5. The Rains of Ranchipur (1955)
A big-budget, Technicolor remake of
The Rains Came (1939), infamous Hollywood glamour-puss
Lana Turner stars here as Lady Edwina Esketh, a spoilt American socialite who travels to India with her unhappy husband (a British noble, played by
Michael Rennie). Whilst away, she rekindles a friendship with former lover Tom Ransome (
Fred MacMurray) and eventually falls in love with Indian doctor Rama Safti (the very Welsh
Richard Burton!). As a series of spectacular monsoons leading to a devastating earthquake and subsequent flood rock the town of Ranchipur, the lives of these characters are likely to change forever Combining a doomed love story with the drama of extreme weather conditions
The Rains of Ranchipur is a typical 1950s melodrama, where heightened emotions meet disastrous situations. When the earthquake and flood hits the town, it is less about the drama the events have on the landscape and more about its effect on Edwina and Safti. Despite the narrative elements of the earthquake and floods, the film also employs some incredible special effects for the time. The climactic scenes are unmissable and garnered the film an Academy Award nomination for Best Special Effects, but ultimately lost out to Cecil B. DeMilles incredible The Ten Commandments (1956). If the grandiose and haughty pretensions of 1950s romances doesnt take your fancy, check out The Rains of Ranchipur for the special effects aloneyou wont be disappointed!