The Rains Came (1939)

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Philip Dunne (screenplay) and
Julien Josephson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 September 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Plot:

An Indian aristocrat Rama Safti returns from medical training in the U.S. to give his life to the poor folk of Ranchipur...

Plot Keywords:

Earthquake | India | Epidemic | Flood | Doctor Nurse Relationship

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Myrna Loy	...	Lady Edwina Esketh
Tyrone Power	...	Major Rama Safti
George Brent	...	Tom Ransome
Brenda Joyce	...	Fern Simon
Nigel Bruce	...	Lord Albert Esketh
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Maharani
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Mr. Bannerjee
Mary Nash	...	Miss MacDaid
Jane Darwell	...	Aunt Phoebe (Mrs. Smiley)
Marjorie Rambeau	...	Mrs. Simon
Henry Travers	...	Rev. Homer Smiley
H.B. Warner	...	Maharajah
Laura Hope Crews	...	Lily Hoggett-Egburry
William Royle	...	Raschid Ali Khan
C. Montague Shaw	...	General Keith (as Montague Shaw)

Runtime:

103 min | 105 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #5320)

Filming Locations:

Balboa Park, San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The studio had difficulty finding enough light-gray, black-faced monkeys for the shoot, so the makeup artists actually made up more common-looking monkeys to "fit the part".

Goofs:

Continuity: Even though Rama and Lady Edwima are caught in the same thundershower on the same street, when they arrive at Mr. Das' music school, his clothes are wet while hers are amazingly dry. Also's the wet spots on Rama's clothes migrate to different areas from scene to scene as they move from room to room in the school.

Quotes:

Lady Edwina Esketh: You sober enough to take me to the party?
Thomas 'Tom' Ransome: [taking a drink] Almost.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Boom! Hollywood's Greatest Disaster Movies (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hindoo Song of Love

Disaster strikes India

The Rains Came is one of several disaster movies that were made in the 1930's and I found this quite good.

An aristocrat returns to India from America and he helps out some poor people in a village. He falls in love and then disaster strikes, first flooding after days of continuous heavy rain, an earthquake and then plague which kills many. He manages to survive all this though.

The special effects are quite good for the time and one of the best sequences is the dam bursting.

The cast includes Tyrone Power (The Mark of Zorro), George Brent (Dark Victory), Brenda Joyce (who went on to play Jane in some Tarzan movies), Myna Loy and a pre Dr Watson Nigel Bruce, who plays an ill tempered Lord.

This movie is worth a look at if you get the chance.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.