La mousson

One weekend (it was raining), I watched 1939's "The Rains Came" and then the remake, 1955's "The Rains of Ranchipur".

"The Rains Came" is a story of redemption. Tom Ransome (George Brent) is slowly dissipating in the pre-independence Indian kingdom of Ranchipur when his decline is interrupted by the arrival of a former lover, Edwina (Myrna Loy). Now married to the elderly Lord Esketh (Nigel Bruce) Edwina is restless and bored.

She sets out to seduce Tom's friend, Indian doctor, Rama Safti (Tyrone Power), however she ends up falling in love with him. This disturbs the Maharani of Ranchipur who sees Safti as a future ruler of the kingdom, Then the rains come destroying much of Ranchipur and bringing out hidden depths of character in Tom and Edwina.

The 1939 version is a moody, artistic looking film. Myrna Loy is photographed with luminous close-ups and lighting accentuating cheekbones and lips. There is none of that for Lana Turner as Edwina in the newer version. Instead the Cinemascope process delivered static, overlit scenes that distanced us from the actors.

George Brent was always low-key, but it's what the role needed. Fred MacMurray played the same part in the later movie and his delivery suffered in comparison.

Richard Burton wears Safti's turban in "The Rains of Ranchipur". However it's not a good fit; he projects somewhat of a neurotic edge; it's hard to believe the passion he arouses in Edwina. On the other hand, Tyrone Power's calm demeanour and serenity in "The Rains Came" only enhanced his charisma.

Burton was not entirely to blame; he is required to spout volumes of sanctimonious drivel in his scenes with Turner. Things had changed in India and the script needed updating, however where a look said a lot in the "The Rains Came", the characters in "Ranchipur" say it.

The only character enhanced in "Rains" Mk II is Michael Rennie's Lord Esketh. It's a more intelligent characterisation than Nigel Bruce's blustering stereotype. The remake features location footage but it's not enough to elevate it above bland interiors and unbelievable characters.

Finally I was surprised at how good the first version is, but also surprised at how much the second one missed the mark.

One of the unique things about this film is that for once a British Raj story is told not from a British point of view. It should never be forgotten that John Bromfield was an American. You would never see a character like Nigel Bruce in any British screenplay about the Raj. Of all the supporting players, he comes off best in what has to be the most unusual part in his career. For those used to seeing him as the ineffectual Dr. Watson in those Sherlock Holmes movies, playing the bigoted Lord Esketh is quite a switch.

Not until A Passage to India was filmed in the 80s was the Raj ever shown in a less than perfect light.

Ty Power is his usual noble self, the rest of the cast plays well. Twentieth Century Fox borrowed two big names from other studios, Myrna Loy from MGM and George Brent from Warner Brothers to support Power. Loy is Lady Esketh, a woman of the world, left pretty much to her own devices by her husband, decides Power would be a perfect boy toy for her. The part is a throwback to Loy's earlier days of playing mostly bad girls before The Thin Man.

Brent has a very nice role her as a man who's living a dissolute life himself in India, but really steps to the plate during the time of crisis when the flooding starts.

H.B. Warner and Maria Ouspenskaya play the rulers of Ranchipur, you will not forget Ouspenskaya easily. Nor will you forget first the cultured, than the wailing Joseph Schildkraut as Bannerjee. Today no producer could ever get away with casting all these occidental types as Indians, but they all do a fine job.

In the year of Gone With The Wind and all the Oscars it won, the one for Special Effects went to The Rains Came, beating out Gone With The Wind's burning of Atlanta. Judge for yourself if the Academy voters were right.

Made the year of the really great movies of the Golden Years of Hollywood, "The Rains Came" was a quite remarkable achievement in 1939 - the photography and Special Effects (Flood and Earthquake) were extremely well done, and stand up quite well today. It was made in an era where Stars were the keys to a movie's success, and Fox brought together some big names for this Blockbuster. Heading the Cast is Tyrone Power as Major Safti, and he is perfect for the role, while Myrna Loy as Lady Esketh is well cast. George Brent had his best role ever, and the supporting cast included such gems as Maria Ouspenskaya, Nigel Bruce, Jane Darwell, Henry Travers and Joseph Shildkraut and believe me , these people do so much in adding to the quality of this film. The difference between Indian and Western cultures during the period of the Raj was well captured, and altogether moves along at a good pace, and makes for excellent entertainment.

There was quite a lot to want to see 'The Rains Came'. Beautiful source material, with Louis Bromfield's source material being a great read. Clarence Brown as director, while he was not a consistent director and not all his films were great or even good at his best he was great. The cast is a very talented one, George Brent has always been one of those take or leave actors for me but Tyrone Power did prove more than once that with the right material he could act and Myrna Loy is always watchable.

While not a great film, and one of those films that may be easy to criticise for some, 'The Rains Came' to me was actually not bad at all and has a lot to recommend. Quite the opposite of bad really in my view, it is easy to see why some may not and do not like 'The Rains Came' but it is just as easy to see why others may like and do like it. It is easy perhaps to see why it is overlooked, considering that it was released in such an iconic year in film history.

It is by no means a perfect film. The story is not always involving, with the Brenda Joyce subplot and role being underdeveloped, at times tedious and at times silly and there are scenes that veer on the overwrought.

A lot of the dialogue is very soapy and talk-heavy and could have gone into a lot more depth and had more nuance. Personally found Power miscast, have made it clear many times about having nothing against him but he looks out of place, is rather bland and a few of his later scenes are overacted.

However, Brent to me was just great and gives one of his best performances. Was not expecting him to be this noble or commanding, things he not always was and he is a good deal more relaxed than usual. Loy is class and sensuality personified, nothing melodramatic or sickly sweet here which were things considering the role she could have been. Her chemistry with Power fares a lot better and is the far more interesting of the subplots. Nigel Bruce has a ball as an unusually repellent character, never did he have a character this loathsome and he relishes it. Maria Ouspenskaya has a brave character worth identifying with and she brings scene stealing dignity to it. Most of the cast are very good actually, only Power to me didn't work.

Clarence Brown's direction didn't bowl me over but enough of it is sensitive and forceful. Alfred Newman's score is beautiful and stirring. 'The Rains Came' is a great looking film, with exotic scenery and quite stunning photography at its best. The best thing about the film is the special effects, which are still astonishing today and unlike anything seen in any film at this point in film history. Flood special effects have possibly never been equalled.

Overall, worth the look but didn't quite come together for me. 6/10

I was eight years old when I saw this movie. It was the first movie I remember seeing. My mother says that initially I refused to go into the movie theater because it was a dark, and to me, forbidding place. Once inside, however, I didn't want to leave. I have never seen the movie since, but the images of flooding and sick people under mosquito nets are as vivid to me as if I had seen it yesterday. I also have memories of being put through an emotional wringer by the film, thinking it was "real" and crying at the death and destruction it portrayed. The total effect was to hook me on movies for good and I could hardly wait to get back into that dark, engrossing place.