LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER Movie Review
1935 Henry Hathaway
Though it was hailed by some as the greatest war film ever made, this rousing adventure really doesn't attempt to be a realistic account of British colonial rule in India, and should not be judged as such. The movie's real importance—beyond its undiminished entertainment value—lies in its evocation of the exotic. If a National Geographic magazine from the 1930s could have been put on a theater screen, it would have looked like this. Yes, most of the exteriors were filmed in California mountains but they still feel somehow right. The plot combines blood-and-thunder military bravery with a two-sided look at male bonding that's much more serious than most of the “buddy” pictures that have followed.
The setting is somewhere on the northern frontier of India, sometime during the British “Raj.” The 41st Bengal Lancers keep the peace there, though for years they have been trying to capture the wily Mohammed Khan (Douglass Dumbrille, who almost steals the film). Lt. McGregor (Gary Cooper) is an old hand assigned to show two new officers the ropes. Lt. Forsythe (Franchot Tone) is a transfer from a fashionably tony regiment, “the Blues,” while young Lt. Stone (Richard Cromwell) comes to the Lancers straight from the military academy. He wouldn't be there at all if it weren't for Maj. Hamilton (C. Aubrey Smith), who knows that the gruff commander, Col. Stone (Guy Standing), is about to retire and wants to keep the Stone name alive in the history of the Lancers. Lt. Stone is his son, but the Colonel is far too much of a by-the-book soldier to show any favoritism, or even any emotion.
So it's up to the hot-tempered Mac and the smart-alecky Forsythe to set things right between father and son while, at the same time, extinguishing the flames of revolution, saving the Empire and all that. The story is so loosely basted together that it could easily have fallen apart, but the film never falters. Director Henry Hathaway, a thorough professional whose work has never been fully appreciated outside the industry, handles the material with precisely the right combination of humor and seriousness. Despite the adolescent fantasy aspects of the plot, Hathaway and his cast don't make light of the characters. Cooper and Tone are particularly complementary, each playing off and reacting to the other in unexpected ways. The relationship between father and son isn't as important, but it isn't neglected, either, and though the action is often talky, it's not slow.
The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards—including best picture, director, screenplay, and art direction—and the glossy look that a studio could give to a big-budget production is still impressive, even in something as simple as costuming. When these guys aren't decked out in khaki, jodhpur, and pith, they're spiffed up in ice cream suits and snap brim hats, or they're dolled up in their fancy dress uniforms, complete with plaid turbans that would make Carmen Miranda envious. That attention to appearance is an important part of the picture's appeal.
As a serious comment on war, Lives of a Bengal Lancer may not have much to say, but as sophisticated lightweight adventure, it's hard to beat.
Cast: Gary Cooper (Lt. Alan McGregor), Franchot Tone (Lt. John Forsythe), Richard Cromwell (Lt. Donald Stone), Guy Standing (Col. Stone), Sir C. Aubrey Smith (Maj. Hamilton), Douglass Dumbrille (Mohammed Khan), Kathleen Burke (Tania Volkanskaya), Noble Johnson (Ram Singh), Lumsden Hare (Maj. Gen. Woodley), Akim Tamiroff (Emir of Gopal), J. Carrol Naish (Grand Vizier), Monte Blue (Hamzulla Khan), Ray Cooper (Assistant to Grand Vizier), Leonid Kinskey (Snake charmer), George Regas (Kushal Khan), Reginald Sheffield (Novice), Mischa Auer (Amdi), Charles Stevens (McGregor's assistant), James Warwick (Lt. Gilhooley), Clive Morgan (Lt. Norton), Colin Tapley (Lt. Barrett), Rollo Lloyd (The Ghazi, a prisoner), Maj. Sam Harris (British officer); Written by: Waldemar Young, John Lloyd Balderston, Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt; Cinematography by: Charles B(ryant) Lang; Music by: Milan Roder; Technical Advisor: Maj. Sam Harris. Producer: Louis D. Lighton, Paramount Pictures. Awards: Nominations: Academy Awards '35: Best Director (Hathaway), Best Film Editing, Best Interior Decoration, Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Sound. Running Time: 110 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta.