The Rains of Ranchipur (1955)

Director

• Jean Negulesco

Starring

• Lana Turner
• Richard Burton
• Fred MacMurray
• Joan Caulfield
• Michael Rennie

Last On

01:05-02:45 Mon 22nd Jun 2009 100m
BBC2

Synopsis

This widescreen remake of the 1939 movie hit The Rains Came has Richard Burton in ludicrous brown make-up as the Indian doctor that Lana Turner decides to seduce. Does she get him? Who cares? The Oscar-nominated special effects are pathetic by today's standards, and co-stars Fred MacMurray, Joan Caulfield and Michael Rennie look particularly lost. Meanwhile director Jean Negulesco, who had recently succeeded with Three Coins in the Fountain and How to Marry a Millionaire, struggles to lift the leisurely pace and underdeveloped subplots. Period charm is all the film offers today. Turner's career was resuscitated two years later with Peyton Place, but this soggy romantic drama nearly washed her away.