The Green Goddess (1930)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Alfred E. Green

Writers:

William Archer (play)
Julien Josephson (writer)

Release Date:

13 February 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

An airplane carrying three Brits--Major Crespin, his wife Lucille, and Dr. Trahern--crash lands in the kingdom of Rukh...

Plot Keywords:

India | British Colonial | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

George Arliss	...	The Raja of Rukh
Ralph Forbes	...	Dr. Basil Traherne
H.B. Warner	...	Major Crespin
Alice Joyce	...	Lucilla Crespin
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Watkins (as Ivan Simpson)
Reginald Sheffield	...	Lt. Cardew (as Reggy Sheffield)
Betty Boyd	...	An Ayah
Nigel De Brulier	...	Temple Priest
David Tearle	...	High Priest

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Vitaphone (Western Electric Sound System)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Originally released with sound on disc, sound on film was added at a later date, resulting in the left side of the image in surviving prints noticeably cropped in order to provide space on which to accommodate the soundtrack.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Green Goddess (1923)

An entertainingly exotic mixture of drama, comedy and melodrama.

Although it doesn't start too promisingly, interest rises dramatically once Arliss enters the picture. With his sly, cunning portrait of a well-mannered but vicious despot, Arliss easily out-acts every other member of the cast, though Ivan Simpson enjoys some splendid moments as his dressed-to-the-nines flunky.

The direction, alas, is dull and static.

Production values, laced with obvious footage from Arliss' 1923 version, appear surprisingly meager.

Nonetheless, Arliss is such a skilfully charismatic lead, it would be a shame to miss his fascinating interpretation.