Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Indian Tomb Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 13, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Fritz Lang's Indian Epic.

Orientalism has become an increasingly disparaged term, not the least due to Edward Said’s late seventies opus bearing that name which made the perhaps obvious point that many artists who engage in so-called “ faux Eastern” approaches tend to be looking down on their subject. It wasn’t always so, of course, and Orientalism in music especially has tended toward loving homages, introducing orchestral colors, scales and harmonies which serve as the classical counterpart to the “exotica” craze of the late fifties in more popular music. But as commentator David Kalat freely “confesses” early in his commentaries on these releases, the “Orientalism” on display in Fritz Lang’s Indian Epic may strike some as decidedly more problematic. As Kalat gets into, not only is there the sight of caucasian actors portraying Indian folks, they often are adorned with the ironically termed “Egyptian” makeup that browns their skin. The whole depiction of Indian culture in both of the films comprising the Indian Epic is often whimsical at best, and downright historically inaccurate at worst. And while there’s a kinda sorta “fairy tale” ambience to much of the story, that still can’t probably completely excuse some of the ethnically charged subtext of the film, which includes some interesting if largely unexplored hints that a temple dancer named Seetha (Debra Paget, here dubbed into German by a very smoky voiced actress) may be a so- called “half breed”, with only one Indian parent.

The kind of unexpected similarity to Howard Hawks’ 1955 Land of the Pharaohs that I mentioned in our The Tiger of Eschnapur Blu-ray review continues pretty much unabated in this second film, especially when one starts to think about the title, The Indian Tomb, comparing it to the designated use of the pyramid being built that is the underlying plot element in the Hawks film. Additionally, though, the whole angle of a tomb being built for someone who may frankly not want to “reside” in it is part and parcel of both films.

The Indian Tomb is arguably better paced than its predecessor, and it manages to weave together a rather ungainly number of subplots, including scheming by Chandra’s evil brother, who has plans to usurp the throne. That character, Prince Ramigani (René Deltgen), joins several others, including Harry’s partner and brother-in-law Dr. Walter Rhode (Claus Holm), along with Rhode’s wife and Harry’s sister Irene (Sabine Bethmann), who are either introduced rather late in The Tiger of Eschnapur or don’t really figure into the first part much at all. There are some interesting political and even religious subtexts that Lang explores in this second “chapter”, and if the film is still as relentlessly hokey as its progenitor, it at least moves briskly and builds to an interesting climax. It also features a sexually charged dance sequence from Seetha that tops the similar one seen in the first film.

The Indian Tomb Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Indian Tomb is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Movement Classics, an imprint of Film Movement, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. The insert booklet states this is a new 4K restoration, but no further information is provided. As with The Tiger of Eschnapur , the vividness of the palette may be the first thing many viewers will notice, and this film also features the same really appealingly saturated look of the first film. Detail levels are arguably a tad better overall in this film, though this transfer, like its predecessor, has an overall somewhat soft appearance. There's another curious moment that's similar to the one mentioned in the video section of our The Tiger of Eschnapur Blu-ray review, where the image suddenly degrades for some reason, in this case a very brief snippet seen in screenshot 11 that almost looks anamorphically stretched, slightly warped and definitely out of focus. Aside from this brief anomaly, I noticed no other major distractions, and as with the first film, grain resolves naturally throughout the presentation.

The Indian Tomb Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Indian Tomb features an LPCM 2.0 mono track in the original German, with at least Paget (and I'm assuming some of the other non- German performers) obviously having been dubbed. This track shows a bit more age related wear and tear than The Tiger of Eschnapur, with more noticeable hiss and crackling evident from the get go. Dialogue makes it through the gauntlet largely unscathed, but as with the first film, some of the musical cues show signs of distortion and breakup, especially in the upper frequencies.

Note: There evidently was an English language version of this released (it's pretty obvious that Paget is speaking English at least some of the time, based on her lip movements), but unfortunately that version is not offered here.

The Indian Tomb Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Kalat


• Debra Paget, for Example (1080p; 36:37) is a really interesting documentary about the now strangely little remembered actress. While this may not have a surplus of actual biographical information, it's stuffed to the gills with clips from Paget's films, along with some kind of odd outliers by other performers. Documentarian Mark Rappaport, who I'm assuming did the voiceover, is a little hard to hear at times.


• The Indian Tomb Trailer (1080p; 1:03)

Additionally, the release comes with a handsome insert booklet which contains cast, crew and production data, along with an essay by Tom Gunning (replete with lots of footnotes!), and some stills.

The Indian Tomb Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I personally liked The Indian Tomb a bit more than The Tiger of Eschnapur, but that said, I'd probably be prone to agree with David Kalat's assessment that neither this film nor its predecessor is going to be accepted as one of Lang's finer efforts. This is as unbelievably colorful as the first film, and its plot has a bit more momentum, but it's all frankly a bit silly, and may in fact remind some of what was in 1959 (when the film was released) still the rather popular if kitschy "exotica" phase in popular music, as mentioned above, meaning things are hokily fun if never all that "meaningful". Technical merits once again vary from generally excellent (video) to passable (audio), and the supplements are once again also interesting, for those who are considering a purchase.