Loading... Please wait...
 DVD, $9.99 (https://www.zeusdvds.com/the-black-watch-1929-dvd/))
The Black Watch (1929)
Posted by Alex Oleksij on Sep 1st 2021
An interesting film from a historical standpoint. An early sound film and John Ford's first sound film. It is surprisingly slow moving. The story - a British officer infiltrating a group of native rebels in the days of the Raj - is incredibly corny and melodramatic. Out of the need to show off the process of sound on film, the film is filled with music: bagpipes playing, choruses singing, etc. On the plus side, the visuals show Ford's usual aplomb, the black & white cinematography is gorgeous, there is the unusual sound of Victor McLaughlin speaking with an upper-class British accent, and a very young and lovely Myrna Loy in her early phase in which she played exotic temptresses before she established herself as a pert and witty socialite.
Posted by Unknown on Oct 27th 2019
I ordered this in an attempt to upgrade the copy of the film I already had. My copy was of poor video quality and poor sound. The Zeus copy was amazingly better: the video quality is clean and crisp and the sound is excellent. The only negative is that it comes with French subtitles burned into it--but the improvement in quality in video and sound more than compensates for having to ignore the subtitles. I am very, very happy with this print.
Posted by Lee Hopkins on Nov 14th 2017
This film is unfairly dismissed by effete critics
who cannot grasp the mastery of both Ford and
McLaglen for the male bonding and sardonic humor
of military life.
McLaglen was the real thing, son of an Anglican
Bishop, who lied about his age to service as one
of the Life Guards at Windsor Castle, then in WWI
as Provost Marshal of Baghdad in the Mesopo-
tamian campaign. In his voice, demeanor and ability to sit a horse as if man and animal were
one like a centaur, you get the authentic image
of the old British Army between the wars.
It was a logical evolution for both men from this
to The Lost Patrol, and Ford's later wonderful
Cavalry Trilogy.
To say that Black Watch was the inspiration for the insipid King of the Khyber Rifles with Tyrone
Power is to contrast a tall cooler topped with
an umbrella by the Beverly Hills pool with a real
soldier's pint of ale.
Choose a currency below to display product prices in the selected currency.
