Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Steineded How sad is this?

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Adam Peters (79%) The always dependable Kenneth More stars this this Indian set action adventure shot in vibrant technicolor that really goes to prove that old films can be just as entertainingly watchable as any of the stuff we get these days. This can be easily compared to the brilliant Dark of the sun, although it is a little more family friendly, much more of a matinée Saturday afternoon crowd-pleaser than a hard-edged, hairy-backed armchair- gripper. Even though this is good popcorn fun, it still has a strong political theme running through involving the beginning of the end of British rule. The support cast is strong including Lauren Bacall and the always good Herbert Lom. So it's well made, entertaining, well cast, fun, and well worth a look. What more do you need?

ianlouisiana Perhaps a little old for a captain in British India,Mr Kenneth More displays his customary noisy schoolboy/romping spaniel charm in this Kiplingesque adventure yarn. Tasked with rescuing a young Hindu prince during one of the many religious conflicts that have blighted that country for hundreds of years,Captain Scott(Mr More)and a disparate group of strangers face danger from without and within(see "Lifeboat")before arriving safely at their destination. In 1959,at the height of his box - office popularity,Mr More could put bums on seats sticky with chewing gum all over the country.Still fondly remembered for his turn as Douglas Bader,it would not be too big a stretch of the imagination to see a similarity in the hearty,rugger - bugger personae of the two men. However,Scott is more overtly upper - class,cleverly hiding his keen intelligence under the outward guise of the bluff soldier . Sharing a train with him are a journalist,an arms dealer,a Colonial Administrator,the wife of a high official and the widow of a recently deceased American doctor. Scott suspects that one of them means the prince harm,and in the exciting climax this unlikely band join together to oust the traitor in their midst. All splendid B.O.P. stuff,then,but the spice in "North West Frontier" is in the performances. Mr Herebert Lom is excellent as the splenetic mixed - race reporter, Miss Bacall does better than the role deserves as the unlikely American proto - feminist who uncomplainingly makes endless cups of tea for her fellow travellers. Mr Hyde - White outstanding as the old posh geezer,the like of whom nowadays is only found snoozing in the House of Lords. But for me,Mr Johar as Ghupta the engine driver walks away with the picture.Like Captain Scott,a complex man behind a simple exterior,it is he,bravely nursing his engine across a swaying bridge,instructing Capt. Scott to get every ounce of steam and inch of traction as the rails buckle and strain beneath him,who is the hero of the piece. Unfashionable as Kipling is today,he was still well - regarded fifty - odd years ago and it was with no shame or post - colonial guilt that his shade was recalled by "Northwest Frontier".Courage and sacrifice was required from our soldiers in the early 20th century just as it is in the early 21st century.It may be Eton,Sandhurst and Afghanistan now,but men like Captain Scott are still performing their everyday acts of heroism.

bkoganbing India in 1905 was a country in transition and turmoil, the Moslems and Hindus were warring on each other and on other minority groups and everybody wanted the British out. The Congress Party was a going concern at that point and was still a vehicle for both Moslem and Hindu to work within.If every single man at arms that the British Empire could command had been stationed in India at any time, they could never have ruled such a vast area in land and population. They did it with a lot of collaboration, some of it willing, some of it a matter of convenience. Very little of what is now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh was ruled outright by the British. They worked in collaboration with the various rulers of the many provinces, some Hindu, some Moslem.In this story, a Hindu maharajah's state is being overrun by Moslem rebels. Kenneth More as a British captain is charged with getting the small son out of the kingdom and to safety along with the child's nurse, an American played by Lauren Bacall.On a train of one coach, More, Bacall, and the child Gorinda Raja Ross flee the kingdom. Other passengers on the train are arms dealer Eugene Decker, newspaper correspondent Herbert Lom, the wife of the provincial governor Ursula Jeans, and the governor's secretary Wilfrid Hyde-White. The train is driven by Indian actor I.S. Johar and more has a small group of Sepoy troops to help out.The journey to safety is the bulk of the story of Northwest Frontier and on that journey all the people show their character. One of them will betray the others. All of them have flaws of a sort. The British really do believe in Kipling's white man's burden about keeping order among the people of India. To a greater or lesser degree they have a racial prejudice about the place. Only Bacall as an American and an outsider is seemingly free of it.Not to say that most of them aren't a brave bunch because in the crunch most step up to the plate.The story was written by Patrick Ford, John's son and others have pointed out that he borrowed liberally from his dad's masterpiece Stagecoach. The final attack on the train by the Moslem rebels is as exciting as that attack by other kinds of Indians in Stagecoach. Kenneth More as the hero of the piece is not the Ringo Kid however. John Wayne was on his own mission when he became part of the Stagecoach ensemble, More is a British officer with a mission.The various maharajahs and nawabs were all pensioned off as per the Mountbatten settlement in 1947. I'd like to think the young prince grew up and inherited his kingdom and got pensioned out of it along with a few hundred others of his class. One kingdom missed the settlement, that of Kashmir which is today the sore point between India and Pakistan.Director J. Lee Thompson was at the beginning of a great career directing some fine action films. Northwest Frontier is a fine action film and you can learn a great deal about the Indian subcontinent in the viewing of it.

Spikeopath We are in British India, Moslem rebels want to kill a young Hindu prince and thus killing his family blood line. The British army are charged with the task of ensuring the prince is safely escorted from the troubled provinces. The duty falls to one intrepid Captain Scott, the only chance to achieve the aim is by train, with his allies on board being a rather unique group of individuals, can Scott achieve the mission against the mounting odds?North West Frontier has everything a great action adventure should have, action, tension, drama and an array of wonderfully colourful characters. The opening to the film is pulsating, as Scott has to fight off the rebels whilst smuggling the prince and his governess out to safety. From then on we are on a train journey that is rich with enjoyment, the tension mounts among the passengers, not least because of the class differences, and perhaps motives are not in alignment? But they must club together if they are to survive this journey.Kenneth Moore, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom and Wilfrid Hyde-White (comedy gold when under attack) are all pulling together to make a cracking yarn. Directing duties falls to J. Lee Thompson, whose CV boasts Ice Cold In Alex, The Guns Of Navarone and Cape Fear, so this material was thankfully in very safe hands. The photography from Geoffrey Unsworth is top notch, barren and desolate landscapes beautifully realising the peril of the passengers' journey, whilst the music from Mischa Spoliansky leaves a lasting impression.This train may well be crammed full of genre stereotypes, and sure enough the patronising nature of the piece is dated at the edges, but this remains a gloriously enjoyable film that the whole family can readily digest. 9/10