The Indian Tomb

Original title: Das indische Grabmal

19591959
1h 42min

A German architect runs away with the maharajah of Eschnapur's fiancee but is caught and thrown in the dungeon, while his relatives arrive from Europe looking for him and the maharajah's bro... Read allA German architect runs away with the maharajah of Eschnapur's fiancee but is caught and thrown in the dungeon, while his relatives arrive from Europe looking for him and the maharajah's brother is scheming to usurp the throne.A German architect runs away with the maharajah of Eschnapur's fiancee but is caught and thrown in the dungeon, while his relatives arrive from Europe looking for him and the maharajah's brother is scheming to usurp the throne.

6.7/10

2.4K

Director
- Fritz Lang
Writers
- Werner Jörg Lüddecke(screenplay)
- Thea von Harbou(novel)
- Richard Eichberg(original screenplay)
Stars

Top credits

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See more at IMDbPro

Debra Paget and Walther Reyer in Das indische Grabmal (1959)

Paul Hubschmid and Debra Paget in Das indische Grabmal (1959)

Debra Paget in Das indische Grabmal (1959)

Walther Reyer in Das indische Grabmal (1959)

René Deltgen, Helmut Hildebrand, and Debra Paget in Das indische Grabmal (1959)

Director
- Fritz Lang
Writers
- Werner Jörg Lüddecke(screenplay)
- Thea von Harbou(novel)
- Richard Eichberg(original screenplay)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

Harald Berger and his Indian lover, the temple dancer Seetha, desperately flee from the shikaris (cavalry) of Eschanapur's maharajah Chandra, who burn a whole village just for letting them pass invoking traditional hospitality. A spider weaves a web so the trackers won't look for them in a Shiva temple, but she is caught outside, he left for dead after a steep fall into a crocodile-infested water. Meanwhile his sister Irene and brother-in-law Dr. Walter Rhode, the architect who refuses to build a tomb to bury Seetah alive for scorning the ruler's love before the hospital he was asked for, guess the truth, and try to make their assigned Indian servant Asagara talk, who dreads incriminating his sovereign. She can't believe Chandra's claim Harald was killed on a tiger-hunt, and the architect finds the bloody shirt he produces doesn't have the button she mended. Prince Ramigani plots seizing Chandra's throne with rajah Padhu, courtiers and the corrupt General Dagh, as soon as Chandra gives offense by marrying the unworthy dancer, which would turn the Hindu priests and ordinary people against him. Seetah dances to charm a cobra in the temple by way of oracle of the goddess, but when she trips Chandra kills the beast, is accused of blasphemy but decides to wed her anyhow, intending to bury his unwilling queen as soon as the monumental tomb is ready. Irene overhears Ramigami forcing Seetah to accept the loveless marriage for the life of Harald, whom he has secretly incarcerated in the palace's vast subterranean, and plans with her and Walter to find him and flee, using dynamite to create a diversion... —KGF Vissers

priest stabbed in the back spider web hinduism culture clash 59 more

Taglines
- Der deutsche Millionen-Film!
Genres
- Adventure
- Romance
Parents guide

Trivia
Fritz Lang actually was said to mock both this movie and his prequel with German puns: "Das indische Grabmal" he renamed to "Das kindische Grabmal" ("The childish tomb"); "Der Tiger von Eschnapur" became "The Tiger von Dextropur" (Dextropur being a brand of Dextrose Sugar).

Goofs
It takes a spider an hour to construct a web but the man sized one in the cave mouth is constructed in just over a minute.

Crazy credits
Based on an original story by Thea Von Harbou made famous by Richard Eichberg.

Connections
Edited into Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)

Top review

6/10

Fritz Lang's Indian Epic **1/2

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!!

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