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{{short description|1956 film by George Cukor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox film {{Infobox film
| name = Bhowani Junction | name = Bhowani Junction
| image = Bhowani Junction.jpg | image = Bhowani Junction.jpg
| image_size = 225px | caption = Theatrical film poster
| caption = Theatrical Film Poster
| director = ] | director = ]
| producer = ] | producer = ]
| writer = ]<br />] | writer = ]<br />]
| based on = {{Based on|'']''|]}} | based_on = {{Based on|'']''<br />1954 novel|]}}
| starring = ]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />] | starring = ]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]
| music = ] | music = ]
| cinematography = ] | cinematography = ]
| editing = George Boemler<br />Frank Clarke | editing = George Boemler<br />]
| studio = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios
| distributor = ] | distributor = ]
| released = {{Film date|1956|5|1|United States}} | released = {{film date|df=y|1956|10|29|UK}}{{Film date|df=yes|1956|5|1|USA}}
| runtime = 110 minutes | runtime = 110 minutes
| country = United States<br />United Kingdom<br />Pakistan | country = United Kingdom
| language = English | language = English
| budget = $3,637,000<ref name="Mannix">'The Eddie Mannix Ledger’, Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles</ref> | budget = $3,637,000<ref name="Mannix">'The Eddie Mannix Ledger’, Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles</ref>
| gross = $4,875,000<ref name="Mannix"/> | gross = $4,875,000<ref name="Mannix"/>
}} }}


'''''Bhowani Junction''''' is a 1956 ] of the 1954 novel '']'' by ] made by ]. The film was directed by ] and produced by ] from a screenplay by ] and ]. '''''Bhowani Junction''''' is a 1956 British ] ] film of the 1954 novel '']'' by ]. The film was directed by ] and produced by ] from a screenplay by ] and ].


The film starred ] as Victoria Jones, an ] who has been serving in the ], and ] as Colonel Rodney Savage, a (British) Indian Army officer. It also featured ], ], ], ] and (uncredited)<ref>{{IMDb title|id=0049007|title=Bhowani Junction}}</ref> ] (who went on to become one of the leading ladies of the Pakistan film industry). The film stars ] as Victoria Jones, an ] who has been serving in the ], and ] as Colonel Rodney Savage, a ] officer. It also features ], ], ], and ].


The film was shot in England at ], ], ], on the ],<ref>{{cite book|author=Ronald, D. W.|author2=Carter, R. J.|title=The Longmoor Military Railway|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|year=1974|isbn=0-7153-6357-3|page=168}}</ref> and on location in ], ]. The film was shot in England at ], ], ], on the ],<ref>{{cite book|author=Ronald, D. W.|author2=Carter, R. J.|title=The Longmoor Military Railway|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|year=1974|isbn=0-7153-6357-3|page=168}}</ref> and on location in ], Pakistan.


==Plot== ==Plot==
India, 1947: Victoria Jones, a woman raised by an Indian mother and English father who has been serving India in the army, returns after a long absence to Bhowani Junction, where supporters of ] are protesting against British rule, led by a revolutionary known as Davay. India, 1947: In the final days of British rule, Victoria Jones, the beautiful daughter of an Indian mother and an English ], is serving in the British Army. She returns on leave after four years to her childhood home in the fictional town of Bhowani, north-western India, where supporters of ] are campaigning for ] while communists, led by a revolutionary known as Davay, foment riot and sabotage.


She becomes reacquainted with a childhood sweetheart also of Indian-Anglo heritage, traffic superintendent Patrick Taylor, and with Colonel Rodney Savage, who is attempting to maintain law and order. The protesters disrupt rail service and Savage repels them, but Victoria does not approve of his methods. She begins seriously contemplating her future and speculates that she might marry a man from India, although clearly Taylor is still in love with her and Savage infatuated. She becomes reacquainted with a childhood sweetheart also of ] heritage, rail traffic superintendent Patrick Taylor, and also with Colonel Rodney Savage, a British army officer whose Indian battalion has been posted to Bhowani to maintain law and order as British rule ends. The protesters disrupt the rail service and Savage places Victoria on duty during the crisis. He disperses the protesters violently and Victoria does not approve of his methods. She begins seriously contemplating her identity and speculates that she should marry a man from India, although clearly Taylor is still in love with her and Savage has become infatuated with her.


Alone one night, Victoria is attacked and nearly raped by an officer named McDaniel, before killing him with a steel bar. Finding her, a man named Ranjit Kasel takes her home and offers her sanctuary, introducing her to his mother, the Sardarni, and to a guest in their home, Ghan Shyam, who offers to hide McDaniel's body after the Sardarni worries that her son Ranjit will be the one accused of the man's murder. Walking home alone one night, Victoria is attacked and nearly raped by Captain McDaniel, one of Savage's men, but in self-defence she strikes him on the head with a steel bar and kills him. Finding her, a ] co-worker of Taylor's, Ranjit Kasel, takes her to his home and offers her sanctuary, introducing her to his mother, the Sadani, and to a guest in their home, Ghanshyam, who offers to hide McDaniel's body after the Sadani worries that her son Ranjit will be accused of murdering the officer.


Davay's raids continue. He blows up a train, causing numerous deaths and injuries. Victoria, influenced by her love for India, decides to marry Ranjit, only to get cold feet during the ceremony and suddenly flee. She soon comes to realize that the man in Ranjit's home, Ghan Shyam, is actually the revolutionary leader Davay. Davay's raids on the military infrastructure continue. He blows up a train, causing numerous deaths and injuries. Victoria, influenced by her love for India, decides to marry Ranjit, but during the ceremony, fearing the complete loss of her dual race identity, suddenly flees. When an army sentry is found murdered because he saw McDaniel and Victoria together just before she killed the officer, Victoria realizes that the man in Ranjit's home, Ghanshyam, is actually Davay and that the Sadani, once a notorious Indian resistance leader, has been harboring him.


Savage and Taylor rush to prevent a disaster as Davay runs to a train tunnel, dynamite strapped to his body. Taylor recklessly charges right at him and Davay shoots him. Savage, cradling his friend as he dies, manages to kill Davay before the arrival of the train. On board is Gandhi, whom Davay apparently meant to murder, thereby inciting further hostilities and riots. Davay kidnaps Victoria, using her to escape the city aboard her father's train. Savage and Taylor intercept the train before it reaches a tunnel, rescuing Victoria but finding Davay has gone into the tunnel with dynamite. Taylor recklessly advances into the tunnel to defuse the dynamite but is shot by Davay, who in turn is immediately shot and killed by Savage. Savage, cradling Taylor as he dies, watches the safe passage of the train. On board is ], whom Davay intended to assassinate, thereby inciting further hostilities and riots.


Savage's duty here has ended and he is summoned back to England, but as he intends to leave for home, his love for Victoria has become overwhelming. He offers to remain here, living together in India, and she accepts. Savage's duty in India ends and he is summoned back to England, but his love for Victoria has become overwhelming. When she refuses to marry him and live in England, he proposes to marry but remain in India, and she accepts. Savage's superior offers to expedite his early release from military service in acknowledgement for his accomplishments.


==Cast== ==Cast==
Line 47: Line 50:
* ] as Ranjit Kasel * ] as Ranjit Kasel
* ] as Govindaswami * ] as Govindaswami
* ] as Ghan Shyam aka Davay * ] as Ghanshyam aka Davay
* ] as Thomas Jones * ] as Thomas Jones
* ] as The Sardarni * ] as the Sadani
* ] as Captain Graham McDaniel * ] as Captain Graham McDaniel
* ] as Ted Dunphy * ] as Ted Dunphy
* Yousaf D Hamdani as Assistant Director * Yousaf D Hamdani as Assistant Director
* ] as a 15-year-old girl
* Zohra Mahmood, special appearance


==Differences from novel== ==Differences from novel==
The film, like the original novel, portrays the Anglo-Indian protagonist, Victoria Jones, as tugged in different directions by three suitors, Col. Rodney Savage, Ranjit Kasel and Patrick Taylor, each representing a different ethnic community: British, Indian (Sikh) and Anglo-Indian, respectively. The film-makers, however, changed the novel's ending and Victoria's fate. Whereas in the novel Victoria finally seeks her future with her fellow Anglo-Indian Patrick, a railway worker, the film-makers instead matched her at the end with the more obviously dashing British officer Rodney Savage, while consigning Patrick to a heroic death.<ref name=Jacobson>{{cite web|last=Jacobson|first=Andrew|title=Bhowani Junction –a brief but memorable encounter with Hollywood|url=http://area148.com/cms/bhowani-junction-a-brief-but-memorable-encounter-with-hollywood/|accessdate=7 May 2013}}</ref> The film, like the original novel, portrays the Anglo-Indian protagonist, Victoria Jones, as tugged in different directions by three suitors, Col. Rodney Savage, Ranjit Kasel and Patrick Taylor, each representing a different ethnic community: British, Indian (Sikh) and Anglo-Indian, respectively. The film-makers, however, changed the novel's ending and Victoria's fate. Whereas in the novel Victoria finally seeks her future with her fellow Anglo-Indian Patrick, a railway worker, the film-makers instead matched her at the end with the more obviously dashing British officer Rodney Savage, while consigning Patrick to a heroic death.<ref name=Jacobson>{{cite web|last=Jacobson|first=Andrew|title=Bhowani Junction –a brief but memorable encounter with Hollywood|url=http://area148.com/cms/bhowani-junction-a-brief-but-memorable-encounter-with-hollywood/|access-date=7 May 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006151540/http://area148.com/cms/bhowani-junction-a-brief-but-memorable-encounter-with-hollywood/|archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>
(In the writer's own depiction, in the (unfilmed) sequel "]", Rodney Savage does stay on in India after the end of British rule – but he does not marry Victoria, but rather goes through many upheavals and eventually finds love with an Indian woman.)

A related issue is that in the book, Victoria Jones is described as having a distinctly brown skin, being of partly Indian ancestry. When she wears a ], she looks very much like an Indian girl, and much of the theme of the book concerns her attraction to the idea of being exactly that. For the same reason, she is well aware that if she were to marry Savage and go with him to England, she could expect to meet ]s from his upper class milieu. All of these factors, which have a significant influence on the personality of Victoria as depicted in the book, were profoundly changed in the film by the choice of casting the ] actress Ava Gardner for the role.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}


==Production== ==Production==
The novel was the fourth by John Masters about India.<ref>By, L. N. (1954, Mar 28). Talk with john masters. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/113010573?accountid=13902</ref> MGM outbid two other studios to buy the film rights, paying more than $100,000.<ref>By THOMAS M PRYORSpecial to The New,York Times. (1954, Apr 12). METRO BIDS HIGH FOR INDIA NOVEL. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/113115288?accountid=13902</ref> Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger were announced as leads almost immediately; Gardner had been on suspension at the studio for refusing the appear in '']''.<ref>Special to The New,York Times. (1954, Aug 14). AVA GARDNER SET FOR FILM ON INDIA. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/112983416?accountid=13902</ref> The novel was the fourth by ] about India.<ref>{{cite news|title=Talk with john masters|author=L. N.|date=28 Mar 1954|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|113010573}}}}</ref> MGM outbid two other studios to buy the film rights, paying more than $100,000.<ref>{{Cite news|title=METRO BIDS HIGH FOR INDIA NOVEL|author=THOMAS M PRYOR|date=12 Apr 1954|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|113115288}}}}</ref> Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger were announced as leads almost immediately; Gardner had been on suspension at the studio for refusing to appear in '']''.<ref>{{cite news|date=14 Aug 1954|title=AVA GARDNER SET FOR FILM ON INDIA|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|112983416}}}}</ref>


George Cukor was assigned to direct. He travelled to India in October 1954 to research the movie. "I feel that for the first time India has been presented in this book as it really is, instead of the usual hokey-pokey atmosphere in which it is painted by most authors who write about it," he said.<ref>GeorgeCukor HereToGet the feel of india. (1954, Oct 03). The Times of India (1861-Current) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/608296868?accountid=13902</ref> ] was assigned to direct. He travelled to India in October 1954 to research the movie. "I feel that for the first time India has been presented in this book as it really is, instead of the usual hokey-pokey atmosphere in which it is painted by most authors who write about it", he said.<ref>{{cite news|title=George Cukor Here To Get the feel of india|date=3 Oct 1954|work=The Times of India|id={{ProQuest|608296868}}}}</ref>


The Indian government refused to cooperate with the production of the film.<ref>By A.H. WEILER. (1954, Oct 24). BY WAY OF REPORT. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/113049044?accountid=13902</ref> The Indian government refused to cooperate with the production of the film.<ref>{{Cite news|title=BY WAY OF REPORT|author=A.H. WEILER|date=24 Oct 1954|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|113049044}}}}</ref>


The fictional location Bhowani ] was in ], most probably ]. MGM had wanted to shoot the film in location in India; but, as the government of India insisted on script approval and imposed high taxes, MGM decided to film in ] where the government was more welcoming.<ref name="Jacobson"/><ref>By, J. P. (1955, May 15). First 'invasion' of pakistan by film troupe met with welcome reception. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/113436640?accountid=13902</ref> The fictional location Bhowani ] was in India, most probably ]. MGM had wanted to shoot the film in location in India; but, as the government of India insisted on script approval and imposed high taxes, MGM decided to film in Pakistan where the government was more welcoming.<ref name="Jacobson"/><ref>{{Cite news|title=First 'invasion' of pakistan by film troupe met with welcome reception|author=J. P.|date=15 May 1955|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|113436640}}}}</ref>


As a result of the change in location to Pakistan, the script was altered to show Rodney Savage in command of the 1/13 Frontier Force Battalion (]), which at that time of filming was part of the 7th (Golden Arrow) Division of the ], rather than in command of a ] Battalion, the 1/13 Gorkha Rifles, as in the book.<ref name="Jacobson"/> Pakistan army and police enthusiastically assisted in making of the film. Several Pakistan army units of 7 Golden Arrow division including the 5th Battalion of 13th Frontier Force Rifles (now 10 Frontier Force Regiment), 5th Probyn’s Horse, First Battalion of 13th Frontier Force Rifles (now 7 Frontier Force Regiment), participated in the making of the film. Colonel Savage in the film is shown wearing Golden Arrow the formation sign of Pakistan 7 Division.<ref name="Jacobson"/> As a result of the change in location to Pakistan, the script was altered to show Rodney Savage in command of the 1/13 Frontier Force Battalion (]), which at that time of filming was part of the 7th (Golden Arrow) Division of the ], rather than in command of a ] Battalion, the 1/13 Gorkha Rifles, as in the book.<ref name="Jacobson"/> Pakistan army and police enthusiastically assisted in the making of the film. Several Pakistan army units of the 7 Golden Arrow Division including the 5th Battalion of 13th Frontier Force Rifles (now 10 Frontier Force Regiment), 5th Probyn's Horse, 1st Battalion of 13th Frontier Force Rifles (now 7 Frontier Force Regiment), participated in the making of the film. Colonel Savage in the film is shown wearing the Golden Arrow formation sign of the Pakistan 7 Division.<ref name="Jacobson"/>


Also in the movie is the 4th Battalion (Wilde's) 13th Frontier Force Rifles, the band at the Lahore Railway Station with a deer as its mascot, while the troops taking part in the train accident were from the 4/13th. The battalion has a copy of the book and autographed photographs from both Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger. Also in the movie is the 4th Battalion (Wilde's) 13th Frontier Force Rifles, the band at the Lahore Railway Station with a deer as its mascot, while the troops taking part in the train accident were from the 4/13th. The battalion has a copy of the book and autographed photographs from both Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}


The future Pakistani film star ] appeared in a small role as a reporter in a crowd scene. Neelo was introduced to Cukor by A. H. Rana, the film's production manager and casting assistant in Pakistan, who worked with the film's casting director, Harvey Woods. This was her first role in a movie. The future Pakistani film star ] appeared in a small role as a reporter in a crowd scene. Neelo was introduced to Cukor by A. H. Rana, the film's production manager and casting assistant in Pakistan, who worked with the film's casting director, Harvey Woods. This was her first role in a movie.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}


==Reception== ==Box-office==
The film earned $2,075,000 in North America and $2.8 million elsewhere, making a loss of $933,000.<ref name="Mannix"/> The film earned $2,075,000 in North America and $2.8 million elsewhere, making a gross profit of $1,238,000.<ref name="Mannix"/>


It recorded admissions of 1,554,970 in France.<ref name="box"> at Box Office Story</ref> It recorded admissions of 1,554,970 in France.<ref name="box">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-ava-gardner-c24969968|title=Ava Gardner Box Office|last=Soyer|first=Renaud|first2=Didier|last2=Noisy|date=28 March 2014|work=Box Office Story|language=fr|access-date=7 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919020036/http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-ava-gardner-c24969968|archive-date=19 September 2014}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
*] * ]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}


== External links == ==External links==
{{Commons category|Bhowani Junction (film)|Bhowani Junction}} {{Commons category|Bhowani Junction (film)|Bhowani Junction}}
* {{IMDb title|0049007|Bhowani Junction}} * {{IMDb title|0049007|Bhowani Junction}}
* {{tcmdb title|39|Bhowani Junction}} * {{TCMDb title|39|Bhowani Junction}}
* {{AFI film|51758}}
* {{AllMovie title|5305|Bhowani Junction}}
* at the ]{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
* *


{{George Cukor}} {{George Cukor}}
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Latest revision as of 17:56, 21 December 2024

1956 film by George Cukor

Bhowani Junction
Theatrical film poster
Directed byGeorge Cukor
Written bySonya Levien
Ivan Moffat
Based onBhowani Junction
1954 novel
by John Masters
Produced byPandro S. Berman
StarringAva Gardner
Stewart Granger
Bill Travers
Abraham Sofaer
Francis Matthews
Lionel Jeffries
CinematographyFreddie Young
Edited byGeorge Boemler
Frank Clarke
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Production
company		Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • 29 October 1956 (1956-10-29) (UK)
  • 1 May 1956 (1956-05-01) (USA)
Running time110 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3,637,000
Box office$4,875,000

Bhowani Junction is a 1956 British adventure drama film of the 1954 novel Bhowani Junction by John Masters. The film was directed by George Cukor and produced by Pandro S. Berman from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and Ivan Moffat.

The film stars Ava Gardner as Victoria Jones, an Anglo-Indian who has been serving in the Indian Army, and Stewart Granger as Colonel Rodney Savage, a British Indian Army officer. It also features Bill Travers, Abraham Sofaer, Francis Matthews, and Lionel Jeffries.

The film was shot in England at MGM-British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, on the Longmoor Military Railway, and on location in Lahore, Pakistan.

Plot

India, 1947: In the final days of British rule, Victoria Jones, the beautiful daughter of an Indian mother and an English train engineer, is serving in the British Army. She returns on leave after four years to her childhood home in the fictional town of Bhowani, north-western India, where supporters of Mahatma Gandhi are campaigning for Indian independence while communists, led by a revolutionary known as Davay, foment riot and sabotage.

She becomes reacquainted with a childhood sweetheart also of Anglo-Indian heritage, rail traffic superintendent Patrick Taylor, and also with Colonel Rodney Savage, a British army officer whose Indian battalion has been posted to Bhowani to maintain law and order as British rule ends. The protesters disrupt the rail service and Savage places Victoria on duty during the crisis. He disperses the protesters violently and Victoria does not approve of his methods. She begins seriously contemplating her identity and speculates that she should marry a man from India, although clearly Taylor is still in love with her and Savage has become infatuated with her.

Walking home alone one night, Victoria is attacked and nearly raped by Captain McDaniel, one of Savage's men, but in self-defence she strikes him on the head with a steel bar and kills him. Finding her, a Sikh co-worker of Taylor's, Ranjit Kasel, takes her to his home and offers her sanctuary, introducing her to his mother, the Sadani, and to a guest in their home, Ghanshyam, who offers to hide McDaniel's body after the Sadani worries that her son Ranjit will be accused of murdering the officer.

Davay's raids on the military infrastructure continue. He blows up a train, causing numerous deaths and injuries. Victoria, influenced by her love for India, decides to marry Ranjit, but during the ceremony, fearing the complete loss of her dual race identity, suddenly flees. When an army sentry is found murdered because he saw McDaniel and Victoria together just before she killed the officer, Victoria realizes that the man in Ranjit's home, Ghanshyam, is actually Davay and that the Sadani, once a notorious Indian resistance leader, has been harboring him.

Davay kidnaps Victoria, using her to escape the city aboard her father's train. Savage and Taylor intercept the train before it reaches a tunnel, rescuing Victoria but finding Davay has gone into the tunnel with dynamite. Taylor recklessly advances into the tunnel to defuse the dynamite but is shot by Davay, who in turn is immediately shot and killed by Savage. Savage, cradling Taylor as he dies, watches the safe passage of the train. On board is Gandhi, whom Davay intended to assassinate, thereby inciting further hostilities and riots.

Savage's duty in India ends and he is summoned back to England, but his love for Victoria has become overwhelming. When she refuses to marry him and live in England, he proposes to marry but remain in India, and she accepts. Savage's superior offers to expedite his early release from military service in acknowledgement for his accomplishments.

Cast

Differences from novel

The film, like the original novel, portrays the Anglo-Indian protagonist, Victoria Jones, as tugged in different directions by three suitors, Col. Rodney Savage, Ranjit Kasel and Patrick Taylor, each representing a different ethnic community: British, Indian (Sikh) and Anglo-Indian, respectively. The film-makers, however, changed the novel's ending and Victoria's fate. Whereas in the novel Victoria finally seeks her future with her fellow Anglo-Indian Patrick, a railway worker, the film-makers instead matched her at the end with the more obviously dashing British officer Rodney Savage, while consigning Patrick to a heroic death. (In the writer's own depiction, in the (unfilmed) sequel "To the Coral Strand", Rodney Savage does stay on in India after the end of British rule – but he does not marry Victoria, but rather goes through many upheavals and eventually finds love with an Indian woman.)

A related issue is that in the book, Victoria Jones is described as having a distinctly brown skin, being of partly Indian ancestry. When she wears a sari, she looks very much like an Indian girl, and much of the theme of the book concerns her attraction to the idea of being exactly that. For the same reason, she is well aware that if she were to marry Savage and go with him to England, she could expect to meet social rejections from his upper class milieu. All of these factors, which have a significant influence on the personality of Victoria as depicted in the book, were profoundly changed in the film by the choice of casting the white American actress Ava Gardner for the role.

Production

The novel was the fourth by John Masters about India. MGM outbid two other studios to buy the film rights, paying more than $100,000. Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger were announced as leads almost immediately; Gardner had been on suspension at the studio for refusing to appear in Love Me or Leave Me.

George Cukor was assigned to direct. He travelled to India in October 1954 to research the movie. "I feel that for the first time India has been presented in this book as it really is, instead of the usual hokey-pokey atmosphere in which it is painted by most authors who write about it", he said.

The Indian government refused to cooperate with the production of the film.

The fictional location Bhowani Junction was in India, most probably Bhusawal. MGM had wanted to shoot the film in location in India; but, as the government of India insisted on script approval and imposed high taxes, MGM decided to film in Pakistan where the government was more welcoming.

As a result of the change in location to Pakistan, the script was altered to show Rodney Savage in command of the 1/13 Frontier Force Battalion (Coke's Rifles), which at that time of filming was part of the 7th (Golden Arrow) Division of the Pakistan Army, rather than in command of a Gurkha Battalion, the 1/13 Gorkha Rifles, as in the book. Pakistan army and police enthusiastically assisted in the making of the film. Several Pakistan army units of the 7 Golden Arrow Division including the 5th Battalion of 13th Frontier Force Rifles (now 10 Frontier Force Regiment), 5th Probyn's Horse, 1st Battalion of 13th Frontier Force Rifles (now 7 Frontier Force Regiment), participated in the making of the film. Colonel Savage in the film is shown wearing the Golden Arrow formation sign of the Pakistan 7 Division.

Also in the movie is the 4th Battalion (Wilde's) 13th Frontier Force Rifles, the band at the Lahore Railway Station with a deer as its mascot, while the troops taking part in the train accident were from the 4/13th. The battalion has a copy of the book and autographed photographs from both Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger.

The future Pakistani film star Neelo appeared in a small role as a reporter in a crowd scene. Neelo was introduced to Cukor by A. H. Rana, the film's production manager and casting assistant in Pakistan, who worked with the film's casting director, Harvey Woods. This was her first role in a movie.

Box-office

The film earned $2,075,000 in North America and $2.8 million elsewhere, making a gross profit of $1,238,000.

It recorded admissions of 1,554,970 in France.

See also

References

  1. ^ 'The Eddie Mannix Ledger’, Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles
  2. Ronald, D. W.; Carter, R. J. (1974). The Longmoor Military Railway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 168. ISBN 0-7153-6357-3.
  3. ^ Jacobson, Andrew. "Bhowani Junction –a brief but memorable encounter with Hollywood". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  4. L. N. (28 March 1954). "Talk with john masters". New York Times. ProQuest 113010573.
  5. THOMAS M PRYOR (12 April 1954). "METRO BIDS HIGH FOR INDIA NOVEL". New York Times. ProQuest 113115288.
  6. "AVA GARDNER SET FOR FILM ON INDIA". New York Times. 14 August 1954. ProQuest 112983416.
  7. "George Cukor Here To Get the feel of india". The Times of India. 3 October 1954. ProQuest 608296868.
  8. A.H. WEILER (24 October 1954). "BY WAY OF REPORT". New York Times. ProQuest 113049044.
  9. J. P. (15 May 1955). "First 'invasion' of pakistan by film troupe met with welcome reception". New York Times. ProQuest 113436640.
  10. Soyer, Renaud; Noisy, Didier (28 March 2014). "Ava Gardner Box Office". Box Office Story (in French). Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2016.

External links

Films directed by George Cukor
Categories: