THE BLACK WATCH

 

THE BLACK WATCH (1929) is director John Ford's first sound feature. I was enticed to seek it out after reading about it in the book JOHN FORD AT WORK, which I wrote a blog post on a week ago. 

THE BLACK WATCH is an Imperial Britain adventure story, taking place in 1914. The Great War has just broken out, and Captain Donald King (Victor McLaglen) is looking forward to going to France with the rest of his Scottish regiment, the Black Watch. However, King is sent out on a secret mission to India (the captain grew up in that country, and is familiar with its ways and culture). King isn't happy about not being able to fight with his regiment, and it doesn't help that in order to cover up his assignment, he is to pose as a drunken wastrel. King's mission is to infiltrate a band of renegade tribesmen who have fallen under the spell of a mysterious and beautiful young woman named Yasmani (Myrna Loy). The tribesmen look upon Yasmani as a goddess. King and Yasmani fall for one another, but the soldier is sworn to do his duty, no matter what. 

The JOHN FORD AT WORK book points out how innovative Ford was at using sound in THE BLACK WATCH. In the first part of the film, we hear bagpipes playing, regimental songs being sung, soldiers marching past cheering crowds, background noise, and a Muslim call to prayer. All these various sounds come off very distinct and clear--it appears Ford (and Fox Studios) wanted the audience to experience and appreciate the audio right from the start. 

It is during the dialogue scenes that THE BLACK WATCH reveals its early talkie status. When characters start to talk to one another, the story comes to a screeching halt. Most of the dialogue is recited verrrryyyy slowly, and there are plenty of clunky line readings. According to multiple John Ford biographies, Fox Studios had Lumsden Hare, a British actor who plays an officer in the film, supervise a number of dialogue scenes, particularly those involving Victor McLaglen and Myrna Loy. John Ford had nothing to do with these scenes, and it shows--they are very stilted and awkward. 

Ford and his cinematographer, Joseph August, did provide many atmospheric and expressionistic shot compositions, and they gave Myrna Loy some very exquisite close-ups. If all the music and background & incidental noise had been left in, and the dialogue muted out, THE BLACK WATCH would have been much better. 

Putting aside the sound issues, the plot of THE BLACK WATCH has plenty of problems as well. Once Captain King gets to India and begins his mission, the story goes off into fantasyland, as King unconvincingly woos Yasmani, and joins up with her band. King is led to the band's stronghold, an underground temple that resembles something one would see in an Indiana Jones movie. The temple is filled with sword & gun wielding militants, yet King, and a few companions, are able to take them down. 

If that's hard to believe, it's even harder to accept that a large group of fanatical Muslim tribesmen would be under the sway of a young woman. And it's even harder to accept that King and Yasmani would be attracted to each other. Victor McLaglen isn't exactly a dashing romantic hero--he's more the guy who would be best friends with the dashing romantic hero. John Ford would later learn how to use McLaglen properly--here the actor doesn't get any comedic moments, and he's too stiff and formal. Myrna Loy plays one of the many foreign temptress roles she got stuck in before she achieved mainstream success, and while she's gorgeous, she speaks so slowly it's as if she's in some sort of trance. (She even whips out a crystal ball at one point, to show King what his regiment is going through in France.) During the climax Yasmani reveals that she is white....and that she's a direct descendant of Alexander the Great!! (Apparently this was done to make it "okay" that King and Yasmani could have a relationship.) This wild revelation doesn't help Yasmani's fate. 

Info on THE BLACK WATCH states that John Wayne and Randolph Scott were extras in this film, but I didn't notice them, despite the fact that the version of the movie I viewed on YouTube was clear and sharp looking. 

John Ford fans will be more interested in seeing THE BLACK WATCH, especially with it being his first sound film. Viewing the movie one can see that it took Ford a bit before he achieved the proper rhythm for sound dialogue--but then again, that could be said for most film directors of the period. The story is reminiscent of better features such as THE FOUR FEATHERS and GUNGA DIN, but overall THE BLACK WATCH is basically a curio.