I have often thought that, under different historical circumstances, the story of the Empire might have taken on the same significance to the British film industry as the story of the American West did to Hollywood. As things were, the imperial adventure story never achieved anything like the cinematic status of the Western, for a number of reasons. (Comparative lack of resources, post-imperial guilt and a lack of any suitable locations in Britain that could stand in for India or Africa in the same way that the Californian desert just outside Los Angeles could stand in for Texas, New Mexico or virtually any other Western state without too many people noticing).
The few imperial epics that were made often owed much to the Western. The Tyrone Power vehicle "Untamed" was essentially the standard wagon-train plot transferred from the prairies to the South African veldt, with the Zulus playing the role normally played by the American Indians. "North West Frontier" similarly takes a Western plot and transfers it to British-ruled India in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The plot in question is that of "Stagecoach" or "Hombre"- a small group of dissimilar people forced by fate to travel together in a dangerous journey through hostile territory. (The director J Lee Thompson had the previous year made another film of this sort, the Second World War drama "Ice-Cold in Alex"). A Hindu ruler loyal to the British has been murdered by Muslim rebels who are also seeking to kill his young son. Captain Scott, a British army officer, has the task of escorting the boy to safety through rebel-held territory aboard the only conveyance available, a train pulled by an elderly locomotive. With them are a motley group of individuals, including the boy's American governess, a Dutch journalist, an arms trader and the Indian engine-driver. As is normal with films of this nature, the small group of passengers is quite deliberately used as a symbolic microcosm of society- as the journalist Van Leyden says "Our little train is like our little world, trundling through space." When the film was made in 1959, India and Pakistan had been independent for just over a decade, and there was much debate in Britain (and other European countries) about the rights and wrongs of decolonisation in Africa and other parts of the Empire. (The strife between Hindus and Muslims depicted in the film reflects similar events that had occurred at the time of the partition of India into two states in 1947). It is, therefore, not surprising that the film-makers took the opportunity to examine the ethics of imperialism. What is perhaps more surprising is that the film takes a relatively generous view of the British Empire. Scott defends imperialism on the grounds that strong British rule is needed to keep the peace in India. His main adversary is the journalist Van Leyden who criticises the British for their arrogance and supports the right of the Indian people to self-determination, but in the end it is Scott who proves to be the cool-headed hero and Van Leyden a villainous religious fanatic. I would agree with the reviewer who saw a similarity between Van Leyden and Otto Lutz, the outsider-figure in "Ice-Cold in Alex", even though Otto is a basically decent man who just happens to be fighting on the wrong side.
Kenneth More had a limited range as an actor, and could be embarrassingly bad when he tried to go outside that range. (His Irish seaman in "Our Girl Friday" is a case in point). He could, however, be excellent in playing stiff-upper-lipped British gentlemen, especially officers in the armed forces, and he is very good here as Scott, a man determined to do his duty in trying circumstances. (Is the surname a reference to the fact that one of More's first starring roles was in "Scott of the Antarctic"?) Herbert Lom makes a suitably oily Van Leyden, allowing hints of his unpleasant nature to come through even when he seems to be in the right. I was less impressed with Lauren Bacall's governess. It has always struck me that her greatest role was as Mrs Humphrey Bogart and that, although she gave occasional good performances (such as Bond Rogers in "The Shootist") her star quality tended to decline from the mid-fifties onwards. The one character that I really disliked was the subservient Indian train driver, Gupta, who I thought came across as a patronising stereotype.
Seen as political commentary or as a character study, the film is too simplistic to be convincing. As a straightforward adventure story, however, it is a very good one, generating a good deal of tension as the travellers desperately try and overcome all the hazards that stand between them and safety. The scene which particularly stood out for me was the one where they have to try and cross the damaged viaduct high above the valley. "North West Frontier" is not in the same class as "Stagecoach" or some of Thompson's other films such as "Ice-Cold in Alex" or "Tiger Bay", but it is nevertheless an enjoyable one. 7/10
The few imperial epics that were made often owed much to the Western. The Tyrone Power vehicle "Untamed" was essentially the standard wagon-train plot transferred from the prairies to the South African veldt, with the Zulus playing the role normally played by the American Indians. "North West Frontier" similarly takes a Western plot and transfers it to British-ruled India in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The plot in question is that of "Stagecoach" or "Hombre"- a small group of dissimilar people forced by fate to travel together in a dangerous journey through hostile territory. (The director J Lee Thompson had the previous year made another film of this sort, the Second World War drama "Ice-Cold in Alex"). A Hindu ruler loyal to the British has been murdered by Muslim rebels who are also seeking to kill his young son. Captain Scott, a British army officer, has the task of escorting the boy to safety through rebel-held territory aboard the only conveyance available, a train pulled by an elderly locomotive. With them are a motley group of individuals, including the boy's American governess, a Dutch journalist, an arms trader and the Indian engine-driver. As is normal with films of this nature, the small group of passengers is quite deliberately used as a symbolic microcosm of society- as the journalist Van Leyden says "Our little train is like our little world, trundling through space." When the film was made in 1959, India and Pakistan had been independent for just over a decade, and there was much debate in Britain (and other European countries) about the rights and wrongs of decolonisation in Africa and other parts of the Empire. (The strife between Hindus and Muslims depicted in the film reflects similar events that had occurred at the time of the partition of India into two states in 1947). It is, therefore, not surprising that the film-makers took the opportunity to examine the ethics of imperialism. What is perhaps more surprising is that the film takes a relatively generous view of the British Empire. Scott defends imperialism on the grounds that strong British rule is needed to keep the peace in India. His main adversary is the journalist Van Leyden who criticises the British for their arrogance and supports the right of the Indian people to self-determination, but in the end it is Scott who proves to be the cool-headed hero and Van Leyden a villainous religious fanatic. I would agree with the reviewer who saw a similarity between Van Leyden and Otto Lutz, the outsider-figure in "Ice-Cold in Alex", even though Otto is a basically decent man who just happens to be fighting on the wrong side.
Kenneth More had a limited range as an actor, and could be embarrassingly bad when he tried to go outside that range. (His Irish seaman in "Our Girl Friday" is a case in point). He could, however, be excellent in playing stiff-upper-lipped British gentlemen, especially officers in the armed forces, and he is very good here as Scott, a man determined to do his duty in trying circumstances. (Is the surname a reference to the fact that one of More's first starring roles was in "Scott of the Antarctic"?) Herbert Lom makes a suitably oily Van Leyden, allowing hints of his unpleasant nature to come through even when he seems to be in the right. I was less impressed with Lauren Bacall's governess. It has always struck me that her greatest role was as Mrs Humphrey Bogart and that, although she gave occasional good performances (such as Bond Rogers in "The Shootist") her star quality tended to decline from the mid-fifties onwards. The one character that I really disliked was the subservient Indian train driver, Gupta, who I thought came across as a patronising stereotype.
Seen as political commentary or as a character study, the film is too simplistic to be convincing. As a straightforward adventure story, however, it is a very good one, generating a good deal of tension as the travellers desperately try and overcome all the hazards that stand between them and safety. The scene which particularly stood out for me was the one where they have to try and cross the damaged viaduct high above the valley. "North West Frontier" is not in the same class as "Stagecoach" or some of Thompson's other films such as "Ice-Cold in Alex" or "Tiger Bay", but it is nevertheless an enjoyable one. 7/10