The Black Watch
Directed by John Ford
Written by James Kevin McGuiness and John Stone from a novel by Talbot Mundy
1929/US
Fox Film Corporation
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Tagline: Face to Face With the Women He Came to Betray…Duty Urged Him On…Love Held Him Back…A Titanic Struggle of Power and Passion. (Print Ad- Greensburg Daily Tribune, ((Greensburg, Penna.))
John Ford’s first talkie is an impressive technical effort. The script though, hoo-ee!
The famous Highland regiment of the British army has been called up to the front lines of WWI in France. Victor McLaglen is a popular captain in the regiment. But he is suddenly ordered on a top secret mission to India to infiltrate a Muslim terrorist organization which holds many British prisoners and has plans to disrupt the Raj. The mission is extremely dangerous but he can disclose it to no one so all his comrades think he is a coward who is avoiding combat.
His first goal is to get close to Myrna Loy, whom her followers believe is a goddess. Loy’s followers distrust McLaglen but she falls for him because she “has Aryan blood”. Much danger and action follow.
The Scottish part of this movie is classic Ford with lots of male bonding, singing, and sentiment. The Indian section can be described only as politically incorrect high camp. All the actors wear brown face except for Loy with her “Aryan Blood”. She was still in her sinister Oriental phase and her line delivery is a hoot! The technical aspects of the film are unusually polished for this period and there are plenty of extras and lavish costumes and set design. If you can get over the ethnic stereotyping and brown face, you might have a bit of fun with this movie. McLaglen looks so young and attractive! It’s definitely not a must-see.
