Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

JohnHowardReid Copyright 24 January 1935 by Paramount Productions, Inc. Presented by Adolph Zukor. New York opening at the Paramount, 11 January 1935 (ran 3 weeks). Sydney opening at the Prince Edward, 16 February 1935 (ran a staggering 8 weeks, the theater's biggest success since 1931 — and continuing so until a 10-week season of French Without Tears in 1940). 11 reels. 109 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Two new officers of the 41st Regiment of Bengal Lancers arrive in north-west India and are placed under the wing of an old hand. (There's a mixed metaphor for you – from the movie's Press Sheet).NOTES: Academy Award, Clem Beauchamp and Paul Wing, Assistant Directors (defeating Eric Stacey for Les Miserables, and Joseph Newman for David Copperfield).Also nominated for Best Picture (Mutiny on the Bounty), Directing (John Ford for The Informer), Screenplay (The Informer), Art Direction (The Dark Angel), Film Editing (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and Sound Recording (Naughty Marietta).Second only to David Copperfield in The Film Daily 1935 poll of U.S. film critics. A New York Times "Ten Best". Number 7 on the National Board of Review list.COMMENT: Hathaway had previously directed Cooper and Shirley Temple in Now and Forever, but Lives of a Bengal Lancer was the movie that really made his reputation. Of course he had a great script to begin with, a marvelous cast, and some superb technicians. One of the most exciting adventures ever filmed, the gripping, witty script perfectly captures the India of Kipling and the British raj (much more so than movies like Gandhi and Heat and Dust). The dialogue with its smart wise-cracking lines, and the characters so memorably and indelibly drawn, are given perfect life by an absolutely first-rate cast. Cooper never had a better role, serving as an effective stooge for Tone and a remarkable catalyst for the rest of the players, particularly Smith and Cromwell. Tone has the best of the witty lines, delivering them with such delightful ease and polished suavity as to win over even those skeptics to whom adventure films are hardly flavor-of-the-month. Sir Guy Standing also contributes a beautifully rounded characterization. He is one of the empire breed, floundering in personal relationships, yet parrying the villainous Douglas Dumbrille with diplomatic skill. Mr. Dumbrille makes with the menacing sneer with his usual oleaginous charm, while Kathleen Burke purrs seductively as his accomplice in a small but memorably villainous role. And we cannot leave the players without singling out Akim Tamiroff for his deliciously wheezy portrait of a friendly Emir.Directed with such flair as to make the whole exotic action and background thoroughly believable, superbly photographed (even if the masterfully lit studio material tends to show up the cruder 2nd unit and location footage), with eye-catching sets and a rousing music score, Lives of a Bengal Lancer is one of the greatest adventure movies of all time.Using an astonishingly literate script which spoofs the romanticism of Kilpingesque narrative clichés while retaining the essence of Kipling's imperial philosophy (doubtless carried over from the autobiographical original novel), director Henry Hathaway certainly creates a solid impression of authenticity. . But Hathaway's talent is not the only one to admire in this remarkable film: The photography of Charles Lang, stunning in its deep focus shots of cavalry winding through rocky defile, breathtaking in its group shots where a skillful deployment of light and shadow give the illusion of a third dimension. I must also commend the distinguished playing of Sir Guy Standing as Colonel Stone, — note especially those scenes in which he changes from a ramrod martinet to a stammering father, note the brief, despairing glance of his eyes; — or note their twinkle when he deals suave diplomacy under the guise of a harmless old buffer of the pukka sahib school. C. Aubrey Smith is also a stand-out as Major Hamilton, whose resonant voice so beautifully expounds the glories of empire; and I must also commend the disarmingly relaxed, easy performance of Franchot Tone. Douglas Dumbrille as Ahmed Khan has some effective dialogue exchanges — I love the scene where he haggles over the price of rugs with Cooper and Tone, who are disguised as Indian merchants. Suddenly his face breaks into a sarcastic smile: "Come, come, gentlemen!" he says. "Is this becoming officers of the King's 41st Lancers?"

hairytick Was there ever a better actor on film than Gary Cooper? In "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" he shows the natural talent, the effortless pretense, that few others could match..... well Sean Penn or Ingrid Bergman maybe. Franchot Tone plays the best friend part to a tee, both infuriating and endearing himself to Cooper's character.... always makes me laugh when he plays "Mother MacCree" on the pipe, needling Coop at first, but then begging for help when a cobra is attracted to the sound.This is where they got the material for flicks like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." This film was made in Hollywood's golden era, when movies were fantastic adventures to be treasured, not necessarily believed. This is a very grim tale of war and sacrifice, but fun nonetheless. That the imperialists are the good guys is just a sign of the time when it was made. I wonder how bigoted the movies being made today will look to audiences 70 years from now? The sets were, of course, very well done and the photography was superb. During the mid to late thirties the art of the film reached it's zenith.Before then such spectacle was rare, but by 1939 it had become common. A very enjoyable combination of comedy and adventure makes this film one of the true classics.

d1494 In the very place where American and British troops are searching for Bin laden, the untamed Northwest frontier of modern Pakistan, the regiments of the Imperial British Raj ruled three hundred million with a hand full of men like Guy Standing and C. Aubrey Smith, who exemplified the very best of the military tradition. There are moments of this film that even transcend the story of outnumbered British soldiers, as when C. Aubrey Smith tells a hot headed Gary Cooper the meaning of honor and duty to the regiment. He explains that sometimes there may be a higher calling than fatherly love. Excellent portrayals by Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone and precise attention to detail ensure that this movie holds up nearly 70 years after it was made. This film should be required viewing for modern day Hollywood types, actors and directors alike who think they can make an action movie! This is one of the great films, I give it a 10!

sherlock-34 I picked this little beauty up simply because of Gary Cooper and the subject matter. Having loved Gunga Din, this seemed like a good choice. Cooper as Macgregor, the top billed hero of the piece gives a strong, warm and wry performance. The stand-out surprise of the piece though, is that he is up-staged at nearly every turn by Franchot Tone. The banter between the two is great and takes full advantage of the witty and cynical dialogue. Young Richard Cromwell on the other hand makes very little impression until the final scenes of the picture. The British institution that is C. Aubrey Smith, makes a wonderful patriotic speech from under his formidably bristling eyebrows that brings the house down.The story-line is pretty standard stuff, three heroes in the face of overwhelming odds fight to uphold British dominance on the Indian Frontier. The strength of the film lies in the characterizations of the leads and the incredible settings and action sequences. A good deal of first rate horsemanship is also in evidence as we are treated to a full Lancer charge and scenes of tent pegging and pig sticking. The final battle is a glorious and exciting sequence that modern film makers would learn a great deal from. The script does have its goofy moments in the later torture sequences as we are treated to lines like "We have ways of making men talk" and are shown the old bamboo under the fingernails bit, but even the cliches seem fitting.If grand adventure with an emphasis on style is your idea of a good time, you'd be hard put to find a better example than this film!