La Croisée des destins

Spectacular screen translation of John Masters' novel carried out by M-G-M set in post -colonial India. This is a drama aflame with Love And Revolt . Anglo-Indian Victoria Jones seeks her true identity amid the chaos of the British withdrawal from India . Meanwhile , Indu Victoria to be courted by three suitors , Col. Rodney Savage (Stewart Granger , this role gave hem a strenuous time along with Scaramouche , Beau Brummell and Moonfleet) , Ranjit Kasel (Francis Matthews) and Patrick Taylor (Bill Travers , though Sabu tested for, and was nearly cast in the role) .

This dramatic picture contains a meaty plot , thrills , unrest , violence , love and historical events dealing with pre-independence India . This colorful picture gave Ava Gardner , Stewart Granger and co-stars a good time . Stewart Granger is fine as a colonel who falls in love for Ava . Gorgeous Ava Gardner as a half-English , half-Indian woman who is torn between the British officer she loves and her country . Gardner was trampled on by more than 200 native extras , then shaken and bruised in a staged fight with soldiers ; some years later , Ava declared it the toughest picture she ever worked on . Support cast is frankly well , such as Abraham Sofaer as Surabhai , Lionel Jeffries as Lt. Graham McDaniel , Freda Jackson as Sandani , Peter Illing as Ghanshyam and Francis Matthews who said in interviews that huge chunks of his part ended up on the cutting room floor ; in addition , Edward Chapman was hired to play Jones after the scenes had been shot with another actor playing the role . Furthermore , a right make-up to appear American actors like Indian people .

Evocative as well as glowing cinematography by Freddie Young shot on location in Pakistan . The filming took place in Pakistan rather than India for political reasons due to the scenes of Hindu terrorism including against Ghandi himself. Emotive and intense musical score by the classic Miklos Rozsa . The motion picture was well directed by George Cukor , though contains some flaws . This excellent filmmaker directed 20 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances . Cukor enjoyed a successful working partnership with Katharine Hepburn, directing her in ten films over a period of 47 years such as ¨Little women¨, ¨The Philadelphia story¨, ¨Adam's rib¨ , ¨Pat and Mike¨, among others . He was often regarded as a "women's director" because his films frequently are centered around strong female characters . Cukor directed many adaptations of books & plays and was known to be particularly skilled at interpreting stage plays for the screen .

The epic "Bhowani Junction" took two years in production (1954-55) including the location shooting in Lahore, Pakistan. It is a great melodrama that circumvents the tumultuous times and events unfolding Sub-continent's partition and the socio-political upheaval associated with it.

The perplexed minds and characters of Anglo Indians filled with angst were the signs of those turbulent times as the British pack up for their home country in the aftermath of India's partition and Independence. Ava Gardner as Victoria Jones has outperformed in all facets of her central character in the movie, as she perfectly translates her persona and body language which is in complete sync with the abnormal circumstances taking new twists and turns of fate with every passing day. Stewart Granger as Col. Rodney Savage is equally superb in his majestically mature performance who takes hold of a crisis like situation on Bhowani Junction (shot on actual location of gigantic Lahore Railway station) with wisdom, sagacity and the grit to out maneuver the machinations of Hindu rebels or trouble makers. That were trying times and the British colonialists had to deal with unusual challenging situations.

The screenplay and direction by George Cukor speaks for itself and I personally feel that this gem of a movie is underrated and unfortunately did not do a roaring business on the box office, but for all the glory that was Hollywood during that golden era of cinema, Bhowani Junction presents a complete feature film coupled with cinema-scope colour production, evocative musical score composed by Miklos Rozsa,thoughtful direction, superb cast and wonderful acting skills of those classic actors of a bygone age. (Ten out of ten). A must see for serious viewers.

Stars are the primary reason for me to watch old movies, because they just don't make them like that anymore. 'Bowani Junction' provides some of the best; Ava Gardner is so irresistibly attractive in this movie that watching her along is worth every penny spent for buying the copy. Better yet, other things in the film are also good. Granger, playing a more realistic role, is at his best elements as a daring arrogant English Col., match nicely with the beautiful Gardner as a romantic couple. Most of the Indian characters are well portrayed and I love movie with a historical background . The story is complicated ,yet well told and paced. The characters are interesting and well presented. Over all, this is Cukor's movie at its usual fine standard.

This one is not to miss for fans of Granger, Gardner, and Hollywood oldies.

The setting for Bhowani Junction is India during the last days of the British Raj. The town of Bhowani is a railroad junction and both the Congress Party and the Communist Party are doing all kinds of sabotage to help the British quickly get out of India. Of course each is doing it for their own reasons.

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.

During the chaotic final days of British rule in northwest India in 1947, the beautiful daughter (Gardner) of an English train engineer and an Indian mother struggles to find her identity while pursued by three men: a rail-traffic superintendent (Bill Travers), his Sikh subordinate (Francis Matthews) and a British colonel (Stewart Granger). Meanwhile Indian supporters of Mahatma Gandhi campaign for independence while Communists, led by a revolutionary called Davay (Peter Illing), fuel unrest.

"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+