North West Frontier (film)
North West Frontier | |
---|---|
Directed by | J. Lee Thompson |
Written by | Robin Estridge Frank S. Nugent |
Story by | Patrick Ford Will Price |
Produced by | Marcel Hellman |
Starring | Kenneth More Lauren Bacall Herbert Lom Wilfrid Hyde-White I. S. Johar |
Cinematography | Geoffrey Unsworth |
Edited by | Frederick Wilson |
Music by | Mischa Spoliansky |
Production company | Rank Organisation Film Productions[1] |
Distributed by | The Rank Organisation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 129 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £500,000[2] |
North West Frontier (USA: Flame Over India; Australia: Empress of India)[3] is a 1959 British Eastmancolor adventure film starring Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom, Wilfrid Hyde-White and I. S. Johar. The CinemaScope film was produced by Marcel Hellman and directed by J. Lee Thompson. It was a commercial success at the British box-office in 1959. The film's success led to J. Lee Thompson beginning his American career as a director.[4]
The film is set in the
Plot
In 1905 on the North West Frontier of British India, a maharajah asks British Army Captain Scott to take his young son, Prince Kishan, to Haserabad and then send him to Delhi to protect him from a Muslim uprising. Accompanying them is the prince's governess, an American widow named Mrs. Wyatt. They leave as the rebels storm the palace and kill the prince's father. This makes his six-year-old son the leader of the Hindu population in the region.
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
Early the next morning, Captain Scott quietly loads the passengers onto the old train. They include Mrs. Wyatt, Prince Kishan,
Later that morning, the train encounters an abandoned train at a remote station. This is the refugee train which preceded them out of Haserabad. Everyone on board has been massacred (presumably by the rebels). Despite being told not to by Captain Scott, Mrs. Wyatt leaves the carriage and finds one survivor, a baby concealed by his mother's body.
The next morning, the train must stop because a portion of the track has been blown up. Mrs. Wyatt spots the signaling flashes of a heliograph atop a mountain summit, and everyone quickly realises that the Muslim rebels are sitting in ambush in the surrounding hills. With track repairs barely finished by Captain Scott, the train gets away under a hail of gunfire. Gupta is wounded but survives.
Later that day, while stopping to refill the engine's water tank, Scott walks into the pump house to find Van Leyden allowing Prince Kishan to stand dangerously close to the pump's rapidly spinning flywheel. In the evening Van Leyden refuses alcohol and the group correctly deduce he is Muslim. He explains this by saying he is half Indian. During the night, Mr. Van Leyden again approaches the prince, only to notice Lady Windham watching him.
The train reaches a bomb-damaged bridge. There is nothing under one section of rail except the ground far below. Scott has the others carefully cross that section one by one to lighten the train that will follow them. Finally, only Van Leyden and the prince remain behind. Van Leyden seems to deliberately hold the boy back and endanger his life. He falls and Scott grabs his hand, pulling him back to safety. Afterward, Scott accuses Van Leyden of trying to kill the prince, and he places the reporter under arrest. After that, Captain Scott, under Gupta's guidance, carefully maneuvers the train across.
Later, while going through a tunnel, Van Leyden uses the opportunity to overpower his guard. He uses a
The Muslim rebels chase the train on horseback but are thwarted when Victoria enters a two-mile-long hillside tunnel. On the other side, the train reaches the safety of Kalapur to strains of
Cast
- Kenneth More as Capt. William Charles Willoughby Scott
- Lauren Bacall as Catherine Wyatt
- Herbert Lom as Peter van Leyden
- Wilfrid Hyde-White as Mr. Bridie
- I. S. Johar as Gupta, the driver
- Ursula Jeans as Lady Windham
- Eugene Deckers as Peters
- Ian Hunter as Sir John Windham
- Jack Gwillim as Brigadier Ames
- Govind Raja Ross as Prince Kishan
- Basil Hoskins as A.D.C.
- S. M. Asgaralli as Havildar (1st Indian Soldier)
- S. S. Chowdhary as 2nd Indian Soldier
- Moultrie Kelsall as British Correspondent
- Lionel Murton as American Correspondent
- Jaron Yalton as Indian Correspondent
- Homi Bode as Indian Correspondent
- Frank Olegario as Rajah
- Ronald Cardew as Staff Colonel at Kalapur Station
Production
Casting
In 1957, More announced he would play "a romantic adventure" part set during the
Filming
The production started in Rajasthan, India in April 1959.[9] More recalled in his memoirs that it was a physically difficult shoot with many of the cast and crew falling ill with dysentery and other illnesses. The unit stayed at a former Maharajah's palace which had been turned into a hotel.[10] Several Rajasthan landmarks were used as filming locations. Jal Mahal (meaning "Water Palace") in Jaipur city, the capital of the state of Rajasthan, represented the Maharaja's palace at the start of the film. Although it now stands within Man Sagar Lake, the water levels in the 1950s were so low, horseriders could be filmed riding up to its entrance.[11] In Amber the Amber Fort was used as the British governor's residence; other scenes prominently feature the Jagat Shiromani Temple complex. Hundreds of extras were employed for the shots filmed in India. The metre-gauge railway running through Jaipur was used for the scenes where More escapes by train and later discovers the massacre of the refugee train.[12]
Filming of the rail sequences started in the
Reception
The film was a major hit in the UK, being among the six most popular films in Great Britain for the year ended 31 October 1959.[16] Kenneth More wrote in his memoirs that it "was a great success".[17] According to Kinematograph Weekly the film performed "better than average" at the British box office in 1959.[18]
The film was one of seven made by Rank which were bought for distribution in the US by
The Guardian called it "a big British western."[21]
George MacDonald Fraser praised the performance of I.S. Johar:
It was a true rendering of a type imitated successfully by Peter Sellers and others, the quaintly-spoken ‘Oh-jollee-good-Sahib’ funny Indian — a genuine character familiar to everyone who knows the subcontinent. One critic took violent exception to Johar’s performance: it was a disgraceful caricature, and Johar should be ashamed of himself. I’d like to believe the critic thought that was true, but I doubt it. I suspect the critic knew Johar’s portrayal was absolutely faithful, but preferred to pretend it wasn’t because the critic found it embarrassing, and didn’t like to think that Indians ever really behaved like that — or if they did, it shouldn’t be shown on screen. In other words, damn the truth if it doesn’t fit with what one would like to believe is true — an attitude which, honesty aside, seems to me offensively patronising.[22]
Fraser admired the film and More's performance saying "he had a cheery truculence that was much closer to the real Imperial type than the conventional stiff upper lip." He added "The one flaw [of the film] was the title; I remarked to the technical adviser, a senior ex-Indian Army officer, that it seemed odd, having a Hindu prince up yonder, and he replied that he had no idea where the film was meant to be taking place, but wherever it was, it was not the Frontier."[23]
Filmink called it "a rousing adventure set in India with excellent action/spectacle mixed in with sooky Imperial propaganda, and Lauren Bacall ranks with Sally Ann Howes and Kay Kendall as More’s most effective love interest."[24]
The film led to J. Lee Thompson being hired to direct Guns of Navarone. After original director Alexander Mackendrick was fired, star Gregory Peck saw Northwest Frontier and agreed for Thompson to take over.[25]
Nominations
Award | Category | Subject | Result |
---|---|---|---|
BAFTA | Best Film from Any Source[26] | J. Lee Thompson | Nominated |
Best British Film
|
J. Lee Thompson | Nominated | |
Best British Screenplay[27] | Robin Estridge | Nominated |
References
- ^ "North West Frontier (1959)". BFI Screenonline. 2003–2014. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ Chibnall p 204
- ^ Thompson, Howard (30 April 1960). "Review: Flame over India". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- Time Out. Archived from the originalon 7 June 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ a b Gwen Morgan (14 July 1957). "Kenneth More-Britain's Best: He's No Matinee Idol, but Film Fans Around the World Love Him". Chicago Daily Tribune.
- ^ Hedda Hopper (31 October 1958). "Looking at Hollywood: British Star Herbert Lom Scores Hit in Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune.
- ^ 'Hamlet' Seats Available The Christian Science Monitor 7 Jan 1959: 5.
- ^ AMERICAN STAR IN NEW FIRMAMENT By STEPHEN WATTS LONDON. New York Times 2 Aug 1959: X5.
- ^ "India". Variety. 22 April 1959. p. 85.
- ^ More p 174
- ^ "Monuments of Japiur". www.monumentsofjaipur.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ "North West Frontier / Flame Over India". www.cliomuse.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- . Retrieved 14 September 2020.
- ^ "Sevilla Crawls with Crews". Variety. 6 May 1959. p. 11.
- ^ "Old Railway 2". Garingo.cool.ne.jp. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
- ^ "Four British Films In 'Top 6': Boulting Comedy Heads Box Office List". The Guardian. 11 December 1959.
- ^ More p 176
- ^ Billings, Josh (17 December 1959). "Other better-than-average offerings". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 7.
- ^ "Of Local Origin". The New York Times. 7 January 1960.
- ^ Howard Thompson (23 February 1964). "New Chapter For A Manhattan Hollywood Queen". The New York Times.
- ^ "Bang bang and More besides". The Guardian. 10 October 1959. p. 5.
- ISBN 9780449904381.
- ^ Fraser p 159
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (16 April 2023). "Surviving Cold Streaks: Kenneth More". Filmink.
- ISBN 9780708986875.
- ^ "Film | Film And British Film in 1960". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
- ^ "Film | British Screenplay in 1960". BAFTA.
- Bibliography
- Chibnall, Steve, J. Lee Thompson Manchester University Press, 2000
- More, Kenneth (1978). More or less. Hodder and Stoughton.
External links
- North West Frontier at IMDb
- North West Frontier at AllMovie
- North West Frontier at Rotten Tomatoes
- North West Frontier at BFI Screenonline
- North West Frontier at British Film Institute (archived)