The Rains Came (1939)

In British India's state of Ranchipur, in the late 1930s, several characters interact, and deal with a huge natural catastrophe.

Rather conventional (yet entertaining) disaster-movie based on a novel by an American conservative and conservationist. Its utter lack of anticolonialism would of course be unthinkable in a film of our days, even though India is one of the worst countries to live in (they now have "postcolonial studies" to justify that). The interesting thing is that there isn't much of a difference in structure between a political movie and an apolitical one such as this. In a politically-minded story, one would probably have an overwrought activist as protagonist, whereas here one has an equally overwrought doctor. It's always someone trying to make the world a better place. Well, good luck to them.

Rating: 52