India Speaks

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India Speaks
RKO Radio Pictures
Release dates
  • April 28, 1933 (1933-04-28) (U.S.)
  • 1949 (1949) (Film Classics re-release)[2]
Running time
80 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

India Speaks is a 1933

Pre-Code adventure film, combining elements of documentaries and travelogue programs, mostly taking place on the Indian sub-continent along with staged bits spliced in to aid story flow. Produced by Walter Futter from a screenplay by Norman Houston, the film was directed, narrated and starring Richard Halliburton. A sequel to the popular film Africa Speaks!
.

Plot

Ostensibly a filmed recollection of Richard Halliburton's travels on the Indian sub-continent, the film combined actual footage shot in India, with scenes which were created on the sound stages of Hollywood. Halliburton was a well-known adventurer of the day, having traveled the world extensively, and even becoming the first man to swim the Panama Canal.[4] The film follows Halliburton's travels, from the Hindu temple of the Goddess of Kali, through the deserted temples of Angkor Wat, where he is tempted to try to gain a fortune in jewels, only to be thwarted by a guardian cobra.

He watches as Hindu devotees wash away their sins in the

Madras, whereby they pierce their cheeks and tongues with sharp needles, and pull large carts which are attached to their bodies by means of hooks inserted in their flesh.[5]

The only credited cast member is Richard Halliburton, who stars as "The Adventurer", as well as being the narrator of the film.

Production

In 1932,

RKO Radio Pictures.[7] The working title of this film was Jade, but was changed to India Speaks in January 1931.[8] This film was the second in Futter's series of dramatic travelogues, the first being Africa Speaks.[9]

The cinematographers, Peverell Marley, Robert Connell, and H. T. Cowling, spent several months in India and southeast Asia, taking footage used in the film.[10] While many industry sources of the period claimed that Halliburton had overseen the photography in Asia, in a personal appearance at Radio City Music Hall, admitted that he had not been in Asia while the footage was being shot. This point is also highlighted by Futter in an on-screen forward to the film.[10]

The film's release was delayed when Futter developed a case of pneumonia.[11] Controversy arose after the film was released, with one of the cameramen, Herford Tynes Cowling (H.T. Cowling), claiming to be the producer of the film, and that his footage was being misused. He filed a grievance with the Federal Trade Commission to bar the film from being shown, but no record exists that the grievance was successful.[12]

Reception

Most of the reviews at the time were positive.

Film Daily described it as an "Exciting, interesting and thrilling adventure film with unusually fine narrative."[14]

However, Variety said of the film, "It turns out to be a wearisome 80 minutes of travelog, irritatingly interrupted by indifferent acting";[12] and Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called it "a curious concoction of fact and fiction".[15]

Preservation status

This is now considered a lost film.[citation needed]

Popular culture

The title of this film, along with other films with similar titles such as Africa Speaks! and Mussolini Speaks, gave Duke Ellington the idea to call his song "Harlem Speaks".[16] The film was also made into a novel, although it is not clear whether this happened before or after the film was released to the public. The book was written by Will C. Murphey.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Variety (March 21, 1933)
  2. ^ "India Speaks: Detail View". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  3. ^ "India Speaks". AllMovie. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  4. ^ "World-Explorer Discovers Hollywood". Motion Picture Magazine. April 1933. pp. 58, 59, 87, 89.
  5. ^ "Who Said "No More Thrills"?". Screenland. April 1933. pp. 61, 92–93. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  6. ^ "Between You and Me". Modern Screen. May 1933. p. 82. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  7. ^ "Radio Releasing Futter Feature on 50-50 Split". Variety. March 7, 1933. p. 12. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  8. ^ ""Jade" retitled". Film Daily. January 21, 1933. p. 2. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  9. ^ "Africa Speaks". AFI. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "India Speaks". Motion Picture Herald. May 13, 1933. p. 26.
  11. ^ "Walter Futter Laid Up". The Film Daily. February 21, 1933. p. 7. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Film Fakers". International Photographer. June 1933. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  13. ^ "India Speaks". Screenland. August 1933. p. 10. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  14. ^ a b ""India Speaks" is a Rare Film". Motion Picture Herald. May 13, 1933. p. 12. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  15. ^ "Scenes of Life in India and Tibet, With a Running Comment Delivered by Richard Halliburton". The New York Times. May 8, 1933. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  16. ^ "Along the Rialto". The Film Daily. May 22, 1933. p. 7. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  17. ^ "India Speaks, Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=India_Speaks&oldid=1198761642"