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Howrah Bridge (1958, India)
In Shakti Samanta's musical and film-noirish suspense-thriller:
- the mystery surrounding the death of eldest son
Madan (Brahm Bhardwaj), whose corpse was found on Calcutta's Howrah
Bridge; just before his death, he was living in Rangoon, Burma
with his brother Prem Kumar (Ashok Kumar) and his father, and stole
priceless items from the family (including a jewel-encrusted dragon
mask heirloom) and fled to India, to pay off his gambling debts
- the sleuthing investigation of Prem (he assumed the
false name of Rakesh) into his brother's death, first meeting en
route in a seedy hotel with Uncle Joe (Dhumal) and Joe's beautiful
niece Edna (Madhubala), a sexy dancer who assisted Prem in Calcutta
in his search for his brother's killers; he was also helped by an
old employee, his tanga driver Shyamu (Om Prakash)
- characters also included a witness to the death: Shyamu's
opium-smoking nephew Bhiku (Sunder), and the person to whom the dragon
mask was sold - villainous smuggler Mr. John Chang (Madan Puri) who
limped with a cane (and had a high-pitched, Chinese-accented voice),
and Chang's chief murderous henchman Pyarelal (K. N. Singh)
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Edna (Madhubala)
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Mr. Chang
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Chin Chin Chu
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- the dancing sequence of the seductive and flirtatious
Chin Chin Chu (Helen Jairaj Richardson Khan in a star-making role)
from Shanghai (first seen in a Chinese costume) in Mr. Chang's
hotel, especially her number: "Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu" (translated "My
Name is Chin Chin Chu")
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Headlines: "Police Find Dead Body on Howrah Bridge"
Stolen, Jewel Encrusted Dragon Mask
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