The Black Watch
The Black Watch is a 1929 American sound (All-Talking) pre-Code adventure epic film directed by John Ford and starring Victor McLaglen, Myrna Loy, and David Torrence. It was written by John Stone, based on the 1916 novel King of the Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy, with dialogue by James Kevin McGuinness. The film features an uncredited 21-year-old John Wayne working as an extra; he also worked in the arts and costume department for the film. This was director John Ford's first sound film.
Plot
A captain in the British Army's Black Watch regiment is assigned to a secret mission in India just as his company is called to France at the outbreak of war in August 1914. His covert assignment results in his being considered a coward by his fellows, a suspicion confirmed when he becomes involved in a drunken brawl in India that results in the apparent death of another officer. He goes to stop a mysterious woman named Yasmani from leading a Pashtu tribe in a holy war against the British. After falling in love with the captain, following a skirmish in which the tribesmen are killed by British soldiers using machine guns, Yasmani dies in his arms. The captain returns to his regiment.
More details
| author | James Kevin McGuinness |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | India |
| director | John Ford |
| editor | Alex Troffey |
| genre | adventure drama |
| keywords | black watch black watch regiment british army british soldier falling in love holy war kill machine gun mysterious woman pashtu tribe pashtunistan religious war secret mission world war i |
| musicBy | William Kernell |
| producer | Winfield R. Sheehan |
| productionCompany | Fox Film Corporation |
| publisher | Fox Film Corporation |
| theme | epic war |