| Nine Hours to Rama | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster by Saul Bass | |
| Directed by | Mark Robson |
| Screenplay by | Nelson Gidding |
| Based on | Nine Hours to Rama by Stanley Wolpert[1] |
| Produced by | Mark Robson |
| Starring | Horst Buchholz Jose Ferrer Valerie Gearon |
| Cinematography | Arthur Ibbetson, Ted Moore |
| Edited by | Ernest Walter |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 124 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,610,000[2] |
| Box office | $1,000,000 (US/ Canada)[3] |
Nine Hours to Rama is a 1963 British-American neo noir crime film directed by Mark Robson that follows a fictionalised Nathuram Godse in the hours before he assassinated the Indian independence leader, Gandhi, and the police attempt to prevent the murder. It is based on a 1962 novel of the same name by Stanley Wolpert. The film was written by Nelson Gidding and filmed in England and India with mainly white actors in prominent roles. It stars Horst Buchholz, Diane Baker, Jose Ferrer, and Robert Morley. It was shot in CinemaScope DeLuxe Color. The film was shot clandestinely throughout India and was banned in the country upon release, as was the novel.[4][5]
The film is a fictional narrative set in the nine hours in the life of Nathuram Godse (Horst Buchholz) that led up to his assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (J.S. Casshyap). As he prepares for the shooting at Gandhi's residence, flashbacks recall Godse's hostility to Muslims during the Partition, his adherence to Hindu Mahasabha that hatches the plot to kill Gandhi, and his involvement with a married woman Rani (Valerie Gearon) and a prostitute Sheila (Diane Baker). Meanwhile, a police officer Supt. Gopal Das (Jose Ferrer) attempts to find the would-be killer before it is too late.[6]
