FLAME OF CALCUTTA (1953)

 

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *sociological*

FLAME OF CALCUTTA is one of many "masked swashbuckler" B-films that appeared throughout the late forties and early fifties. In contrast to the swashbucklers of the thirties and early forties, these flicks had no problem showing women in these Zorro-like roles. That said, FLAME is a little ambivalent on that score.

As the title suggests, the setting is Calcutta, specifically that of the 1850s, at a time when the British had established a trade hegemony in India, though they were not at that time in total control. India is still dominated by numerous warring princes, and one of these is Prince Jehan, who deposes another Muslim monarch, name of Amir. But in so doing Jehan creates his own nemesis, for Jehan murders a French diplomatic representative, apparently for being friendly with Amir. The diplomat's daughter Suzanne Roget (Denise Darcel) then seeks revenge on Jehan by organizing the remnants of Amir-loyalists against Jehan. It's not clear whether or not her allies know she's female, but she's definitely shielding her identity from Jehan's people, for Suzanne wears a red mask and flowing red robes that lead to her being dubbed "the Flame." She leads her forces into battle, showing herself to be as good with a sword as this catchpenny production can make evident.

Prior to becoming a freedom fighter, though, Suzanne was engaged to a young British officer, Lambert (Patrick Knowles). Lambert wants Suzanne to quit being a martial symbol and to marry him, but she refuses to leave her father unavenged. Lambert has no jurisdiction over Jehan's new rule, but he can deploy troops if British trade interests are threatened. Jehan decides to force the Brits' hand, hiring an impostor to masquerade as the Flame and to attack British caravans. Because Lambert knows that the real Flame is innocent, he talks her into surrendering to British forces so that she will receive an exculpatory trial. 

Thanks to various info-peddlers, Jehan manages to abduct Suzanne, though his long-range purpose is to implicate her in British raids once more. Lambert foresees the stratagem and outwits Jehan. The final battle is arranged a bit like the one in PRC's SWORD OF MONTE CRISTO,   wherein the male lead swordfights with the main villain while his female partner has to settle for the villain's counselor. 

Much of the narrative is organized around Lambert's machinations as he tries to break British neutrality. However, another similarity to SWORD is that all of the male character's activities are something of a response to the female lead's charismatic personality, so here as in SWORD, I deem the Flame to be the centric figure here, even if she only gets a few half-decent action-scenes. Darcel, with her thick French accent, doesn't make the most appealing of heroines. But then, all of the actors in this routine thriller give no more than the mechanical script gives them. Director Seymour Friedman and one of the two writers have nothing but journeyman work to their names, but the second writer, Sol Shor, contributed to four classic serials in the 1940s: DRUMS OF FU MANCHU, THE CRIMSON GHOST, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, and KING OF THE ROCKET MEN.