April 24 - The Jewel in the Crown

Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on April 24. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN      

Daphne Manners arrives in Mayapore, India to work as a nurse in the hospital. She stays with an Indian friend of her Aunt, Lady Manners, where at a cocktail party given on April 24, 1942 she meets Hari Kumar, an Indian who was raised in England and feels more English than Indian, but has learned since his return that all English in India look down on him. [Episode 1 17:48 to 23:58] At the club, she meets Ronald Merrick, the district superintendent of police.  Daphne and Hari see each other several times, but he feels there is a divide between them because of their race and nationality. Both start working in a clinic for the poor run by Sister Ludmilla. Hari was trying to learn Hindi from Pandit Baba a leader in the Congress party. Daphne gives Hari her photo and Merrick tries to warn her off Hari, as he doesn’t like him, both personally and professionally. Daphne and Hari go to a temple together. On the day Gandhi is arrested, Daphne and Hari meet in the Bibighar gardens where they make love. Afterwards a group of rowdies tie Hari up and rape her. She tells Hari to say they have not seen each other and both stick to this story. Merrick arrests six men and tries to beat a confession out of Hari. Daphne gets pregnant and has a little girl, but dies in childbirth. Pavrati is taken in by Lady Manners on her houseboat in Kashmir. The Laytons are staying on the next boat. The father Col. Layton is a POW in Germany. His daughter Susan is to marry Teddie Bingham. The mother Mildred doesn’t get along with her step-mother-in-law Mabel or her companion Barbie Batchelor because they live in Rose Cottage, while Mildred and her two sisters and her daughters live in a smaller place. Teddie gets a new roommate, Ronald Merrick, who has joined the Army. He is watched by Congress because they don’t like how he handled the Manners case. When Teddie’s marriage has to occur fast because he’s going on active duty, Merrick suggests getting married in Mirat, a princely state where the palace guest house will accommodate a wedding guests. When his best man gets sick, he asks Merrick to stand in. The Nawab of Mirat’s premier is Count Bronowsky, a Russian émigré. He also employs Ahmed Kasim, whose father is a jailed Muslim leader in Congress. Pandit Baba has moved to Mirat. Sarah Layton, Susan’s sister goes riding alone with Kasim, shocking some.  On the wedding day a stone is thrown at Merrick, but hits Teddie. At the reception a discussion between Bronowsky and Merrick leads to our suspicion that both might be gay. When leaving Mirat, Hari’s aunt throws herself at Merrick’s feet to beg mercy at the instigation of Pandit Baba to try and embarrass Merrick. Merrick later visits Sarah Layton. Lady Manners goes with Nigel Rowan, a representative of the governor to interview Hari in prison. He tells of the beatings and is released. Barbie gives silver spoons to Susan as a wedding present, but at a party to show off the presents they’re not there. Teddy and Merrick serve together in Burma. When Teddy goes forward to try and convince two members of the INA (a force composed of Indian army officers who went over to the Japanese) to surrender, he is killed and Merrick is severely injured. Susan takes Teddies death very hard.  On D-day, Sarah goes to Calcutta to see Merrick, who suffered an eye injury and lost his left arm. While there she is seduced by Major Clark. Mabel dies and Barbie upsets Mildred by saying Mildred wanted to be buried with her husband, but Mildred refuses to allow this. On leaving Calcutta Sarah meets Count Bronowsky and Rowan, who is now the British government agent in Mirat.  Ahmed Kasim’s father, Muhammed is released. Susan has a baby boy, who she names Edward. People say that Barbie and Mabel were lesbians, greatly upsetting Barbie. Susan goes crazy and tries to burn her baby alive. While she’s institutionalized, Mildred returns the spoons to Barbie, who decides to donatethem to the regiment. She goes to take them to Capt. Oley and accidentally sees him and Mildred Layton having sex. This upsets her so that she drops her hat, and in the monsoon weather gets very sick. Mildred has learned Sarah is pregnant and she goes to Calcutta to get an abortion. Barbie meets Merrick at Rose Cottage, has an accident and is hospitalized. Merrick is interrogating captured INA prisoners. At a party in Bombay Sarah meets Count Boronsky, Merrick and Sgt. Perron, whom Merrick drafts as his assistant. Perron is attracted to Sarah, who is in Bombay to meet her recently released father.  Barbie dies. Rowen, Merrick and Perron travel to Punkat together. Merrick kills an INA prisoner who Col. Layton wanted to meet by making it look like suicide. Rowen meets with Muhammed Kasim aboutthe future of India.  Susan and Ronald Merrick get engaged, but Sarah wants to stop it. As Japan surrenders, Merrick is recalled to Dehli and Rowan learns how Merrick blackmailed a gay clerk to get a look at Susan’s medical files. Perron goes to Mirat, staying with Rowen and dines with the Laytons.  Muhammed Kasim meets with Merrick about his son who had joined the INA and is now jailed.  Perron gets de-mobbed and he and Sarah make love. Two years later, Perron returns to Mirat and learns Susan and Merrick did marry. While married Merrick carried on a series of homosexual relationships with young Indian boys. Perron learns Merrick was murdered, but it is passed off publicly as an accident. The Leytons, Perron and Ahmed Kasim travel from Mirat to Punkat, but the train is stopped by Hindu extremists and Kasim is killed.  Perron tries to findHari, but can’t and leaves India.         

A good historical drama of thesoap opera variety. The characters are interesting. Does a good job of trying to explain some of the complexity of life in British India.

The Bomber Offensive by Anthony Verrier (The MacMillan Company, New York, 1969) at page 145 gives date Rostock was bombed

Producer - Christopher Morahon         

Director – Jim O’Brien and Christopher Morahon

Screenplay - Kenneth Taylor

Runtime - 7 hours 30 minutes

Released - January 9, 1984

Awards - The film won the Outstanding Limited Series Emmy. It was also nominated for the Outstanding Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special; Outstanding Costume Design for a Limited Series or a Special; Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special; Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special (Ashcroft); and Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special

Starring - Peggy Ashcroft as Barbara Batchelor, Derrick Branche as Ahmed Kasim, Charles Dance as Sgt. Guy Perron, Geraldine James as Sarah Layton , Rachel Kempson as Lady Ethel Manners, Art Malik as Hari Kumar, Wendy Morgan as Susan Layton , Judy Parfitt as Mildred Layton, Tim Pigott-Smith as Ronald Merrick, Eric Porter as Count Dmitri Bronowsky, Susan Wooldridge as Daphne Manners, Ralph Arliss as Capt. Samuels, Geoffrey Beevers as Capt. Kevin Coley, James Bree as Maj. /Lt. Col. Arthur Grace

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015