The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Francis Yeats-Brown (novel)
Grover Jones (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

15 February 1935 (Austria)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

1750 to 1! Always out-numbered! Never out-fought! These are the Bengal Lancers...heroes all...guarding each other's lives, sharing each other's tortures, fighting each other's battles...

Plot:

Three British soldiers on the Northwest Frontier of India struggle against invaders...and themselves.

Plot Keywords:

India | Lancer | British | Rescue | Fortress

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 6 nominations

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Lieutenant Alan McGregor
Franchot Tone	...	Lieutenant Forsythe
Richard Cromwell	...	Lieutenant Donald Stone
Guy Standing	...	Colonel Tom Stone (as Sir Guy Standing)
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Major Hamilton
Kathleen Burke	...	Tania Volkanskaya
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Mohammed Khan (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Monte Blue	...	Hamzulla Khan
Colin Tapley	...	Lieutenant Barrett
Akim Tamiroff	...	Otamanu, emir of Gopal
J. Carrol Naish	...	Grand Vizier
Noble Johnson	...	Ram Singh
Lumsden Hare	...	Maj. Gen. Sir Thomas Woodley
Jameson Thomas	...	Hendrickson

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | USA:Approved (PCA #474)

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Continuity: When McGregor shaves, the way Forsythe holds the snake charmer pipe changes between shots.

Quotes:

Lieutenant Alan McGregor: Who's she?
Lieutenant Forsythe: I met her on the train, if you don't mind.
Lieutenant Alan McGregor: Bad business talking to strange people out here. You know, this is India, you don't who they are, and you might...
Lieutenant Forsythe: Oh, I see. Beautiful spy meets young Lancer officer, makes him give away important military secrets. The Empire goes smash! Melodrama, my dear McGregor, melodrama!
Lieutenant Alan McGregor: It might not be as funny as it sounds, Mr. Stone.
Lieutenant Forsythe: I don't suppose it matters to you, but my name isn't Stone.
Lieutenant Alan McGregor: [Confused] No?
Lieutenant Forsythe: No. It's Forsythe.
Lieutenant Alan McGregor: [Points to well dressed man walking down the platform] Well then, that must be Stone right there.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr. (1996)

Soundtrack:

Pump and Circumstance

Exotic British Colinial India in the tradition of "Gunga Din"...

THE LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER can take its place among the best of the Hollywood version of Colonial India during the 1800s where the danger and excitement is derived from tales similar to the more famous GUNGA DIN, where the British Army has its share of conflict with the Indians who think their country is being occupied.

And like GUNGA DIN, it revolves around a threesome of male buddies played by GARY COOPER, FRANCHOT TONE and RICHARD CROMWELL. Cooper is the strongest of the leads, a Lt. McGregor who has been sent to welcome two new soldiers to the military post. One of them (Cromwell) is the naively inexperienced son of the post's commander and prone to go astray without guidance from Cooper and Tone. The relationships are not without friction (usually with humorous episodes thrown in), and, of course, there's the requisite loyalty, courage and danger involved in all of their undertakings.

Much of it feels similar to other stories of courage beyond endurance and scenes of torture where the captive soldiers exhibit the bravery instilled in them by the military. GARY COOPER is at his most Gary Cooper-like persona (stoic and brave) in the role of the heroic McGregor and FRANCHOT TONE does extremely well as his humorous buddy. RICHARD CROMWELL tends to overact in melodramatic '30s style, the only weakness in the cast.

Good support from a cast including DOUGLAS DUMBRILLE, J. CARROL NAISH, NOBLE JOHNSON and AKIM TAMIROFF.

Fans of GUNGA DIN should love this one.