Verdict
Summary
Based on a novel, the pulpy adventure Thunder in the East offered Alan Ladd a nice opportunity to showcase his gruff, masculine persona, while also giving him a chance to shine alongside the very ladylike Kerr, who portrayed the vulnerable, but still strong blind love interest. The film ends on an eyebrow-raising cliffhanger, but it’s was a cool way to conclude the picture, as it could be perceived two different ways. I liked it, and director Charles Vidor did an admirable job with few locations, making the film seem bigger than it actually was.
Plot:
A gunrunner finds himself stranded in Ghandahar, with danger closing in.
Review:
Gunrunner rapscallion Steve Gibbs (Alan Ladd) flies into Ghandahar shortly after the province finds itself free of British rule, with the intention to sell his huge stash of machine guns and 100K rounds of ammunition to the maharaja of the realm. He knows that the maharaja is going to need all the arms and ammo soon because rebels are encroaching in on the province, but Gibbs is frustrated when he’s not granted an audience with the maharaja, but instead is turned away by the prince’s direct contact who further complicates the situation when he has all of Gibb’s crates confiscated from his plane. Waylaid in Ghandahar, Gibbs is forced to hunker down and get to know all the expats who’ve made a home there, including a blind Englishwoman named Joan (Deborah Kerr) who almost instantly falls in love with him. Joan offers Gibbs his only shot at getting an audience with the maharaja, and when he’s given the chance to talk to the prince directly, Gibbs is disappointed when the deal falls through and the maharaja abandons his palace on the eve of the invasion of the rebels who will surely kill Gibbs and everyone else who’s still there when they arrive. Gibbs gets desperate and decides to fly off on his plane and charges the expats an exorbitant amount to fly them to Bombay, which backfires when his plane crashes and explodes after it’s sabotaged, so now he has to find a way to get out of there and save anyone he can in a very short amount of time …
Based on a novel, the pulpy adventure Thunder in the East offered Alan Ladd a nice opportunity to showcase his gruff, masculine persona, while also giving him a chance to shine alongside the very ladylike Kerr, who portrayed the vulnerable, but still strong blind love interest. The film ends on an eyebrow-raising cliffhanger, but it’s was a cool way to conclude the picture, as it could be perceived two different ways. I liked it, and director Charles Vidor did an admirable job with few locations, making the film seem bigger than it actually was.
Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray release of Thunder in the East comes in a recent HD master from a 4K scan, and includes an audio commentary by a film historian and also the trailer and a slipcover.
