King of the Khyber Rifles (1953)

A half-caste British officer in 19th-century India battles the prejudices of both his Army colleagues and the local populace while trying to help put down a rebellion led by a greedy local ruler.

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Ivan Goff (screenplay), Ben Roberts (screenplay)

Stars:

Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Tyrone Power	...	Capt. Alan King
Terry Moore	...	Susan Maitland
Michael Rennie	...	Brig. Gen. J. R. Maitland
John Justin	...	Lt. Geoffrey Heath
Guy Rolfe	...	Karram Khan
Richard Wyler	...	Lt. Ben Baird (as Richard Stapley)
Murray Matheson	...	Maj. Ian MacAllister
Frank DeKova	...	Ali Nur (as Frank de Kova)
Argentina Brunetti	...	Lali
Sujata Rubener	...	Native Dancer (as Sujata)

Storyline

Freshly arrived Sandhurst-trained Captain Alan King, better versed in Pashtun then any of the veterans and born locally as army brat, survives an attack on his escort to his Northwest Frontier province garrison near the Khyber pass because of Ahmed, a native Afridi deserter from the Muslim fanatic rebel Karram Khan's forces. As soon as his fellow officers learn his mother was a native Muslim which got his parents disowned even by their own families, he falls prey to stubborn prejudiced discrimination, Lieutenant Geoffrey Heath even moves out of their quarters, except from half-Irish Lt. Ben Baird. Brigadier general J. R. Maitland, whose policy is full equality among whites, learns King knew Kurrum Khan as a boy and charges him with training and commanding native cavalry, which comes along fine. The general's egalitarian daughter Susan Maitland takes a fancy to King, even falls in love but the general decides to send her safely home to England after a kidnapped attempt when King saved ...

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Plot Keywords:

rifleman | general | muslim | india | battle | 

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Taglines:

You See It Without Glasses in CinemaScope

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 1954 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Capitaine King

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,190,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Twentieth Century-Fox's fourth CinemaScope production.

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Goofs

Captain King's pocket watch contains photographic images of his parents (~12:00) which must predate their stated 1833 date of death. The earliest known photograph of a person by Daguerre is from 1838 and were all exposed onto metallic silver plates.

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Quotes

Brig. Gen. J. R. Maitland: Marry? Captain King? Has he asked you?
Susan Maitland: He will... in time.

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Connections

Version of The Black Watch (1929)

User Reviews

Re-Make of The Black Watch

King of the Khyber Rifles is getting its second film adaption in this 1953 remake of Black Watch. Our version stars 20th Century Fox mainstay Tyrone Power who was coming to an end of his long term studio contract.

This was also the ninth of eleven films Power did with director Henry King and they rate right up there with John Wayne-John Ford and Martin Scorsese-Robert DeNiro as a successful director/actor team. King directed Power's breakthrough film role in Lloyds of London and his collaborations with Power is some of the best work for either men.

I wouldn't rate King of the Khyber Rifles as one of the best for either man. Yet it's entertaining enough and full of enough action to satisfy those who crave it in their films.

Power plays a British Army captain of mixed racial parentage and religious background as his mother was Moslem. He encounters a lot of hostility from both sides, similar to what Ava Gardner faced in Bhowani Junction.

It turns out that the leader of the local rebels is his former childhood play mate and son of the Moslem cleric who took young Power in when he was orphaned. Guy Rolfe is the rebel chief and he's a cunning and vicious foe of the British occupation. Rolfe also did a superb job in Ivanhoe as King John and these two roles are probably his career parts. Rolfe's the best one in the film.

It might have been a bit better had someone other than Terry Moore played the daughter of the English colonel. Another reviewer says she comes off like a débutante and she really does. Michael Rennie as her father is a stalwart defender of the Empire.

King of the Khyber Rifles is decent enough entertainment, but it wasn't in any contention for any awards in 1953.