''The Indian Tomb'' (German: ''Das indische Grabmal'') is a 1959

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

, co-written and directed by

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

. Produced by

Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; 1 August 1918 – 7 July 2019) was a German film producer and entrepreneur of Polish origin. He produced more than 300 films from 1946. Life and career He was born the oldest son of a Jewish family ...

, it is an international co-production of West Germany, France and Italy. It is the second film, after '' The Tiger of Eschnapur'' (1959), of "Fritz Lang's Indian Epic" duology, which are based on the 1918 novel '' The Indian Tomb'', written by Lang's ex-wife

Thea von Harbou Thea Gabriele von Harbou (27 December 1888 – 1 July 1954) was a German screenwriter, novelist, film director, and actress. She is remembered as the screenwriter of the science fiction film classic ''Metropolis'' (1927) and for the 192 ...

. ''The Indian Tomb'' stars

Debra Paget Debra Paget (born Debralee Griffin; August 19, 1933) is a retired American actress and entertainer. She is perhaps best known for her performances in Cecil B. DeMille's epic '' The Ten Commandments'' (1956) and in Elvis Presley's film debut, '' ...

Paul Hubschmid Paul Hubschmid (; 20 July 1917 – 1 January 2002) was a Switzerland, Swiss actor. He was most notable for his role as Pygmalion (play), Henry Higgins in the German stage production of ''My Fair Lady''. In his Hollywood films he was billed as Pa ...

, Walter Reyer,

Claus Holm Claus Holm (4 August 1918 – 21 September 1996) was a German film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1979. He was born in Bochum, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * ''Floh im Ohr'' (1943) - Knecht Han ...

, Valéry Inkijinoff, and Sabine Bethmann. Interiors were shot at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner controller of CCC Films, on the site of a forme ...

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

with sets designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Helmut Nentwig Helmut Nentwig (1916–2007) was a German art director.Bergfelder p.254 Selected filmography * '' You Can No Longer Remain Silent'' (1955) * '' Bonjour Kathrin'' (1956) * '' The Simple Girl'' (1957) * '' The Big Chance'' (1957) * '' Munchhausen ...

and

Willy Schatz Willy Schatz (1903–1976) was a German art director of Baltic German origin. He designed the sets for numerous film productions in post-war West Germany including Fritz Lang's '' The Tiger of Eschnapur'' and '' The Indian Tomb'' in 1959.Langford ...

. In 1960

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

obtained the rights to both films in "Fritz Lang's Indian Epic", combining them into one heavily edited, 90-minute-long feature named ''Journey to the Lost City'' which earned domestic gross of $500,000. After both were dubbed into

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, they were shown as separate films, where the second is a direct continuation of the first.

Reception

On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film had an approval rating of 88% based on 8 reviews. Contemporaneously ''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

'' wrote: "Here lies Fritz Lang, once creator of important films like ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' and '' M''. The 'Indian tomb' is his own" .e., grave as a filmmaker In contrast to those earlier opinions, contemporary American film critics are positive about the film. The film is probably best remembered today for Debra Paget's sexy "snake dance scene". ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' headlined their review with a publicity shot of her dance, writing, "The pasted-on costume she wears for a long 'snake dance' scene, which leaves her nearly naked, seems to do the trick—though Seetha's wardrobe will hardly distract 21st century viewers from perhaps the fakest-looking writhing cobra in movie history."

Notes

External links

* * A from ''The Indian Tomb'' (

dancing with a

cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

)
"Three and a half Tombs" - article about the genesis of the book and the films made from it

* [http://deutsches-filminstitut.de/archive-bibliothek/nachlaesse-und-sammlungen/artur-brauner-archiv/ Artur-Brauner-Archive at the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt (German), containing the production files for this movie] 1959 films 1950s adventure drama films 1959 romantic drama films German adventure films West German films French drama films Italian drama films 1950s German-language films Films based on The Indian Tomb Films directed by Fritz Lang Films scored by Michel Michelet Films set in India Films with screenplays by Fritz Lang Remakes of German films Films shot at Spandau Studios 1950s Italian films 1950s French films 1950s German films {{1950s-adventure-film-stub

Reception

See also

Notes

External links