Search - North West Frontier on DVD

Above Average Action Movie..!

Seen Them All | SoCal Desert | 03/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Northwest Frontier stars Kenneth More as a British Army Captain in the early 1900's India. A child prince must be smuggled out of a palace that is surrounded by rebels intent on killing the prince. Lauren Bacall is the boy's governess. A train is put together by the Captain to ram the barricades put up by the rebels. Herbert Lom is a newspaper man who tags along. Also on the train is Wilfred Hyde White and several others. The train makes a successful escape and is quickly pursued by the rebels. All sorts of adventures await the train passengers as they try to reach the British fort. I.S Johar steals the show as the trains engineer. Above average action adventure movie. Worth seeing."

This made my day, month, year, ...

dr_shred | Tempe, AZ | 05/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, another great British film brought to life on DVD. My dog-eared
VHS tape of "Flame Over India", which is, I think, the original title,
which I converted to DVD - not a great transfer, mind you - can now be
retired.

Some say this was a variation on the incarnations of the movie
"Stagecoach", but that doesn't do this excellent adventure film
justice, with its stellar cast, illumined by Ms. Bacall, who is more
beautiful here, as the intrepid governess, than in any of her other
films.

The outstanding performances by an ensemble of familiar and unfamiliar
faces is also graced by I.S. Johar's Gupta, the dedicated engineer,
who provides a perfect, comic counterpoint to what is also a serious
film about British imperialism and of India, a land of ancient
animosities and great beauty.
"

A boy's own adventure, nicely done, with the confident, reso

C. O. DeRiemer | San Antonio, Texas, USA | 05/26/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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 only 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 his 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. 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."

All Aboard For Adventure

James L. | 04/01/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lauren Bacall plays an American doctor's widow who is responsible for a young Hindu prince in India. Along with British army captain Kenneth More and others, they board an old train to escape to safety, because rivals want the young prince dead. Of course, the train trip is anything but smooth and uneventful. The film works really well, with enough quiet moments mixed with action scenes to keep the viewer entertained. There is also a very credible attraction that develops between the Bacall and More characters. Bacall's character is quite outspoken (the kind of character she did a lot when she got older), while More is amused by her and attracted to her. There's a lot of action and suspense built up, and since this film is not well known these days, it's a nice surprise to view."