''Nine Hours to Rama'' is 1963 British-American

neo noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating s ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

directed by Mark Robson, that follows a fictionalised

Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a Hindu nationalist from Maharashtra who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith prayer meeting in B ...

in the hours before he

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

the Indian independence leader,

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, and police attempts to prevent the murder. It is based on a 1962 novel of the same name by Stanley Wolpert. The movie was written by

Nelson Gidding Nelson Roosevelt Gidding (September 15, 1919 – May 2, 2004) was an American screenwriter specializing in adaptations. A longtime collaboration with director Robert Wise began with Gidding's screenplay for ''I Want to Live!'' (1958), which e ...

and filmed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

with mainly white actors in prominent roles. It stars

Horst Buchholz Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003) was a German actor who appeared in more than 60 feature films from 1951 to 2002. During his youth, he was sometimes called "the German James Dean". He is perhaps best known in English- ...

, Diane Baker,

Jose Ferrer Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya * Jose the Galilea ...

, and

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

. It was shot in

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sele ...

Plot

The film is a fictional narrative set in the nine hours in the life of

(

) that led up to his assassination of

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

(J.S. Casshyap). As he prepares for the shooting at Gandhi's residence, flashbacks recall Godse's hostility to Muslims during the Partition, his adherence to

Hindu Mahasabha The Hindu Mahasabha (officially Akhil Bhārat Hindū Mahāsabhā, ) is a Hindu nationalist political party in India. Founded in 1915, the Mahasabha functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating the interests of orthodox Hindus before the ...

that hatches the plot to kill Gandhi, and his involvement with a married woman Rani (

Valerie Gearon Valerie Winifred Gearon (27 September 1937 – 9 July 2003) was a British actress, born in Newport, Monmouthshire. She was known for ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), '' Nine Hours to Rama'' (1963) and ''Invasion'' (1966). From 1962 to ...

) and a prostitute Sheila ( Diane Baker). Meanwhile, a police officer Supt. Gopal Das (

) attempts to find the killer before it is too late.

Cast

* J. S. Casshyap as

as Supt. Gopal Das *

as Rani Mehta * Don Borisenko as Naryan Apte *

as P.K. Mussadi * Diane Baker as Sheila *

Harry Andrews Harry Stewart Fleetwood Andrews, CBE (10 November 1911 – 6 March 1989) was an English actor known for his film portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Regimental Sergeant Major Wilson in ''The Hill'' (1965) alongside Sean ...

as Gen. Singh *

Basdeo Panday Basdeo Panday (; born 25 May 1933) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, actor, and former civil servant who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first ...

as Laundryman * P. Jairaj as

G. D. Birla Ghanshyam Das Birla (10 April 1894 – 11 June 1983) was an Indian businessman and member of the Birla Family. Birla family history Ghanshyam Das Birla was born on 10 April 1894 at Pilani town in Jhunjhunu district, in the region known as Ra ...

David Abraham Cheulkar David Abraham Cheulkar (21 June 1909 – 2 January 1982), popularly known as David, was an Indian Hindi film actor. In a career spanning four decades, he played mostly character roles, starting with the 1941 film '' Naya Sansar'', and went on t ...

as Detective Munda *

Achala Sachdev Achala Sachdev (3 May 1920 – 30 April 2012) was an Indian actress who appeared in classic films of Hindi language film industry. She was from Peshawar and started her career as a child actor. She later became known for mother and grandmother ...

as Mother * Marne Maitland as Karnick *

Harold Goldblatt Harold Goldblatt (born Israel Goldblatt, 5 July 1899 – 22 March 1982) was an actor, theatre director and theatre producer from Northern Ireland. He was born in Manchester, England, to Russian Jewish parents, and subsequently moved with his fam ...

as Selvrag Prahlad *

Wolfe Morris Wolfe Morris (born Woolf Steinberg, 5 January 1925 – 21 July 1996) was an English actor, who played character roles on stage, television and in feature films from the 1950s until the 1990s. He made his film debut in ''Ill Met by Moonlight''. ...

as Detective Bose * Francis Matthews as Rampure * Nagendra Nath as Magin Mehta * Jack Hedley as Kilpatrick * Lal Bahadur as Beggar (uncredited) * R.S. Bansal as Astrologer (uncredited) *

Ishaq Bux Ishaq Bux (15 June 1917 – 2 September 2000) was an Indian actor. His first screen appearance was in BBC TV's ''The English Family Robinson'', in 1957. On stage, he appeared with the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in Tony Harrison' ...

as Gardener (uncredited) *

Christopher Carlos Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρε ...

as Shankar (uncredited) *

Kurt Christian Kurt Christian (born 1950) is an English actor. He is known for his main roles in two fantasy movies by Ray Harryhausen, as Haroun in ''The Golden Voyage of Sinbad'' (1973) and as Rafi in '' Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger'' (1977). Other nota ...

as Young Natu (uncredited) * Joseph Cuby as Chacko (uncredited) *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Captain Goff (uncredited) *

Shay Gorman Shay may refer to: People Shay is an Irish Gaelic name, a variant of the name Shea. It is derived from Seamus, which is anglicized from Ó Séaghdha. Shay is also a Hebrew unisex name, meaning gift, deriving as a variation of Shai. Mononym * Shay ...

as Duty Officer (uncredited) *

Peter Illing Peter Illing (4 March 1899 – 29 October 1966) was an Austrian-born British film and television actor. Selected TV series * '' Deadline Midnight'' (1961) as Captain Dnieprovsky * '' The Saint'' (1962) as Inspector Buono Filmography * '' The S ...

as Frank Ramamurti (uncredited) * Jagdev as Detective (uncredited) * Harold Kasket as Datta (uncredited) * Thali Kouri as The Madame (uncredited) * Kunlan Malik as Bus Conductor (uncredited) * Manohargin as Policeman (uncredited) * Sheri Mohan as Detective (uncredited) *

Bobby R. Naidoo Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...

as Retiring Room Manager (uncredited) * Frank Olegario as Barburao (uncredited) * Shashi Pameholi as Young Apte (uncredited) * Nigel Phoenix as SNS Boy (uncredited) *

Jagdish Raj Jagdish Raj Khurana (1928 – 28 July 2013) was a Bollywood actor who holds a Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor. He played the role of a police inspector in 144 films. Early life and career He was born in 1928 in the tow ...

as Detective (uncredited) * S.N. Selk as Father (uncredited) * M.Y. Shaikh as Policeman (uncredited) * Julian Sherrier as P.K.'s Secretary (uncredited) * Keshov Singh as Detective (uncredited) * Rani Verma as Sita (uncredited)

Awards

BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography, which is presented to cinematographers, given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 1963. Winners and nominees 1960s ; Best Cinematography ...

(Colour) – Arthur Ibbetson (nominated)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nine Hours To Rama 1963 films 1963 drama films American drama films CinemaScope films Films about assassinations Films based on American novels Films directed by Mark Robson Films set in India Films set in Delhi Cultural depictions of Mahatma Gandhi Works about the Mahatma Gandhi assassination Films scored by Malcolm Arnold Censored books Films about Mahatma Gandhi Film censorship in India Film controversies in India Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Awards

See also

References

External links