The 1950s were a time of studios remaking their old hits in colour with Cinemascope - this one also benefits from real Indian locations but suffers by still having the main Indian character in brownface (Rchard Burton!), and changing the dramatic point.
I've never heard a good thing about this movie so my expectations were low and I found some pleasant surprises: Lana Turner is very well cast as the girl about town who finds true love with Burton; she's not a good actor but has been photographed well and is effective. Burton is good as the prince, despite the make up - he's got soul, sex appeal and charisma, which was what that part needs. Joan Caulfield works well as the young girl who falls for a dissolute man; I don't know much about Caulfield's career, but here he's fresh faced and winning.
That dissolute man is played by Fred MacMurray, who was a great villain but is uncomfortable as a drunk and a character in India and as someone dissolute. Some of his scenes are really amateurish such as when he tells off Turner for falling in love with Burton. George Brent was better in the original.
They also made a big mistake changing the story of Turner's character. In The Rains Came she went to nurse flood victims, devoted herself selflessly to the cause, got sick and died. Here she doesn't nurse and just leaves. It means she doesn't love Burton and he doesn't love her (because if it was true love they'd try to find a way).
Also she's not redeemed because she doesn't so any nursing - Burton says there's a lovely person inside but we don't see it. They also don't kill off her husband - played here by Michael Rennie. He delivers this sexist misogynist speech at the beginning slamming her then mostly disappears for the film and comes back at the end to go off with Turner.
So they departed from the original and suffered accordingly at the box office. A mistake. Still, not as bad as I'd heard.
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