by Kari Bowles
Few genres have such a specifically American stamp as the Western. Movies depicting adventures and tribulations in the Western half of the United States—in particular those set in the decade or so after the Civil War— stir up powerful feelings of nostalgia and contentment for many audience members. Some Westerns also carry subtexts questioning easy nostalgia (especially for viewers who are not Caucasian), or the paradox of retributive violence being used to establish law and order. Of course, historical/political implications aside, many of the best Westerns work on the level of rousing entertainment. It occurred to me to spotlight a film that doesn’t take place on the American frontier, but nevertheless supplies all of the ingredients of a satisfying Western. North West Frontier (1959), a British film directed by J. Lee Thompson (who went on to make The Guns of Navarone in 1961).
The movie was more commercially successful in the UK than in America when it was originally released (the title was changed to Flame Over India), and has since lapsed into comparative obscurity. This is unfortunate and undeserved, given the quality of the production. Star Lauren Bacall called it “a good little film with a stupid title,” which proves an accurate assessment. Set in the Northwest Frontier of British India in 1905, the film opens in the midst of a massive political-religious uprising.
A Hindu maharaja has tasked British Army officer Captain Scott (Kenneth More) with escorting his five-year-old son Prince Kishan to safety in a neighboring province. Accompanied by Mrs. Wyatt (Bacall), the boy’s American governess, they manage to flee the palace just before Muslim rebels storm it and kill the maharajah. The city is surrounded, with a final, overloaded passenger train already set to leave. Possible salvation comes from an unlikely source: a dilapidated steam engine called the Empress of India and its driver Gupta (I.S. Johar). Captain Scott boards Mrs. Wyatt and the prince, along with a handful of other passengers—including an arms dealer (Eugene Decker) and a journalist (Herbert Lom)— and the Empress of India sets out across several hundred miles of rebel territory.
Comparisons to John Ford’s seminal 1939 picture Stagecoach are fitting: a journey through a vast and hostile landscape, a motley assortment of individuals who may not be who they initially seem, periodic gun battles and hair’s-breadth escapes. Kenneth More may not be as tall or physically imposing as John Wayne, but he proves a likable adventure hero, his British stiff-upper-lipped sense of honor and duty gradually melting into a sense of genuine love and concern for the little prince. Lauren Bacall gives a dependably solid performance, refusing to be a limp damsel in distress. Johar’s Gupta strikes an initial note of ethnic insensitivity, but he ultimately isn’t a one-note buffoon. After all, it is Gupta’s skill as an engineer that keeps the train moving and ultimately saves the lives of those aboard. If you’re in the mood for an adventure, give North West Frontier a shot.
Movie Lovers is Bozeman’s independent movie rental store, supplying hundreds of titles you won’t find on steaming services. Located at 200 S 23rd Ave, in the Albertsons shopping center. •
