The Black Watch (1929) - film review

In 1914, Donald King is a captain in the Black Watch regiment of the British Army.  Just as his comrades are about to be sent over to France to fight in the First World War his superiors assign him to a secret mission in India.  Now that British troops have been withdrawn from India to support the European war effort, the locals are preparing an uprising.  To thwart this rebellion, Captain King must gain the confidence of Yasmani, a beautiful young woman who is considered a goddess by her people.

One of the most ambitious films of John Ford’s early career, The Black Watch combines a realistic account of WWI with a Boy’s Own adventure fantasy set in the exotic East, a bizarre mix that is probably unique in cinema.  In its day, the film was considered a triumph for its successful use of the recently introduced sound recording technology, although today it feels painfully static and nauseatingly kitsch.  One of the limitations of the early recording equipment was that the actors had to enunciate every syllable clearly and stand like waxworks whilst doing so (to prevent extraneous sounds from being picked up).  As a result, the dialogue is painfully slow and expressionless, giving the impression that the cast is comprised entirely of robots whose batteries have run down.

Although The Black Watch is far from being one of Ford’s better efforts, it is visually striking, offering an authentic recreation of the WWI battlefields and elaborate sets for the Indian part of the story, all beautifully shot in high contrast chiaroscuro.   The performances are generally pretty wooden, although Victor McLaglen makes a robust action hero of the stiff upper lip variety, with Myrna Loy typically stunning as a tribal figurehead-cum-goddess.   The sentimentality is laid on a little too heavily for modern eyes and ears but there are one or two moments of genuine poignancy, such as the sequence in which the soldiers depart for the front line and bid a fond farewell to their loved ones, amid the sad lament of Scottish bagpipes.

© James Travers 2010

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