The Black Watch | 1929 | Adventure, War, Drama

Title: The Black Watch | 1929 | Adventure, War, Drama Director: John Ford Studio: Fox Film Corporation Starring: Victor McLaglen, Myrna Loy, David Torrence, Roy D'Arcy Based on: King of the Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy Release Date: May 6, 1929 Runtime: 93 minutes Format: All-talking sound-on-film; black-and-white; 35mm; approx. 1.20:1 Country: United States Language: English Genres: Adventure, War, Drama --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Regiment and farewell 00:14:30 Secret orders to India 00:33:00 Undercover assignment and suspicion 00:53:30 Yasmani and rising tensions 01:12:00 Mountain clash 01:30:00 Return to the regiment --- Summary: At the outbreak of World War I, Captain Donald King of the Black Watch is quietly diverted from the front to a covert mission in British India. Bound to secrecy, he allows his comrades to think he has shirked duty, damaging his reputation while he infiltrates a brewing revolt. In the frontier hills he crosses paths with Yasmani, a charismatic leader whose influence threatens imperial stability. King’s mission forces a conflict between loyalty, honor, and personal feeling, culminating in violence that resolves the uprising and sends him back to his regiment, vindicated but marked by loss. --- Background: The film is an early sound feature from Fox Film Corporation and John Ford’s first all-talking production, adapted from Talbot Mundy’s novel King of the Khyber Rifles. Previewed in late April 1929 and opened at Los Angeles’s Carthay Circle Theatre on May 6, 1929, it used the Movietone sound-on-film system; Fox also prepared a silent version for venues not yet wired for sound. Myrna Loy was loaned to Fox for the production, and additional dialogue scenes were staged by Lumsden Hare. --- Trivia: John Wayne appears uncredited as a 42nd Highlander and also worked behind the scenes on the production. In the United Kingdom the film was released under the novel’s title, King of the Khyber Rifles. The production employed Fox’s Movietone system, and a parallel silent negative was prepared for non-wired theaters. Director John Ford regarded The Black Watch as his first all-talking feature. The film’s story and setting draw on British colonial military lore surrounding the Black Watch regiment and the Khyber Pass. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: May 6, 1929 Original Studio / Distributor: Fox Film Corporation Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: Unknown --- Hashtags: TheBlackWatch JohnFord MyrnaLoy VictorMcLaglen PublicDomain ClassicFilm 1929 PreCode FoxFilm Source page: https: //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Black_Watch_(1929).webm Direct media URL: https: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/The_Black_Watch_%281929%29.webm