The Black Watch
Encyclopedia
The Black Watch is a 1929 American
early epic
adventure
drama film
directed by John Ford
and written by James Kevin McGuinness
based on the novel King of the Khyber Rifles
by Talbot Mundy
. The film starred Victor McLaglen
. The film also had an uncredited 21-year-old John Wayne
as an extra, and he worked in the arts and costume department also on the film.
goes to India
just as World War I
breaks out, convincing his comrades that he is a coward. In reality, he is on a secret mission to rescue British soldiers held prisoner there.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
early epic
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
adventure
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
and written by James Kevin McGuinness
James Kevin McGuinness
James Kevin McGuinness was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote for 36 films between 1927 and 1950. He wrote for The New Yorker magazine.He was born in Ireland and immigrated to New York in 1904...
based on the novel King of the Khyber Rifles
King of the Khyber Rifles
King of the Khyber Rifles is a novel by British writer Talbot Mundy. Captain Athelstan King is a secret agent for the British Raj at the beginning of the First World War...
by Talbot Mundy
Talbot Mundy
Talbot Mundy was an English writer. He also wrote under the pseudonym Walter Galt.-Life and work:...
. The film starred Victor McLaglen
Victor McLaglen
Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was an English boxer and World War I veteran who became a successful film actor.Towards the end of his life he was naturalised as a U.S. citizen.-Early life:...
. The film also had an uncredited 21-year-old John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
as an extra, and he worked in the arts and costume department also on the film.
Plot
Captain Donald King of the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
goes to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
just as World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
breaks out, convincing his comrades that he is a coward. In reality, he is on a secret mission to rescue British soldiers held prisoner there.
Cast
- Victor McLaglenVictor McLaglenVictor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was an English boxer and World War I veteran who became a successful film actor.Towards the end of his life he was naturalised as a U.S. citizen.-Early life:...
as Capt. Donald Gordon King - Myrna LoyMyrna LoyMyrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
as Yasmani - David Rollins as Lt. Malcolm King
- Lumsden HareLumsden HareLumsden Hare was an Irish born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer....
as Colonel of the Black Watch - Roy D'ArcyRoy D'ArcyRoy D'Arcy was an American film actor of the silent film and early sound period of the 1930s noted for his portrayal of flamboyant villains...
as Rewa Ghunga - Mitchell LewisMitchell LewisMitchell Lewis was an American film actor. He appeared in 200 films between 1914 and 1956. His best known role is Captain of the Winkie Guards in The Wizard of Oz, but he was uncredited. His lines were "She's dead...
as Mohammed Khan - Cyril ChadwickCyril ChadwickCyril Chadwick was an English actor of the silent era. He appeared in 70 films between 1913 and 1938. He was born in Kensington, London.-Selected filmography:*Temple Tower * The Thirteenth Chair...
as Maj. Twynes - Claude KingClaude King (actor)Claude King was an English-born American character actor. With his distinctive wavy hair King appeared on both stage and screen. Began his stage career in his native UK before emigrating to the US. In 1919 he appeared on Broadway in support of Ethel Barrymore in the play Declassee...
as General in India - Francis FordFrancis Ford (actor)Francis Ford was a prolific film actor, writer, and director. He was the older brother of film director John Ford. He also appeared in many of John Ford's movies, including Young Mr. Lincoln and The Quiet Man.He starred in the 1912 two-reeler The Deserter by Thomas H. Ince and acted in over 400...
as Maj. MacGregor - Walter LongWalter Long (actor)Walter Huntley Long was an American character actor in films from the 1910s. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire.-Career:He appeared in many D. W...
as Harrim Bey - David TorrenceDavid TorrenceDavid Torrence was a Scottish-born film actor. His birth name was David Tayson. He appeared in 104 films between 1913 and 1953. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame....
as Field Marshal - Frederick Sullivan as General's Aide
- Richard TraversRichard TraversRichard Travers was a Canadian film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 143 films between 1912 and 1930.-Selected filmography:* The Ambition of the Baron * The Romance of an American Duchess...
as Adjutant - Pat Somerset as O'Connor, Black Watch Officer
- David Percy as Soloist, Black Watch Officer
- Joseph Diskay as Muezzin
- Joyzelle JoynerJoyzelle JoynerJoyzelle Joyner was an American actress and dancer. She appeared in at least thirty films between 1925 and 1935 gained some notoriety for her appearance in The Sign of the Cross.-Career:...
as Dancer (as Joyzelle)
Uncredited cast
- Harry Allen as Sandy
- Frank Baker as a 42nd Highlander
- Arthur Clayton as 42nd Highlander
- Gregory GayeGregory GayeGregory Gaye was a Russian-American actor. The son of an actor, he was born Gregory De Gay in Petrograd, now known as St. Petersburg....
as a 42nd Highlander - Mary GordonMary Gordon (actor)Mary Gordon was a Scottish actress, long in the United States, who specialized in housekeepers and mothers, most notably the landlady Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series of movies of the Thirties and Forties...
as Sandy's Wife - Bob KortmanBob KortmanBob Kortman was an American film actor mostly associated with westerns, though he also appeared in a number of Laurel and Hardy comedies...
as a 42nd Highlander - Tom LondonTom LondonTom London was an American actor who, according to "The Guinness Book of Movie Records," is credited with appearing in the most movies in the history of Hollywood...
as a 42nd Highlander - Arthur Metcalfe as a 42nd Highlander
- Jack PennickJack PennickJack Pennick was an American film actor. After working as a gold miner as a young man, he appeared in over 140 films between 1926 and 1962. Pennick was a leading member of the informal John Ford Stock Company, appearing in dozens of the director's films...
as a 42nd Highlander - Randolph ScottRandolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
as a 42nd Highlander - Phillips SmalleyPhillips SmalleyWendell Phillips Smalley was a prolific American silent film director and actor.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Smalley began his career in vaudeville and acted in more than 200 films between 1910 until his death in 1939...
as the Doctor - Lupita TovarLupita TovarLupita Tovar is a Mexican actress, best known for her starring role in the 1931 Spanish language version of Dracula, filmed in Los Angeles by Universal Pictures at night using the same sets as the Bela Lugosi version, but with a different cast and director.Born as Guadalupe Tovar , in Matías...
in a Bit Part - John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
as a 42nd Highlander