Bombay Mail

Bombay Mail is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Tom Reed. The film stars Edmund Lowe, Ralph Forbes, Shirley Grey, Hedda Hopper, Onslow Stevens, and Jameson Thomas. The film was released on January 6, 1934, by Universal Pictures.[2][3][4] The film is based on the Lawrence Blochman novel of the same name which was originally published in 1933 in the pulp magazine Complete Stories.[5]

For the 1935 Hindi-language Indian film, see Bombay Mail (1935 film). For the train, see Imperial Indian Mail.
Bombay Mail
Lobby card
Directed byEdwin L. Marin
Produced byCarl Laemmle, Jr.
Screenplay byTom Reed
StarringEdmund Lowe
Ralph Forbes
Shirley Grey
Hedda Hopper
Onslow Stevens
Jameson Thomas
Music byHeinz Roemheld[note 1][1]
CinematographyCharles J. Stumar
Edited byDoris Drought
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • January 6, 1934 (1934-01-06)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

According to Lal Chand Mehra, an Indian who acted in and advised numerous Hollywood films in the first half of the 20th century, the entire movie was filmed in elaborate sets. "it was necessary to build an entire Indian train —the ‘Imperial Indian Mail'—to construct several stations and to see that each and every character, from brahmins to untouchables, were correctly costumed and correctly dressed", he said in an interview in the Madera Tribune.[6]

Plot

The governor of Bengal is assassinated on the Bombay Mail somewhere between Calcutta and Bombay and it is up to Inspector Dyke (Edmund Lowe) to solve that murder as well as a couple of later murders. The cast of characters include the governor's wife (Hedda Hopper), his two secretaries, a gambler, an entertainer who is not quite what she seems (Shirley Grey), a mineralogist on his way to claim a ruby field, a pickpocket, an anti-British agitator, and a cobra.[1][7]

Cast

Reception

The New York Times called it "an agreeably effective little shiver item" that would keep its "audience in a state of confusion" with its plot twists and deaths.[3] The Michigan Daily compared it unfavorably to Shanghai Express but without the presence of Marlene Dietrich and commented on the "unnatural settings" and "decidedly unlike a train interior", ending with an "it could be worse".[8] Later reviewers, are more favorable. Michael Pitt called it "unjustly overlooked today" and found it to be a "fast-paced" and entertaining. In particular, Pitt points to the performance of Lowe, calling it superb, and "one of his best starring efforts".[1] Bernard Dick called it an early version of the "railway thriller" and that, even though Laemmle had made a B movie, it had class.[9]

The film was banned by the British authorities in India and in Singapore. In India, because it showed the murder of a maharaja and in Singapore because it showed the killing of a government official.[1] Two of Roemheld's scores from the film, Shirley Theme #3 and Bombay Station, were reused in the late 1930s by Univeral Pictures in its Flash Gordon series.[10]

Notes
  1. uncredited

References
  1. Pitts, Michael R. (31 December 2018). Thrills Untapped: Neglected Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1936. McFarland. ISBN 9781476632896.
  2. "Bombay Mail (1934) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  3. "Murder on a Train". The New York Times. 6 January 1934. p. 18.
  4. "Bombay Mail". Afi.com. 1933-09-28. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  5. "Film Festival Highlights 2009". windycitypulpandpaper.com.
  6. "Double Feature Bill at Theatre Saturday". Madera Tribune. LXIII (94). 23 February 1934.
  7. The Encyclopedia of Film Composers - Page 558 1442245506 Thomas S. Hischak - 2015 "The murder mystery Bombay Mail is about a British police inspector (Edmund Lowe) who solves the case of a ... forecasts danger, is so effective that Universal later used it in several of their films, including a series of Flash Gordon adventures.
  8. "Bombay Mail". The Michigan Daily. 20 May 1934.
  9. Dick, Bernard F. (1 January 1997). City of Dreams: The Making and Remaking of Universal Pictures. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813170044.
  10. Mayer, Geoff (7 February 2017). Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland. p. 62. ISBN 9781476627199.


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