Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786304765173 Format: Color ISBN: 6304765177 Label: United Home Manufacturer: United Home Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: United Home Release Date: 1997-11-14 Running Time: 129 Studio: United Home Theatrical Release Date: 1960
Customer Rating: Summary: A boy's own adventure, nicely done, with the confident, resourceful, brave Captain Scott (Kenneth More) Comment: Rebellion is breaking out in India and all that stands in the way of religious and political chaos, not to mention British control, is a six-year-old Hindu prince and the unflagging confidence of Captain Scott (Kenneth More). Charged with bringing the boy safely from a small, fortified hill station to the British base at Kalapur 300 miles away, Captain Scott will need every bit of his resourcefulness, energy, ingenuity and pluck.
The year is 1905 and Muslim tribes in India's north west territories are rising up against the Hindu princes and their British masters. Young prince Kishan is seen as a symbol of order and justice. If the rebels can kill him, there will be uprisings against the British which they may not be able to control. But how to get the prince to Kalapur? The last refugee trains have left and attempting the journey by horseback through enemy territory would be madness. But then Captain Scott remembers there was an old, derelict steam locomotive, The Empress of India, in the train sheds. Could it be put back into service? He calls upon his friend, Gupta (I. S. Johar), who assures him in broken English that his locomotive will not fail Captain Scott and that Gupta, himself, will run it. In a trice Gupta brings needed maintenance to The Empress and Scott finds himself loading an assorted group of passengers onto the one passenger car. There is Lady Wyndham (Ursula Jeans), the governor's wife; Peters (Eugene Deckers), an arms dealer whose weapons now most likely arm the rebels; Mr. Bridie (Wilfred Hyde-White), a diplomat and old India hand; and Van Layden (Herbert Lom), a reporter who has no love for the British. Most importantly, there is the prince and his American governess, Catherine Wyatt (Lauren Bacall). On this desperate journey, Captain Scott and this group of passengers will encounter massacres, the old steam engine's urgent need for water, the hard work of replacing rails, the tense clamber over a blown bridge with only the rails remaining, then the careful driving of the engine across those shifting, sagging rails, and the mass attacks of Muslims on horseback racing to capture the train and the prince. More troubling, Scott discovers that his group harbors a traitor, someone determined to either kill the prince or see that the boy is killed. Only the best traditions of British military leadership, exemplified by the publicly confident but privately worried Captain Scott, plus the vital assistance he receives from a number of the passengers, enable North West Frontier to have a happy ending. For Captain Scott, the ending is even happier. Not only has he fulfilled his mission, it appears that he and Catherine Wyatt will have a future together.
This film is a throwback to the classic movies about the British Empire and the quality of the brave men who made the Empire possible. It's all fiction, of course, but it's greatly entertaining. Films like Drums and The Four Feathers reassured many that the British Empire would always be around and that the men who made it work were...well, gentlemen; that is, dedicated to bringing order, opportunity and justice to the natives as only British gentlemen could, and who always dressed for dinner. While this movie arrived in the theaters as the underside of empire was becoming known, it still tells a cracking good yarn. There is a bit too much exposition, in my opinion, offering justification for and against the Empire's rule in India (and the pro side wins the argument most of the time). It also seemed to me that the villain of the movie is far too easily identified. One final weakness is that the pairing of More and Bacall doesn't really work; they have such different personalities that their attraction for each other and their eventually pairing just doesn't strike any sparks for me. Still, the movie offers some grand adventures, great scenery, a journey on a steam train, brave derring-do, a typically forceful and optimistic performance by Kenneth More, and a nice reminder of why adventure stories are so much fun.
The VHS version of the movie is still, I think, available. The Region Two DVD has a very good picture. In the U.S., the film was first marketed as Flame Over India. Customer Rating: Summary: A fine example of excellence. Comment: What a Movie!!!! I saw this movie quite late in life for the old movie this is but.... what a movie!. I've watched this move twice already and just cannot believe what a masterpiece of a movie this is. If you like British Raj history, train rides, princely india, old BW movies with solid acting performances with a crystal storyline, then this is the movie for you. The Action is first rate and very believable and a welcome change from all the Hollywood anti-gravity martial arts 'junk' you see these days. I need a DVD edition!! Customer Rating: Summary: ALL ABOARD... Comment: This British film, released in England under the name "Northwest Frontier", takes place in India in 1905, during the time of the British Raj. As usual, there is some insurrection taking place in the Northwest frontier, and a Captain Scott (Kenneth Moore) is charged with taking a young Indian crown prince, along with Catherine Wyatt (Lauren Bacall), his American governess, to safety. The prince is a Hindu, and it seems that some Muslim rebels wish to kill him.
Captain Scott, who keeps a stiff upper lip at all times, commissions an old wreck of a train with an illustrious name, The Empress of India, to get him and his charges to safety. They board this train with several others, both British and Indian, one of whom harbors a traitorous secret. As the train chugs along several hundred miles towards safety, this hardy band is beset by insurrectionist ambushes, train trouble, and the machinations of the traitor amongst them.
Kenneth Moore is full of British derring-do as the beleaguered Captain who is nearly undone by the enemy within. Lauren Bacall, as a governess, seems a little like a fish out of water, but manages to hang onto her role. I. S. Johar is delightful in the role of Gupta, the loyal native train conductor who comically struggles with his English. Wilfrid Hyde-White is endearing in the role of Bridie, the quintessential British civil servant. Ursula Jeans is charming as the stalwart and resolute Lady Windham. Herbert Lom is appropriately sinister as the half-Dutch, half-Indian journalist, who has very decided views on British colonialism, as well as a secret agenda.
This is a gripping, action packed, old-fashioned adventure film that should appeal to all those who enjoy Anglo-Indian themes, as well as those who enjoy a well-written and well-acted film. Customer Rating: Summary: The jewel of the crown Comment: Following the typical products of the time this film is, apparently, nothing more than another film settled in an exotic location. And basically it is true, but again a great cast can make that alittle film would be a great one.
We are in India, still the jewel of the British colonial empire. And as usual there is an uprising (surprise, surprise) In the middle of this revolt we see our hero Capt. Scott keeping safe the young Prince Kisha and his guardian Mrs Wyatt an American Widow. The problem is that the place is not longer safe and our hero must leave the fort with a strange group in an old train machine: The Empress of India. And with a traitor among them
The story is not really very original, but has moments that show the craftsman J. Lee Thompson was, like the constant threatening of the rebels who are following the train from the mountains, to the conflict that India was living under the British control.
Kenneth More is absolutely brilliant as our sensible captain Scott. He knows his duty and always try to do his best but he is alone in the group. Lauren Bacall is a bitter woman after a marriage who was not what she expected but as long as the journey goes she is going to be more human not so introvertive. But the great characters of this films are Wilfrid Hyde White ( the unforgetable Col. Pickering of My Fair Lady)who plays Birdie, the typical Civil servant who carries with him Britain. And Herbert Lom, playing a half Dutch journalist who is very critic with the British colonialism.
The film is really ejoyable, and although not a masterwork, it is better than many we must suffer today. Customer Rating: Summary: Terrific Indian adventure Comment: Kenneth Moore is a British army officer charged with taking a young Hindu prince to safety when his life is threatened by Moslem rebels. With him is Lauren Bacall as the prince's American governess. They are obliged to make use of an ancient, rusty steam engine to carry them on a perilous journey through hostile territory. Moore and Bacall are both excellent in their roles, and there are fine performances too from Wilfrid Hyde White as a dithery bachelor, Ursula Jeans as a courageous Memsahib, Eugene Deckers as a sauve arms dealer, and Herbert Lom as a Eurasian journalist with a chip on his shoulder. The best performance in the film though is by I.S. Johar as Gupta, the engine driver devoted to his old engine Victoria. Their journey is almost unbearably exciting, with one peril after another to overcome. The best line comes at the end, when I.S. Johar is being carried off wounded and says triumphanty to Moore "they said Victoria was finished, no good except but for shunting, let them speak now. She showed them!"
