Owais Mughal

This photo was taken on April 22, 1955 and it shows American actress Ava Gardner at Lahore Railway Station. She was in Lahore for the filming of Hollywood Movie ‘Bhowani Junction‘.
When Ava came to Lahore, there was only one reasonable hotel in Lahore.
It is still there - Falletis. The suite in which Ava stayed has been
named after her - “The Ava Gardner suite”. In it’s lounge one can still
see a beautiful large size, black & white portrait of Ava Gardner
smiling.

‘Bhowani Junction‘ is the name of a novel by John Masters which came out in 1952.
In mid 50s Hollywood decided to make a movie out of it. The movie is
set amidst the turbulence of the British withdrawal from India. It is
notable for its portrayal of the Eurasian (Anglo-Indian) community, who
were closely involved with the Indian railway system. The film was
directed by George Cukor, and was shot on location in Lahore, Pakistan.
It starred Ava Gardner as Victoria Jones, an Anglo-Indian nurse in the
British Army, and Stewart Granger as Colonel Rodney Savage, a British
army officer.



I found following review of movie plot at The Internet Movie Database

The town of Bhowani is a railroad junction and both the
Congress Party and the Communist Party are doing all kinds of sabotage
to help the British quickly get out of India. Of course each is doing
it for their own reasons.

The photo to the right is Lahore’s local actress Zohra Arshad who also took part in the movie. This photo was taken on May 8, 1956. Zohra was selected by MGM for personal and television appearances in Hollywood during the World Premiere of the movie.

In the movie, two people who may have given the outstanding performances of their careers are Ava Gardner and Bill Travers.
Both play bi-racial people who don’t fit in either society. But they
react differently. Gardner is going through a whole lot of angst,
really seeing both the British and Indian point of view.

Bill Travers is the railroad station manager and
his whole life is his job. He focuses narrowly on that and his tunnel
vision leaves him oblivious to the momentous changes around him. Except
for the fact that when the British leave he might lose that little
piece of authority where he is, that which gives him stature in the Raj
society.

Photo to the left is the book cover image of the novel ‘Bhowani Junction’.

In the movie, the issues are complex, but in the hands of a great director like George Cukor the characters and their struggles become real and even more important, the audience becomes interested. Stewart Granger
who was the British Colonel in charge of the whole mess in Bhowani,
said that Bhowani Junction was one of the few films he was really proud
to be associated with. He has a struggle to, he really does see the
Indians as human beings and not just “wogs.” He’s quite knowledgeable
about their customs and at one point utilizes that knowledge to unjam
that railroad terminal.

Following is another photo of Ava Gardner from the same movie. This photo is circa 1956.

Photo Credits: Bettmann/Corbis.com