Rich American socialite Lady Edwina Esketh, who obtained her title by marrying English Lord Albert Esketh, travels to Ranchipur where Albert hopes to buy a prize stallion from the Maharani. Theirs is not a happy marriage and after she meets a prominent local doctor, Rama Safti, falls madly in love with him. He too is in love with her much to the Maharani’s disapproval as she has great plans for the good doctor. Also living in Ranchipur is Tom Ransome an old friend of Edwina’s who perhaps knows too much about her past. When a natural disaster destroys much of Ranchipur, disease follows forcing Safti to choose between treating the sick or being with Edwina, who is also deathly ill.
Rich American socialite Lady Edwina Esketh, who obtained her title by marrying English Lord Albert Esketh, travels to Ranchipur where Albert hopes to buy a prize stallion from the Maharani. Theirs is not a happy marriage and after she meets a prominent local doctor, Rama Safti, falls madly in love with him. He too is in love with her much to the Maharani’s disapproval as she has great plans for the good doctor. Also living in Ranchipur is Tom Ransome an old friend of Edwina’s who perhaps knows too much about her past. When a natural disaster destroys much of Ranchipur, disease follows forcing Safti to choose between treating the sick or being with Edwina, who is also deathly ill.
Rich American socialite Lady Edwina Esketh, who obtained her title by marrying English Lord Albert Esketh, travels to Ranchipur where Albert hopes to buy a prize stallion from the Maharani. Theirs is not a happy marriage and after she meets a prominent local doctor, Rama Safti, falls madly in love with him. He too is in love with her much to the Maharani’s disapproval as she has great plans for the good doctor. Also living in Ranchipur is Tom Ransome an old friend of Edwina’s who perhaps knows too much about her past. When a natural disaster destroys much of Ranchipur, disease follows forcing Safti to choose between treating the sick or being with Edwina, who is also deathly ill.
The 1955 Jean Negulesco bad wife melodrama (“Bursting the floodgates of emotion… Shattering all barriers of race and time… Sweeping everything before it in its torrential power!”) starring Lana Turner, Richard Burton, Fred MacMurray, Joan Caulfield, and Michael Rennie.
The adventurous Lady Edwina Esketh travels to the princely state of Ranchipur in India with her husband, Lord Albert Esketh, who is there to purchase some of the Maharajah’s horses. She’s surprised to meet an old friend, Tom Ransome who came to Ranchipur seven years before to paint the Maharajah’s portrait and just stayed on. Ransome has developed something of a reputation – for womanizing and drinking too much – but that’s OK with Edwina who is bored and looking for fun. She soon meets the local doctor, the hard working and serious Major Rama Safti. He doesn’t immediately respond to her advances but when the seasonal rains come, disaster strikes when a dam fails, flooding much of the countryside. Disease soon sets in and everyone, including Ransome and Edwina, work at a non-stop pace to save as many as possible. Safti deeply admires Edwina’s sacrifice but fate intervenes.
