moonspinner55 Review of The Rains Came

The Rains Came (1939)

Big, corny Hollywood epic...strengthened by terrific star performances

[7/10 · 20 December 2008]

Grand Hollywood melodrama! Love relationships in India hold tightly despite the country being ravaged by earthquakes and floods. Ostensibly a production molded around the advancement of special visual effects circa 1939, all kinds of state-of-the-art trickery is employed: buildings crumble and the earth splits apart in hair-raising fashion. Predictably, the characters offer less interest, although George Brent does excellent work as an older man accepting the affections of a dewy-eyed nymph (this is possibly the best performance I've seen from Brent) and Myrna Loy is also very good as a socialite in love with a native. Flawed overall, yet an entertaining show. Remade in 1955 as "The Rains of Ranchipur". *** from ****