Peu de temps avant l'indépendance de l'Inde, Victoria Jones, une métisse, est victime d'une tentative de viol. Elle tue son agresseur, un soldat anglais, et trouve refuge auprès d'activistes... Tout lirePeu de temps avant l'indépendance de l'Inde, Victoria Jones, une métisse, est victime d'une tentative de viol. Elle tue son agresseur, un soldat anglais, et trouve refuge auprès d'activistes indiens.Peu de temps avant l'indépendance de l'Inde, Victoria Jones, une métisse, est victime d'une tentative de viol. Elle tue son agresseur, un soldat anglais, et trouve refuge auprès d'activistes indiens.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Nomination aux 1 BAFTA Award
- 2 nominations au total
- General Ackerby
- (non crédité)
- Lanson
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- Man-at-Arms
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- Man on Train
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- Train Driver
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- Sentry
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- Captain Cumberly
- (non crédité)
Avis à la une
Two people who may have given the outstanding performances of their careers are Ava Gardner and Bill Travers. Both play bi-racial people who don't fit in either society. But they react differently. Gardner is going through a whole lot of angst, really seeing both the British and Indian point of view. How she missed an Oscar nomination here is beyond me.
Bill Travers is the railroad station manager and his whole life is his job. He focuses narrowly on that and his tunnel vision leaves him oblivious to the momentous changes around him. Except for the fact that when the British leave he might lose that little piece of authority where he is, that which gives him stature in the Raj society.
The issues are complex, but in the hands of a great director like George Cukor the characters and their struggles become real and even more important, the audience becomes interested.
Stewart Granger who was the British Colonel in charge of the whole mess in Bhowani, said that Bhowani Junction was one of the few films he was really proud to be associated with. He has a struggle to, he really does see the Indians as human beings and not just "wogs." He's quite knowledgeable about their customs and at one point utilizes that knowledge to unjam that railroad terminal.
Bhowani Junction is an intelligent and literate drama and a superb piece of film making.
"Bhowani Junction" (1956) is an exotic drama with adventure elements similar to the future "A Passage to India" (1985), although not as good as that one. It features most of the elements you'd think of when India comes to mind - never-ending throngs of people in (usually) white garb, trains, street commotion, etc.
Ava is beautiful, Granger makes for a stalwart male protagonist, the locations are authentic and the historical setting is interesting. But I rolled my eyes at the subplot regarding a certain person feeling guilty about something, which didn't make sense since what that person did was in self-defense and the perpetrator was an ignoble scumbag.
The movie runs 1 hour, 50 minutes, and was shot in Lahore, Pakistan, which is just across the border from northwestern India; the train wreck sequence was done 35 miles outside London to the southwest; another sequence was shot at Tram Tunnel, Kingsway, London, while studio stuff was done at the MGM British Studios just north of the city.
GRADE: B-/C+
I would have liked to dismiss this film as a below average film but for the incredible performance of Ava Gardner who towers over all else in the movie. Take her accent--for an American, there was no trace of her origins when she spoke. She alone looked real with raven black hair in a sari draped in foppish manner--after all she was an Anglo-Indian. Had she worn well like an Aishwarya Rai, Cukor would have got it wrong.
Cukor deserves full credit for choosing Gardner for the role and for capturing the ambiance of romantic North Western Railways, its first class coaches, the engines and goods wagons. A keen observer will note that some of the shots of goods wagons showed vintage wagons, while others showed contemporary ones.
Though shot in Pakistan, the film caught the Indian ambiance perfectly, right up to the Railway quarters for its staff.
Ava Gardner, it is only too evident, performed well under the guidance of good directors as John Houston. This film and "Night of Iguana" are my personal favourites among her films.
This one is not to miss for fans of Granger, Gardner, and Hollywood oldies.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesMGM originally planned to film Bhowani Junction on location in India. That is, until the Indian government started making demands seeking script approval and a big tax payment of 12% of the film's worldwide net profit. MGM changed their plans and decided to film instead in Pakistan - whose government was more accommodating and less demanding of the studio. And this made the picture the first Hollywood film produced in that country.
- GaffesWhen Savage is first in Taylor's office giving him orders about the trains, he says, "One of you will have to be in close touch with me at all times so that my trolley patrols do not run into unscheduled trains." He says the word "unscheduled" using the American "sk" pronunciation, but as an Englishman he would have pronounced it using the British "sh" sound.
- Citations
Victoria Jones: Why should you stand by me? You're not an Anglo-Indian?
Col. Rodney Savage: You're an officer under my command.
Victoria Jones: Say, eh, I, all these weeks I've known you, this is the first time I've realized there's a human being inside you somewhere.
Col. Rodney Savage: Oh, he's still there, is he? Good. Then, there's hope for us all.
- ConnexionsEdited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)
Meilleurs choix
- How long is Bhowani Junction?Alimenté par Alexa
Détails
Box-office
- Budget
- 3 637 000 $US (estimé)
- Montant brut mondial
- 3 657 $US
- Durée1 heure 50 minutes
- Rapport de forme
- 2.35 : 1