Bhowani Junction (1956)

the audience applauded

Really Surprised!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Ava Gardner plays the role of a mixed race Anglo-Indian woman coming to terms with the departing Brits. It's 1947, time to pack the bags and go home. But where is her home? During the occupation of India, many British expats 'went native' and developed relationships with Indians. The resulting issues were half-British - chi-chi, a step above the native wogs but hardly the right (read white) stuff. For broadly the opposite reasons, full-blood Indians despised 'em too.Stewart Grainger plays the British army officer charged with the task of maintaining order at an increasingly rebellious outpost called Bhowani Junction. The Indians are employing Ghandi's 'passive resistance' to foul things up and expedite their colonists' departure. A romance develops between they two.This is an inevitably simplistic Hollywood take on British colonial rule. But it's nicely filmed in black and white with some very authentic locations.When Indians lie on the railway tracks in an attempt to blockade the movement of trains, Grainger's army officer has a neat solution. He threatens them with the contents of the station latrines. They call his bluff so he lest 'em have it. At least it gets the trains running on time.It's depicted as outrageous behaviour in the movie, but compared to what these people did to each other after the Brits were gone it was hardly worse than pissing in your tea. How many people were murdered during partition - was it a million? This is a very decent drama, but the stand-out performance is unquestionably Ava Gardner's who - let's face it - never played a bummer in her life.

(There are Spoilers) Entangled love story between a Chi-Chi Eurasian half-breed Victoria Jones, Ava Gardner, and British officer Col. Rodney Savage, Stewart Granger,that leads to an attempted assassination of the country's, India, spiritual leader Mohandas Gandhi and future prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Taking place during the violence and unrest of circa 1947 India the movie "Bhowani Junction" works very hard to distinguishes between Gandhi's peaceful passive resistance movement and the communist and nationalist brutal and violence inspired movements that caused a bloody civil war between the Hindu's and Moslem's in 1947-48. The violence lead to the assassination of Gandhi, by a Hindu no less, and is still going on with partitioned former Indian provinces Pakistan and Kashmir today.Victoria feeling that she doesn't fit into the new and soon to be formed Indian nation is torn between her both fathers British and mothers Indian roots. Together with her fiancée Pat Taylor, Bill Travis, also a half bread Chi-Chi. They fear that they'll be left out when the native Indians take over the government and that leaves them both in a bind in either staying or leaving the country.Victoria at first slowly gravities toward her Indian nationality when she's attacked by British army officer Graham McDaniel, Lionel Jeffres, who had been eying her since she arrived at the Junction as a British/Indian transportation officer. Trying to fight the wild and lecherous McDaniel off Victoria bashed his head in with an steel rod killing him. Being taken in by Ranjit Kasel, Francis Matthews, who works with her at the transpiration office and his mother Sadani, Freda Jones, the two together with mutual friend Ghanshyam,Peter Illing, cover up McDaniel's death by hiding his body in a town garbage dump. It later turns out that there was also an Indian sentry murdered at the scene of McDanial's killing and even worse Ghanshyam turned out to be non-other then the communist rabble-rouser and terrorist Davay! Victoria is now in danger of being implicated in not only a terrorist act but in giving aid and comfort to a wanted terrorist leader Davay.Davay trapped in Bhowani Junction uses Victoria, by blackmailing her, to get him out by rail which alerts her former lover Taylor who together with her now lover Col. Savage, and a platoon of British/Indian soldiers, corral the the train. A desperate Davay take off on foot into a nearby train tunnel. Having Davay trapped in the ensuing shootout Taylor gets hit and later dies from his wounds but Davay is blown away by Col.Savage who also disarms the sticks of dynamite that he left on the tracks to explode. It's then when the train targeted for detonation by the now late Davay passes by that Col. Savage realizes that he, Taylor and the soldiers under his command, prevented the murder of India's future leaders,Gandhi and Nehru, who were passengers on that very train.Even though Ava Gardner as the Chi-Chi Victoria Jones was as beautiful as she ever was her relation with the men in her life in the movie,Pat Taylor Ranjit Kasel and Col. Savage, didn't really touch off any sparks or firework. Vctoria in the end falls in love with Col. Savage, and him with her. And at the same time Victoria not wanting to leave India with him is not that convincing at all.What really make the film worth seeing is the historic flavor that in has to it in how the world changed back in 1947, August 15th to be exact. A nation of then 345 million people broke away from the shrinking British Empire and was later to become one of the most industrious and populated country's on earth. By far overshadowing the colonial power, Great Britain, that ruled and exploited it, with a silk glove and iron fist, for some 250 years.

'Bhowani Junction' was one of the few movies where Ava Gardner was allowed to be more than just a beautiful, but inanimate statue. As Victoria Jones, she emotes in ways that one rarely sees her do. Like her character Julie in 'Showboat' Victoria is bi-racial, which is the main theme of the movie. The Pakistani backdrop is gorgeously photographed and it's certainly a testament to location shooting as opposed to studio backdrops. Unsurprisingly, it was well directed by Cukor, especially the interior, dramatic scenes that he is so famous for. The final sequence is a break from that, however, with darkly lit chases and murder. An entertaining diversion; certainly one that fans of Gardner would want to catch.

This film could have been wonderful if some of the parts had been given to Indian actors. For instance, Hollywood and British studios make believe that Indians speak English in a sing-song manner. They might have heavy accents but few speak English that way. Freda Jackson's role as "the Sadani" (could it have been an ignorant variation of "Sardarni"?) was incredibly stupid casting in that she spoke impeccable English for a middle-class Sikh lady. This apart Jackson was able to dominate her screen time.I would have liked to dismiss this film as a below average film but for the incredible performance of Ava Gardner who towers over all else in the movie. Take her accent--for an American, there was no trace of her origins when she spoke. She alone looked real with raven black hair in a sari draped in foppish manner--after all she was an Anglo-Indian. Had she worn well like an Aishwarya Rai, Cukor would have got it wrong.Cukor deserves full credit for choosing Gardner for the role and for capturing the ambiance of romantic North Western Railways, its first class coaches, the engines and goods wagons. A keen observer will note that some of the shots of goods wagons showed vintage wagons, while others showed contemporary ones.Though shot in Pakistan, the film caught the Indian ambiance perfectly, right up to the Railway quarters for its staff.Ava Gardner, it is only too evident, performed well under the guidance of good directors as John Houston. This film and "Night of Iguana" are my personal favourites among her films.