Having only seen the abridged version on YouTube (from a 9.5mm print), I can't vouch for the quality of every minute of this entertaining opus-- but it certainly holds one's attention. It's a British film, so has a different flavor from the US product, but it also boasts film locations actually in India. There are no Indians among the principal cast members, though; it appears that only the extras are 'natives'. The Maharajah of Vijaypore is played by the director, Jean de Kuharski, to what effect you may judge for yourselves.
We have a typical stalwart hero in Lieutenant Desmond Armstrong (Joshua Kean), who is seen repeatedly dreaming of his adored fiancée Evelyn (Gillian Dean), so it's understood that his heart is already irrevocably committed. Thus we know that he cannot possibly respond to the hopeless devotion of Neelum (Mary Odette), in the title role of The Emerald of the East. We are told that 'Neelum' means emerald, though the closest I could find in an Indian language was 'Nilamani' in Gujarati. Close enough.
Neelum (who would really benefit from an application of kohl) is the daughter of the savage Chieftainess (Maria Forescu), the rebel who personally carries off the Maharajah's little son Maharaj Kumar (Kenneth Rive) after putting the whammy on him and his attendant with a pair of Terrible Floating Eyes. The unwary Armstrong is easily captured by her tribesmen and tied to The Tree of Death as tiger bait. What a fix! He's not really much of a hero, and it's left to lovely Neelum, instantly smitten with his manly Anglo-Saxon charms, to engineer any rescues. And there's more to the story... will British imperialism triumph in the end?
