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The Black Watch | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | John Ford |
Written by | |
Based on | King of the Khyber Rifles (novel) by Talbot Mundy |
Produced by | Winfield R. Sheehan |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Joseph H. August |
Edited by | Alex Troffey |
Music by | William Kernell |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Fox Film Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
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. [1] This was director John Ford's first sound film. [2]
The Black Watch entered the public domain in 2025. [3]
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 machine guns, Yasmani dies in his arms. The captain returns to his regiment.
After John Ford had completed filming, additional dialogue scenes written by James Kevin McGuinness and directed by Lumsden Hare were added [5] which Ford detested. [2] [6] Myrna Loy was loaned to Fox Films by Warner Bros. for this film. To avoid violating the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America rule against miscegenation, Loy's character Yasmani is established as being white and a descendent of Alexander the Great prior to any romance with Captain King. [5]