North West Frontier [1959] [DVD]

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More brings his usual British humor to his role as the captain charged with an impossible mission. The script is sparing on the dialogue, which contributes to the serial-like character of the film. Who needs dialogue when the characters are dodging one death-defying situation after another. Bacall plays a somewhat Anglophobic American woman who finds More interesting anyway. She and More make an excellent team, but their relationship would have been worth developing further. Veteran character Herbert Lom is on board for more than the train ride. The last decade of the 19th century saw the Guides employed in the Chitral campaign of 1895, and the Punjab Frontier Revolt of 1897–8. Thus was the corps awarded the battle honours 'C HITRAL', 'M ALAKAND', and 'P UNJAB F RONTIER'. The 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry served in the Second Burma War, winning the honour P EGU, and then marched 900km from Abbottabad in thirty days to help suppress the revolt in Delhi, and like the Guides going into action on arrival. [54] There it won also D ELHI 1857. [55] The other Sikh Infantry regiments remained in the Punjab. [94] India, 1905. A British soldier is assigned to protect a 6-year-old Maharaja's son and his American governess from Muslim rebels. Show full synopsis

During peacetime the Force was under the direct control of the Lt.- Governor of the Punjab, [97] but in war it came under the Commander-in-Chief, India. [71] On arrival at Haserabad, Captain Scott sees that many local Hindus and Europeans are leaving on the last train to Kalapur. The Muslim rebels soon close in and take control of the outer wall and gate beside the railway yard. The British governor tells Scott that he must take the young prince to Kalapur for his safety. In the railyard, the British captain discovers the " Empress of India", an old railway engine cared for by its driver Gupta, affectionately known as Victoria. They calculate that it will manage the journey if limited to pulling a single carriage. This is actually an ambitious movie, for all its relative obscurity now. There are harrowing scenes of a city under siege, and of a massacre of hundreds of bodies very elaborately staged (Bacall walks through the corpses in shot after shot), and a sequence high atop a railroad bridge. Of course, it's more than politics and warfare and adventure. That is, there's the slowly simmering love story, and it's not an overly sentimental one.

British response

Much of the action is centred on a train, with More and a clutch of passengers doing their very best to escape from an overwhelming horde of gun-toting enemies. And the film has a real verve to it, near-constant well-shot intrigue and suspense courtesy of director J. Lee Thompson, who would keep on directing strong action for the next thirty years of his career. It helps that it hits the ground running, offering some electric action at the opening that Hollywood can only dream of. The five remaining regiments of Punjab Infantry were consecutively renumbered in the same sequence to become:- Mad Carew, thank you for more entertaining and educational posts. I realise that you are ploughing something of a lone furrow, but please keep up the good work!

From his position in the train’s crew, Mr. Van Leyden tries to assassinate Prince Kishan. He fails and is defeated in the film’s climax. If Mr. Van Leyden really is half-Indian, the stereotyping of Indian Muslims all as rebels is bad enough. But if he is half-Indonesian, then this is most problematic because it suggests that all Muslims are like him and have a similarly violent nationalist or pan-nationalist agenda. So, Edwardian, we may have mirror forces of Indian infantry. I read somewhere that you can use the Victorian colonial set for WW1, but probably not visa versa. I will have to get mine out and have a squint. In what amounts to an important admission of defeat, Captain Scott – professionally obliged to have all the answers as the officer in charge – has literally no response. He merely looks glum as the ruling capacity of the Empire is savaged (and by a continental European, no less!). This is highly recommended family viewing that - like so many of those 50's adventure tales - can stand muster with most anything being produced today. Among that cast were Lauren Bacall as the resourceful wife of a doctor who she has lost along the way, an American who is none too convinced by the benefits of any side and sees the more personal picture as she tries to help those caught in the crossfire: an excellent performance, and far preferable to the weaker, more admiring heroine lesser films might have depicted. Then there was Herbert Lom, superb as the journalist who invites himself onto the train and proceeds to demolish the complacency of the other passengers with his sly wits - but is he capable of turning against them? He certainly seems to be welcoming the inevitable break up of the Empire, lending the proceedings even more of a siege mentality which amped up the tension significantly.North West Frontier has everything a great action adventure should have, whilst also adding in tension, drama and an array of wonderfully colourful characters. The opening to the film is pulsating, as Scott has to fight off the rebels whilst smuggling the prince and his governess out to safety. From then on we are on a train journey that is rich with enjoyment, the tension mounts among the passengers, not least because of the class and cultural differences, and perhaps allmotives are not in alignment? But they must club together if they are to survive this dangerous journey. During the Second Sikh War both the 1st and 2nd Irregular Horse earned further distinction with 'M OOLTAN', 'G OOJERAT', and 'P UNJAUB'. [64]

One of the reasons I never did anything with the WW1 HaT figures, BTW, was that HaT (notoriously slow and uncertain in its release programme (sound familiar?)) has yet to produce its British infantry in tropical dress (Wolesley helmet, like Captain Scott's!). I mention this because, these will doubtless be released in due course and would help with any British troops and British officers in Indian service. Here we come to one of the film’s essential railway improbabilities, that this humble 0-6-0T is a neglected relic with a once glorious past.

NORTH WEST FRONTIER

Edwardian, that is both interesting and extremely helpful to anyone contemplating the OO/HO option, much appreciated. Chekhov's Skill: Mrs Wyatt is one of the only civilians on the train who knows how to use a gun. Which comes in handy when Scott is fighting Van Leyden. In September 1879, some six weeks after establishing his residency, Sir Louis Cavagnari and his escort were murdered. Hostilities promptly resumed. Yakub's army was defeated in September 1880, and his throne was offered to, and accepted by, Abdur Rahman, who agreed to surrender all claims on the Khyber, the Kurram, Sibi, and Pishin. [16]