Il mistero del tempio indiano

....of an exotic adventure yarn.The French telly never bothered to show the first part,but fortunately ,"mistero del tempo indiano" begins with a ten-minute summary of the precedent episode.Obviously intended to match the scale of Fritz Lang's two-part "Der Tiger von Eschnapur" (1959),it cannot hold a candle to the German master's work,but it 's quite entertaining,actually very close to a comic strip,the likes of "the Phantom" .

The hero,played by a rather obscure French actor ,Paul Guers ,is a virtuous doctor,who recalls Paul Hubschmid's character (an architect) in Lang's work in two parts.By the same token,Claudine Auger (a French beauty who was to become a James Bond girl in "Thunderball" ) 's character is not unlike Debra Paget's .But I say it again,the -virtually unknown- director is no match for Lang.

It's the umpteenth story of the wicked Indians,fond of human sacrifices,who try to chase the English out of their motherland.But do not panic!there are "good " Indians who help her majesty Victoria's troops along the way.And the aforementioned doctor displays progressive views about the Indians.And the villain says that their civilization was brilliant when the Limey one was still prehistoric.He's not wrong.

SPOILER: This is a good example of "happy end" ;both Auger and Senta Berger's husband are killed in the final fight,which makes things easier.