The Indian Tomb

Following to ¨Tiger of Eschnapur¨ that has similar ingredients , as the couple formed by an architect : Paul Christian or Paul Hubschmidt , and a gorgeous dancer : Debra Paget , escapes from the claws a wealthy Maharajah : Walter Reyel . They flee through the sunny desert , but are again imprisoned and once at palace happens several dangers , risks and adventures . While , the sister : Sabina Bethmann of the architect along with her husband : Claus Holm , appear to build a huge tomb ,and there occurs a coup of state carried out by the Maharajah's brother but things go wrong.

This adventure movie contains thrills , action , exuberant outdoors , luxurious interiors and a twisted love story. The massive budget was all created in India exteriors and in German studios . The film is essentially a romance story and in the midst of fighting , Cobras , surprising underground caves with Zombies-alike , and tigers . Here outstanding the wonderful Debra Paget who performs spectacular and erotic dances . Including an atmospheric and oriental style musical score by Michel Michelet . And a brilliant and luminous photography by Richard Angst , though being necessary a perfect remastering , that is why the film copy is washed-out . This is the second part formed by ¨Tiger of Schnapur¨ and this one , and there is a poorly edited version titled ¨Journey to the Lost City¨ made for USA marketing and delivered by American International Pictures , it is a heavily mounted hybrid of the two Lang films . There is also a silent adaptation , 1922 , by Lang with Conrad Veidt , Paul Ritter , Mia May .

This enormous budget film , for the time , financed by Arthur Brautner and thrilling script by Thea Von Harbou was compellingly directed by Fritz Lang . In 1920 , he began a relationship with actress and writer Thea Von Harbou (1889-1954), who wrote with him the scripts for his most celebrated films : Doctor Mabuse (1922), Nibelungs (1924), Metropolis (1927) and M , vampire of Düsseldorf (1931) . They married in 1922 and divorced in 1933 when Lang fled to America for Nazi regime . Lang directed various prestigious silent movies as Metrópolis , Woman in the moon , Doctor Mabuse , Spies , Spiders , Nibelungs ; noir films : Beyond a reasonable doubt , While city sleeps , The big heat , Clash night ; Drama : woman in the Window , Human Desire , Scarlet street , Fury and Western : Rancho Notorious , Western Union and Revenge of Frank James .

I just watched this on DVD--I wasn't aware of two important factors when I did. One, that this was a remake of a 1938 film, and two that it was actually the last part of a typical Lang epic-length film! I wonder how both films were ever condensed into a mere ninety minutes for domestic release? What an extraordinary feat in itself!

I can see the influence on Speilburg and Luca quite clearly. This does have numerous external similarities to TEMPLE OF DOOM, as well as several motifs common to other Lang films.

There are some amusing blunders. The Priest talks about Allah, then a few scenes later, cautions that THE GODS will be displeased. Islam is monothestic!

There was a line uttered by the Priest: "There will be darkness over Eschanpur." That would have been a most intriguing title, nothing so bland as THE Indian TOMB, and would have also linked TIGERS OF ESCHANAPUR to this film. Both were released in that one 90 minute Americanized version, JOURNEY TO THE LOST CITY. As far as I could tell from this half, the city was far from "lost"! The Maharajah is proclaimed as RAJ of this state and that, master of the realms of Yadda-Yadda, and so on. I got out my map of India and was easily able to locate the areas he mentioned.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and recommend it highly, especially to those who love a good rollicking adventure. I intend to secure the rights and bring this to the screen, before all the tigers are extinct.

This is the first part of Lang's storybook romance between an architect/adventurer in India falling for an exotic temple dancer belonging to the Maharajah. It's an exotic B-movie with low-budget charm and expert craftsmenship, a throwback to old-time matinee adventures. Lang's gift for stylized storytelling is evident throughout. This is part one of two, THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR continues the story right where this one leaves it; so be sure to obtain both films.

Seetha (Debra Paget) and Harold Berger (Paul Hubschmid) are rescued from the desert by a caravan and brought to a small village. However, the greedy owner of the house where they are lodged betrays the law of hospitality and reveals their location to Prince Ramigani (René Deltgen). The couple tries to escape but is hunted and captured by Ramigani and his men. Meanwhile Irene Rhode (Sabine Bethmann) and her husband Walter Rhode (Claus Holm) suspect that Maharaja Chandra (Walter Reyer) is not telling the truth about Harold's destiny. The conspirator Ramigani forces Seetha to accept to get married with Chandra to provoke the wrath of the priests and get the alliance of Prince Padhu (Jochen Brockmann) and his army. In the meantime, Harold succeeds in escaping from the dungeon and seeks out Seetha to save her.

"Das Indische Grabmal" is the delightful conclusion of a romantic adventure in the exotic India. This family movie seems to be a matinée with wonderful moments, like for example, the spider building its web and protecting the lovers after the offering of Seetha to her god Shiva; or the sexy dance of Seetha; or the maze in the underground of the palace; or the dead bodies without gore. The colors are splendidly restored in the DVD released in Brazil by Continental in the beautiful locations and sets, and it is possible to see the strings controlling the snake while Seetha is dancing. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sepulcro Indiano" ("Indian Tomb")

I was wary of purchasing Fantoma's 2-Disc Set of "Fritz Lang's Indian Epic" after being somewhat let down by the 1921 Silent original (co-scripted by Lang himself) and also its less-than-stellar reputation. For this reason, when the second part of the saga turned up on Italian TV a couple of years ago, I decided to check it out just the same so as to get an inkling of what to expect! I recall thinking it pretty kitschy and unworthy of Lang's enormous talent, but Fantoma's sale (through their website) of their entire DVD catalog a few months back made it an irresistible acquisition! Well, having now watched the entire saga (with dialogue and in color, as opposed to the rather static Silent version directed by Joe May - although hearing the Indian-garbed characters talking in German took some getting used to), I was pleasantly surprised by how genuinely engaging and sheerly enjoyable it all was! Though it was sold as an epic production (to the point of concluding ESCHNAPUR with the promise that Part II would feature greater thrills and even more spectacle) at a time when such films were all the rage, the saga was actually a pretty modest undertaking by eclectic (and prolific) German producer Artur Brauner. Despite the two films' exotic, handsome look (not least in the provocative dances of Debra Paget), the budgetary constraints were painfully obvious in the special effects department, especially the hilarious appearance of a 'ropey' cobra which is intended to 'test' (the scantily-clad) Miss Paget's faithfulness to the Maharajah!! All in all, even if these films hardly constitute Lang's greatest work (though he harbored an evident affection throughout his life for this particular tale, which was originally conceived by his former wife Thea von Harbou), they have great - and enduring - appeal for aficionados of old-fashioned, serial-like adventure stories tinged with romance and mysticism.

Even so, while I don't subscribe to that school of thought myself, there are some film critics (Tom Gunning, Jean Douchet and Pierre Rissient among them) who think very highly of Lang's Indian diptych - the first considering it one of Lang's towering achievements and the last two numbering it among the ten greatest films of all time!!