After more than two decades of exile in Hollywood, master filmmaker Fritz Lang triumphantly returned to his native Germany to direct this lavish two-part adventure tale from a story he had co-authored almost forty years earlier. Western architect Harold Berger (Paul Hubschmid), called to India by Chandra, the Maharajah of Eschnapur, falls in love with the beautiful temple dancer Seetha (Debra Paget), although she is promised to the Maharajah. Their betrayal ignites the wrath of a vengeful Chandra, who is fighting his own battle for power with his scheming half-brother, and the lovers are forced to flee into the desert. Featuring breathtaking location photography and nail-biting suspense, the first part of Lang's epic is highlighted by Paget's erotic temple dance and Hubschmid's battle to the death with a man-eating tiger.
In the grand tradition of the serialized cliffhanger, part two continues the adventure with a rescue from a sandstorm, a trek through the jungle, a cave of lepers, and a bloody palace rebellion. Together, these films provide the cinematic link between the classic silent serials and the modern action/adventures of Indiana Jones and The Mummy. With incredible precision, Lang crafts a blend of color, decor, movement and montage that, in the twilight of his career, once again proves him a virtuoso of film form. Previously available in America only as Journey to the Lost City, a 90-minute condensation of the two films, Fantoma presents these exotic masterpieces restored and complete in this specially priced 2-disc boxed set.
