As I write this, Hurricane Florence is hammering the coasts of North and South Carolina. Over the course of the next 5 days, local rainfall is expected to exceed 40 inches in places, leading to widespread, catastrophic flooding.
On this day 79 years ago, moviegoers were flocking to theaters to see a drama that hinges on another disaster caused by rain.
Aptly titled The Rains Came, the film tells the story of young Lady Edwina Esketh (Myrna Loy), who’s come to colonial India with her old-rich-guy husband (Nigel Bruce) so he can buy horses from the Maharajah (H.B. Warner). Bored, she turns first to old flame Tom (George Brent) and then to an Army doctor, Maj. Rama Safti (Tyrone Power) for attention. She soon falls desperately in love with the serious doc.
The brewing love triangle is interrupted by the seasonal monsoon rains causing a dam to collapse, flooding the area. As disease soon sets in, everyone must pitch in to help, including Lady Edwina. The plot then dishes up the standard consequences for a married woman falling in love with someone else. Sigh.
The depictions of both the flood and an earthquake were outstanding for their time, earning Fred Sersen and Edmund H. Hansen an Academy Award for Best Special Effects. The film was also nominated for Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound, Editing, and Original Score.
The film was helmed by Oscar-nominated director Clarence Brown (Anna Karenina, The Yearling, National Velvet), and the screenplay was adapted from Louis Bromfield’s novel by Philip Dunne (How Green Was My Valley) and Julien Josephson (Disraeli).
Although the movie carries a 7.0 rating on IMdB, it is often overlooked because it had the misfortune to debut in the same year as The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Gone with the Wind, among others. The movie was remade in 1955 as The Rains of Ranchipur, starring Lana Turner, Richard Burton, and Fred MacMurray as Edwina, Safti, and Tom, respectively. But the original is the one to watch if you’re looking for human drama and good practical effects.
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