I saw this film when I was 10yrs old, just before WWII. Even as a child I thought La Jana was the most beautiful human being that I ever had seen. I would love to see this film again, but I don't know how or where to find it. Any help will be most appreciated. I remember how terribly sad I and many relatives were when the death of La Jana was announced in late 1940. I recently read that La Jana was selected for the part of LolaLola in Blau Engel but that Sternberg's wife who was a friend of Dietrich managed to give the part to Dietrich, thus changing cinematic history. In retrospect it seems that Dietrich rather than the imperious La Jana was a better choice for the part, even at the expense of beauty.
4 Reviews
Could have been better
Horst_In_Translation6 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a German black-and-white movie which was made one year before World War II. French native speakers may want to take a look a the French version with different actors that came out at the very same time. It's basically one part of a two-film series. The other is called "Der Tiger von Eschnapur". "Das indische Grabmal" is actually a remake from 1921 and 20 years later, they made another version. The film's director is Richard Eichberg. He directed almost 90 films since 1915 (including some of the movies I just mentioned) and this is almost his last effort even if he lived on for quite a while. He made one more 10 years later and he also wrote this movie here, which was a bit unusual for him. Maybe that's why he had two co-writers. The most famous name here is probably Thea von Harbou. She came up with the scripts for "M" and "Metropolis" and "Das indische Grabmal" is also based on her work. Or maybe the biggest name is also Theo Lingen, one of Germany's most known actors of the 20th century. This film is over 75 years old and runs for almost 90 minutes, there is lots of intrigue and drama, but also quite some music and dance and a despicable elephant fighting sequence. I liked lead actress Kitty Jantzen's performance and I am a bit surprised to see that she did not really act a lot back then. Maybe she was in here, because she was the significant other to director Eichberg. Anyway, all in all, especially in terms of the story I hoped for more here. I cannot really recommend this film and I hope "Der Tiger von Eschnapur" will be better. I am gonna give this one watch soon as well, so make sure to check out my review for that one too.
Good film, fake death scenes
talopine28 June 1999
I thought that this film was really quite good. The beginning was not great, as it was a bit rushed, but it did get better. The plot was sometimes a bit sketchy and the dying scenes were so obviously fake - but otherwise it is a good thing to watch if you have nothing better to do.
Leper apocalypse?
jrbush-033731 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This is an okay adventure for kids, with opulent settings and costumes, but you have to wonder about the behavior of the lepers in the caves below the palace. Unlike their passive relatives in Ben Hur, these lepers are aggressive like we see zombies behave in innumerable horror films. Combat scenes are very fake, as well. And the chief antagonist's comeuppance occurs through a rapid sequence of very forced, but apparently random, consequences of his actions.
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