The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

I found it hard to watch this movie and not be reminded of "Mutiny On The Bounty." Most noticeably, the two movies were released in the same year (1935) and both included Franchot Tone as a co-star. "Mutiny" was, of course, set on a British naval ship in the South Pacific, "Lives" is set on a British Army post in India. In both movies, Tone finds himself playing alongside better known American actors (Clark Gable in the former, Gary Cooper in this.) And both movies feature a tough as nails disciplinarian as commanding officer (Capt. Bligh, of course, in "Mutiny" and Col. Stone in "Lives.") The similarities between the two was probably what kept occurring to me as I watched this."The Lives Of A Bengal Lancer" is essentially about a local tribal chief in India whose goal is to hijack a British munitions train as part of an uprising he's planning against the British - but this really only takes centre stage in the last half hour or so of the movie. Up to that point, I have to confess that I found this rather monotonous. The story introduced a bit of melodrama by having Col. Stone's 21 year old son, freshly graduated from military college) posted as an officer to the regiment. Really, though, there's not a great deal in this opening two thirds or so of the film that justify some of the accolades this film gets as a great action-adventure movie. I will give credit to that last third of the story, though. Once Stone's son is captured by the tribal chief's men and the inevitable attempt at rescue takes place (against Col. Stone's direct orders) the story does get pretty exciting. There's even a somewhat uneasy (although completely non-graphic, because this was 1935) torture scene in which burning bamboo shoots are driven under the captured British officer's fingernails.The performances in this were fine. Cooper and Tone were both very good in their roles. Cooper's American accent was explained away, I guess, by having his character of Lt. McGregor be identified as a Canadian. The supporting cast was also very good. There are even a couple of prophetic hints in the movie that the British Empire may be starting to fade away (as it indeed would, after the Second World War.) The good last half hour or so of the movie raised it a bit in my estimation, but I have to admit that I can't see what would have made this a worthy nominee for seven Academy Awards. I thought it was a bit of a sleeper with a good finish. (5/10)

Directed by Henry Hathaway, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer from 1935 is an excellent film that today is not as well-known as films like Beau Geste and Gunga Din.The film stars Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell, Guy Standing, C. Aubrey Smith, and Douglas Dumbrille.The story takes place in India, in the northwest frontier. The 41st Bengal Lancers have had casualties due to a rebel leader, Mohammed Khan. Replacements for the lost men appear: Lt. Forsythe (Tone) and Donald Stone (Richard Cromwell), the son of the head of the Lancers, Colonel Stone. Lt. Alan McGregor (Cooper) rooms with them, due to the fact that he's usually in trouble. Forsythe loves singing "Mother Macree" and pushing McGregor's buttons; but McGregor bonds with the young Stone. Eventually all three become friends.When Stone's son is kidnapped by Mohammed Khan, McGregor and Forsythe want to go after him, but Stone forbids it. The two men dress as Indians and go to Khan's base to rescue Stone.Rousing film with plenty of action, which was one of Hathaway's specialties, with all locations in California but under the hot sun, it could be India. This is the movie where the famous line "We have ways of making you talk" comes from, except that's not the line, it's "We have ways of making men talk" - somehow these famous lines are never exact.Gary Cooper is excellent -- gorgeous as usual, energetic, and passionate. I just saw him in "Ten North Fredrick" so it was a delight to see him in this, 23 years earlier, so young and strong. Tone, who replaced Henry Wilcoxin is very good, and baby-faced Richard Cromwell is right for his role as a kid who wants to be treated like one of the Lancers and not have any special privileges. Cromwell was married to Angela Lansbury for five minutes or so, and was in and out of films, working ultimately as an artist.Lots of action and adventure - hard to know why it isn't appreciated today because the characters are strong, with real relationships and good dialogue. I think I know why - Gunga Din is a George Stevens' film, and Beau Geste was directed by William Wellman. Since Hathaway isn't considered a director in that league, I have a feeling this film is often passed over. It's a shame; it deserves rediscovery.

Long before I saw this I knew a small trivia fact and that is it's reported to have been Adolph Hitler's favourite movie . It's not contradictory . The Indian sub-continent is the birth place of the swastika and is proudly displayed everywhere , well almost everywhere because I don't recall seeing any of them in Manali which is the Mecca for the Israeli stoner . Interesting too that the Nazis were very much pro Muslim and had during the war two Waffen SS divisions one of which the 13th Waffen SS division was composed of Bosnian Muslims and the other the 14th Waffen SS division being composed of Albanians . The Nazis got round the small matter of these Muslims being Slavs by categorizing them as Persians hence qualified as Indo-AyransApparently Hitler was fascinated by the fact a small island like Britain could govern and rule a large country like India with a population of over 300 million inhabitants . This is easily explained . India is a large country with massive diversity . What you do is divide and rule , just convince the people in one state are British and the people in the next state are a bunch of trouble makers saying nasty things about the royal family and need sorting out . If the people in the next state are of a different religion well that makes the task much easier . Hitler had future designs on ruling the Soviet Union along similar lines but went around it the wrong way by committing genocide against the entire Soviet population . If he only convinced people in conquered territories that they were German and the people up the road were nasty communists intent on causing nuisance then he might have won the war . He should have listened to the dialogue in the opening scene when McGregor is warned " You're far too impulsive "Being a Hollywood movie not too much is given to facts . It's not factual that cobras are attracted to music because they have no ears and the hyponotic effect of a snake charmer on a cobra is down to body language . Neither is it correct that a Muslim falling in battle is guaranteed " forty eight maidens in paradise " The number is supposedly seventy two but the real figure is actually zero . There is also no such race as " Scotch " which is an alcoholic beverage and the correct term is Scottish which will be of no interest to anyone outside of Scotland But Hollywood don't do documentaries . Hollywood does spectacle , action and derring do and this movie has it in abundance . This is Boys Own adventure printed on celluloid and fueled an appetite for historical adventure and being from the golden era of Hollywood it's rather more enjoyable than the long winded CGI driven stuff like we got with TITANIC and PEARL HARBOR . It does seem contrived that two of the main characters have North American accents since one is supposed to be Scotch Canadian and the other was brought up in America . It also contains the line " The Scotch are a queer race " so I guess it also influenced Pat Robertson as well as Hitler

I picked this little beauty up simply because of Gary Cooper and the subject matter. Having loved Gunga Din, this seemed like a good choice. Cooper as Macgregor, the top billed hero of the piece gives a strong, warm and wry performance. The stand-out surprise of the piece though, is that he is up-staged at nearly every turn by Franchot Tone. The banter between the two is great and takes full advantage of the witty and cynical dialogue. Young Richard Cromwell on the other hand makes very little impression until the final scenes of the picture. The British institution that is C. Aubrey Smith, makes a wonderful patriotic speech from under his formidably bristling eyebrows that brings the house down.The story-line is pretty standard stuff, three heroes in the face of overwhelming odds fight to uphold British dominance on the Indian Frontier. The strength of the film lies in the characterizations of the leads and the incredible settings and action sequences. A good deal of first rate horsemanship is also in evidence as we are treated to a full Lancer charge and scenes of tent pegging and pig sticking. The final battle is a glorious and exciting sequence that modern film makers would learn a great deal from. The script does have its goofy moments in the later torture sequences as we are treated to lines like "We have ways of making men talk" and are shown the old bamboo under the fingernails bit, but even the cliches seem fitting.If grand adventure with an emphasis on style is your idea of a good time, you'd be hard put to find a better example than this film!