The Rains Came

[Lzcutter]

There is a great 1939 film coming to TCM tomorrow afternoon/evening (Thursday, Feb. 26th), depending upon your time zone. 6:00 EST/3:00 PST

The Rains Came with Tyrone Power and Myrna Loy and some incredible special effects is not to be missed. The special effects rival those in San Francisco.

It doesn't get shown much on TCM because it is a Fox film so if you're interested be sure to Tivo it or watch it because it's not getting an encore presentation any time in the next three months.

Klon,

Hopefully this will make up for Three Comrades.

[markfp]

I recorded it, and am looking forward to watching it this weekend. Somehow, it's one of those "should have seen" films that I never have.

[klondike]

Klon,

Hopefully this will make up for Three Comrades.

Thanks much, Lynn; it probably would have, if I'd found your reminder in time! Reckon I'll scribble this title onto my "look for it at the vid-rent store" list!

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

I watched the film and must say that I enjoyed it very much.
Always love Myrna Loy, even when she's a bad girl, but she wasn't as bad really as the Lana Turner remake in the 50's.
The one I wanted to kick was Nigel Bruce, her husband. But, he did get it in the end.

Tyrone Power was very handsome and gave a good performance; in fact, the whole cast was superb.
I even liked and admired George Brent - he could act!!

Loved seeing Jane Darwell, Marjorie Rambeau and Laure Hope Crews - all bitchy and wonderful.

I've never seen Brenda Joyce in anything and was quite surprised that she did such agood job here.

But, I must say that I give my top marks and admiration to Mary Nash; what a great actress.

Larry

[feaito]

This is one of my favorite disaster movies from the Classic Golden Era, especially due to the great cast lead by my very favorite actress, Myrna and Ty and the awesome sets and special effects. I agree with you Larry in that Mary Nash is quite remarkable in this movie as the nurse hopelessly in love with Doctor Ty. She also was very good in Shirley Temple's "Heidi" (1938) and in "Easy Living" (1937).

[Lzcutter]

"Don't move! They only attack when provoked."
George Brent to Myrna Loy regarding the family of dogs coming to greet them at the doorway of a swanky party.

The Rains Came , Mr Cutter and I got a chance to watch this one together last night. As always I had to keep reminding him that the film was made 70 years ago.

I don't know that Tyrone Power ever looked more gorgeous than he did here with white turban and his over bronzed skin.

Again, it was great to see how information was given in just little snippets of conversation without having to go into lengthy exposition. Perhaps that was the hand of Darryl Zanuck as John Ford was a master at it and worked with Zanuck on many films together. The script was by Phillip Dunne (How Green Was My Valley ) and Julien Josephson.

Directed by Clarence Brown, The Rains Came is one of those great Hollywood romantic movies with star-crossed lovers but with a twist, they never kiss in this one. Okay, maybe they kiss once.

Power plays an idealistic Indian doctor Rama Safti, in the state of Ranchipur (somewhere in India during British colonial rule). His long-suffering nurse, Miss McDaid (played by Mary Nash) has likely been carrying that torch for him since the first day she laid eyes on him. (And really who can blame her).

We meet both at the top of the film when Nash drops Power off at the home of Tom Ransome (George Brent) who doesn't have much of the family fortune left but what little he does have, he drinks away. The local minster's daughter, Fern Simon (Brenda Joyce) has him firmly in her sights. She is young, barely 18 and cannot wait to escape the heat of India and the grip of her family.

Into all of this comes Myrna Loy as the slightly bored, much younger wife of rich and pompous Lord Albert Esketh (Nigel Bruce). She and Tom had a "thing" some time in the past but it ended but not badly enough as they still speak and still flirt.

Needless to say, the first thing that truly catches her eye is the good doctor, Rama. Unfortunately for her, Rama has also caught the attention of the Maharishi and more importantly his wonderful wife, the Maharani (played exquisitely by Maria Ouspenskaya. She and the hubby have big plans for Rama and unfortunately for Lady Edwina Esketh (poor Myrna), they don't include her.

Maria O. by the way is just wonderful as the Maharani. She must have been a very tiny woman or George Brent and Ty Power weren't very tall. But she has you believing from the minute you see her that she and her husband not only love one another but that she is likely the quiet power behind the throne.

The story trundles along introducing to some quite engaging characters including Aunt Phoebe (Jane Darwell) and her delightful husband, Homer (Henry Travers) who run the local school. Laura Hope-Crews plays yet another version of Aunt Pittypat here, essaying a role as a slightly ditzy British society matron.

The much hoped and prayed for rains do come about an hour into the movie. The special effects on this movie are quite stunning (even on the small screen) and remind us all of what could be created with mattes and opticals in the days before computer graphics.

The rains cause a flash flood and spark an earthquake that devastates the region. In the aftermath, Edwina, Ransome and Fern are forced to come to grips with themselves and each has to decide if they will take this opportunity to become better people. Fern and Tom rise to the occasion much faster than Lady Esketh. Edwina continues to play cards while those around her rise to the occasion and pitch in to help in disaster relief.

Having lost her husband in the disaster, Edwina sees her chance to get close to Rama by volunteering at the hospital. Miss McDaid puts her work scrubbing the floors. Rama sees Myrna on her hands and knees cleaning up after one of the doctors and suggests that perhaps Edwina's talents could be better used in the wards. Miss McDaid who cannot deny the good doctor even though she loathes Edwina agrees.

The Maharani (who also lost her husband in the disaster) confides to Tom the plans that she and the hubby had for Rama. They have no children and Rama is take over for them when the time comes. Those plans still do not include Edwina and the Maharani, while a compassionate woman understands that Rama's journey is India's journey and he is not to go off on an adventure with a socialite and turn his back on the people who truly need him.

Tom, who has become the Maharani's assistant (and Fern his assistant), must break the news to Edwina. She takes it like a trooper. She and Rama share a few moments away from the chaos of the hospital and the plague. Rama tells her that when the plague has passed they will sail away from India and go somewhere nicer. He has plenty of plans for the two of them. But, Myrna, as always knows better. She announces she must leave and Rama promises to join her.

She goes back to the ward to tend to the patients. An elderly woman moans for water. Over-worked and over-tired, Edwina administers a glass of cool water to the woman. As she back away from the woman, the man who handled the fanning of the woman, collapses. Edwina drops the glass on the first level surface she can find and calls for help. The man is carried away.

Now really exhausted, Edwina sits down in the chair and pours herself a glass of water. She drinks the cool liquid and it is only as she sets the glass down that she realizes it is not the sterilized glass she thought it was but the one that the elderly woman drank from.

She is doomed. But no one ever looked more lovely (well maybe Camille) going to their doom than Edwina. Rama finds her and realizes she has a fever. She tries to pass it off as being tired.

On her deathbed she gives away her jewels to Fern, telling her that she must take them to give hers and Tom's children stories to tell at swanky society dinners in the future. Fern finally accepts. She and Tom say their good-byes and Edwina's love, Rama sits by her bedside.

She dies listening to his honied voice tell her about their future.

At the end, the Maharani retires passes the mantle to Rama to lead her country out of darkness. Dressed in exquisite silk with his dazzling white turban, Rama steps forward to accept his destiny.

1939 was a great year for movies. In any year, this would have been a top film. In 1939 it was one of many top movies. Happy 70th Birthday, The Rains Came .

[moira finnie]

I was reading Rudy Behlmer's Memo from Darryl F. Zanuck: The Golden Years at Twentieth Century Fox recently. The final scene of The Rains Came, with Tyrone Power, in his Rajah's splendor, walking purposefully toward the camera and past it, which seems so modern compared to the rest of the movie, was shot after the principal photography on the movie was completed. Zanuck thought that the original ending was not spectacular enough. The impact of that finale on the giant movie screen must have been terrific! While the great Arthur Miller is the cinematographer for most of the movie, the end may have been shot by Bert Glennon, a very talented man as well.

I thought that Myrna Loy looked most beautiful in this film when she's supposed to be dying of beri-beri or cholera or whatever it was snatched her away from Ty! It must have been because her soul was becoming purer after her nursing of the sick, eh?

Is it love or the plague that gives dear Myrna that glow?

[Lzcutter]

Moira,

Mr Cutter noticed a similar thing about Myrna in an earlier scene.

My response was "Well actresses didn't go anywhere without their key light."

[moira finnie]

You know, Lynn,
Except for her early movies such as Thirteen Women (1932) and Stamboul Quest and such folderol, I honestly think that they did a better job at Fox of catching an ethereal quality in Myrna's real beauty than they normally did over at her home studio of MGM. Most of the time she looks very lovely but not knockout gorgeous as she appeared here. She must've charmed the socks off those 20th Century Fox cinematographers or something. Or she did smuggle a key light into the lot...or did Tyrone Power lend her his key light??

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

A bit of trivia, known to me but not many others:

When Lana was lent out to Fox for the remake, the role of the Maharani was not cast yet.
At a party at the Goetz's Lana sat next to me and Pola Negri sat across from me. Lana point blank told Pola to apply for the role, as she would be great (and she would have)....

When the film started Lana was surprised that Pola wasn't the Maharani and that Eugenie Leontivich was cast. Lana didn't like Eugenie one bit (which was probably good for the movie).
We all found out that Pola never even asked for the role and Lana was peeved with her.

I just thought I'd gloat - I know something you don't know - - well, now we all do.
But, will this bit of info put bacon on your table??

Larry

[feaito]

Moira,

You are so right about Myrna looking so glowingly beautiful in this film! You nailed it! Since I first watched the film I liked very much the way in which Myrna looked in the whole film; indeed her appearance is different than in her MGM films of the time; she looks more attractive, sexier, younger, with a special glow. And know thanks to your post I've realized that! That is yet another reason to like this great spectacle.

On the other hand, her Edwina is much more likable than Lana's character in the 1955 remake.

I remember reading that Myrna and Clarence Brown were borrowed by Fox from MGM, because Fox had lent Ty Power to MGM for "Marie Antoinette"; is this correct?

[Vecchiolarry]

Lynn,

I'm bumping up this thread again as "The Rains Came" will be coming on TCM Thursday, the 30th at night. Check your local listings.

As posted previously, I saw this film for the first time a couple of months ago and thought it was one of the best movies ever made.
And, since Brenda Joyce has just died, it can be viewed as her obituary and probably her best role in movis.... I don't know much about her but this is a very fine performance for a first role in films.... Congratulations, Brenda!!!

And, watch for Mary Nash, as the jealous & possessive nurse - she's brilliant....

Also Tyrone and Myrna never looked better - truly two beautiful stars.... No one equals them today...

Larry

[Ollie]

Thanks for making this note. I'd forgotten about it, and my wife promised that she'd let me off the wall if I'd let her work on my tan. Or something like that. She keeps using the words "baste" and "basting". That, and the new logs in the firepit under my rack of torture... I don't know if I like the sound of that-! I'm just glad April and Alison aren't around to encourage this sort of thing. And Theresa's just too darned nice. Whew - I'm SOOO lucky.

[knitwit45]

Thanks for making this note. I'd forgotten about it, and my wife promised that she'd let me off the wall if I'd let her work on my tan. Or something like that. She keeps using the words "baste" and "basting". That, and the new logs in the firepit under my rack of torture... I don't know if I like the sound of that-! I'm just glad April and Alison aren't around to encourage this sort of thing. And Theresa's just too darned nice. Whew - I'm SOOO lucky.

huh?????? what did I miss? is there something in The Rains Came about torture?????

[Lzcutter]

Nancy,

Not to worry, there are no torture scenes in Rains, though one could probably get a very nice tan just basking in the light that Ty Power gives off in his over-bronzed make-up.

I swear the man was never so beautiful as with that darn turban on.

I still remember where I was (at the Los Angeles County Museum Museum of Art in the mid-1980s -thanks Ron Haver) when I saw it on the big screen.

Especially poignant in light of LACMA's announcement yesterday of dismantling their weekly film programming.