The Rains Came (1939)

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Philip Dunne (screen play) and
Julien Josephson (screen play) ...
(more)

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:

India | Plague | Disaster | Rain | Earthquake

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 Mac Daid
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)
Harry Hayden	...	Rev. Elmer Simon
Herbert Evans	...	Bates
Abner Biberman	...	John - the Baptist
Mara Alexander	...	Mrs. Bannerjee
William Edmunds	...	Mr. Das
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Abdo	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Sonie Charsaky	...	Princess (uncredited)
Zebedy Colt	...	Boy Piano Player (uncredited)
Guy D'Ennery	...	Mr. Durga (uncredited)
Dominie Duval	...	Girl (uncredited)
Fern Emmett	...	Hindu Woman (uncredited)
Rosina Galli	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Officer (uncredited)
Jamiel Hasson	...	Aide-de-Camp (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Adele Labanset	...	Princess (uncredited)
Frank Lackteen	...	Engineer (uncredited)
Connie Leon	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Lal Chand Mehra	...	Jama Singh - Rajput Chant Singer (uncredited)
Rita Page	...	Esketh's Maid (uncredited)
George Regas	...	Rajput (uncredited)
Pedro Regas	...	Offical (uncredited)

Directed by
Clarence Brown

Writing credits
Philip Dunne		(screen play) and
Julien Josephson		(screen play)
Louis Bromfield		(novel)

Produced by
Harry Joe Brown	....	associate producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman

Cinematography by
Arthur C. Miller		(director of photography) (as Arthur Miller)
Bert Glennon		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Barbara McLean

Art Direction by
William S. Darling		(as William Darling)
George Dudley

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little		(set decorations)

Costume Design by
Gwen Wakeling		(costumes)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Otto Brower	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Sol Halperin	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Booth McCracken	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Alfred Bruzlin	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)
Edmund H. Hansen	....	sound department head (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special effects scenes stager
Edmund H. Hansen	....	special effects sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph LaShelle	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Harold Lloyd Morris	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
George Remington	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Charles E. Whittaker	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (presents) (Darryl F. Zanuck's production) (as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (as 20th Century Fox)
• Fox Films (1940) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• M.P.E.A. (1948) (Austria) (theatrical)
• M.P.E.A. (1949) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

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:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #5320) | Canada:G (video rating) | USA:TV-G (tv rating) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Balboa Park - 1549 El Prado, San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 18, 1940 with George Brent reprising his film role.

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:

Thomas 'Tom' Ransome:[showing Lady Esketh the Maharajah's summer palace] That's a Rembrandt. That's a Buddhist prayer wheel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Green Acres: The Rains Came (#1.30)" (1966)

Soundtrack:

Hindoo Song of Love

First film experience.

I was eight years old when I saw this movie. It was the first movie I remember seeing. My mother says that initially I refused to go into the movie theater because it was a dark, and to me, forbidding place. Once inside, however, I didn't want to leave. I have never seen the movie since, but the images of flooding and sick people under mosquito nets are as vivid to me as if I had seen it yesterday. I also have memories of being put through an emotional wringer by the film, thinking it was "real" and crying at the death and destruction it portrayed. The total effect was to hook me on movies for good and I could hardly wait to get back into that dark, engrossing place.