by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Produced by Cecil B. DeMille, Friend from India was directed by, of all people, prissy character actor Franklin Pangborn, who also played the leading role. The star plays an impoverished young man who is forced to impersonate a Hindu prince. This leaves our hapless hero wide open for the assaults of suspicious customs officials, would-be kidnappers, and fanatical fakirs. By the time he reveals his true identity, Pangborn has become a hero, and thus a worthy husband for heroine Elinor Fair. Evidently a lost film, Friend from India may well have been Franklin Pangborn's finest hour on the screen.
