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

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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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:

DEM 20,000,000 (estimated)

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

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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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Follows Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1959)

User Reviews

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!!