The Indian Tomb (1959)

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.

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Werner Jörg Lüddecke (screenplay), Thea von Harbou (novel)

Stars:

Debra Paget, Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyer

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Debra Paget	...	Seetha
Paul Hubschmid	...	Harald Berger / Henri Mercier in French Version
Walther Reyer	...	Maharadjaj Chandra
Claus Holm	...	Dr. Walter Rhode
Sabine Bethmann	...	Irene Rhode
René Deltgen	...	Prince Ramigani
Valéry Inkijinoff	...	Yama (as Inkijinoff)
Jochen Brockmann	...	Padhu - Ramigani's ally
Richard Lauffen	...	Bhowana
Jochen Blume	...	Asagara - the Engineer
Helmut Hildebrand	...	Ramigani's servant
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Friedrich Schoenfelder	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

priest | stabbed in the back | spider web | hinduism | culture clash | 

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Taglines:

Der deutsche Millionen-Film!

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Genres:

Adventure | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

a In the French-dubbed version, known as "Le tombeau hindou" (released in July 1959), Debra Paget is dubbed by Michèle Montel, Paul Hubschmid by Michel Roux, Walther Reyer by Jean-Claude Michel, Claus Holm by Daniel Clérice, Sabine Bethmann by Nadine Alari, René Deltgen by Yves Brainville and Jochen Blume by Roger Rudel.

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Goofs

The cobra is shown as having around ten fangs descending from the roof of its mouth and arranged in two back to front lines, somewhat like teeth, whereas they only have two.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Follows Tiger of Bengal (1959)

User Reviews

Fritz Lang's Indian Epic, part II

In the end of Der Tiger von Eschnapur the two lovers were in the middle of a sandstorm.Harald Berger (Paul Hubschmid), the German architect and his Indian lover, dancer Seetha (Debra Paget) were chased through the desert by shikaris (cavalry) of Eschnapur's maharajah Chandra (Walter Reyer).They get into a Shiva temple, where a spider weaves a web so the trackers won't look for them in there.But Seetha is caught inside.He has to try and survive alone, and to safe the one he loves.But it's not going to be easy.His sister Irene (Sabine Bethmann) and her husband, architect Walter Rhode (Claus Holm) are suspicious,after Chandra has asked him to build a tomb for Seetha, who is still alive.She won't believe that her brother has died on a tiger hunt.Meanwhile, prince Ramigani (René Deltgen) wants to seize Chandra's throne.Das Indische Grabmal (1959) was the second last film Fritz Lang directed.His Indian epic is based on work he did forty years earlier on a silent version of Das Indische Grabmal.He wrote the screenplay with his wife of the time, Thea von Harbou, who also starred Die Nibelungen movies.It based on Harbou's novel of the same name.Both of these adventure films offer many thrills.The subterranean scenes are very thrilling.And to see Harald chained, trying to fight his way into freedom.It's a very sexy scene where Seetha dances to charm the cobra in that most revealing costume.The conclusion of this story is well told.

Details

Country:

West Germany France Italy

Language:

German

Release Date:

October 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Indian Tomb

Filming Locations:

Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Box Office

Budget:

DEM20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,401, 29 September 2019

Gross USA:

$4,673

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,673

Company Credits

Production Co:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC), Rizzoli Film, Regina Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1