tracker Jim Corbett.