Gunga Din (1939) Classic jolly action film from the 'Thirties. Modern audiences may find the comic fistfights and the patronizing view of the natives grating (at least I do). Native water-boy (Sam Jaffe) proves his courage when his soldier pals try to thwart a rebellious murder cult in Northern India. There is an action sequence in a nice native town, for model architecture buffs. Very tenuously based on Kipling's famous poem.

Soldiers Three (1951) More nudge-nudge comedy than action in this resolutely rollicking soldier-buddy adventure. There's a short double seige in a dilapidated fort and a reprisal raid in women's underwear. Stewart Granger out-mugs Robert Newton (no mean feat!).

King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) Half-caste officer leads Indian troops on the Northwest Frontier in an attack on a hillfort. "...blades of steel (chingy-chingy-ching)". Good fun.
  "Nay, Captain, sahib, we will not use the rifles.
 But we have blades of steel , [chingy-chingy-ching]
 and with these we will follow you anywhere." --Soldier, in King of the Khyber Rifles

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) History-shmistory: it has Errol Flynn! Much of this 'Thirties spectacle is set in India, as the treacherous Surat Khan engineers a massacre of the British, then escapes his just retribution by skulking off behind the Russian lines at Balaklava. Naturally the Brigade must go after him, regardless. In addition to Flynn's inimitable dash, the film has Fort Chukoti, to which any aspiring builder of gaming structures must give the once-over, but the mass use of trip wires on the horses is enough to jolt anyone who has a particle of sympathy for animals.

Kim (1950) Kipling's tale of a bright orphan boy who becomes a player in "The Great Game," British vs. Russian espionage on the colonial frontier of India. Also has Errol Flynn, but in a rather subdued, less-than-comfortable performance.

Wee Willie Winkie (1937) Shirley Temple as the Colonel's granddaughter, is adopted as mascot to the regiment in Frontier India. She is abducted and held hostage in Khoda Khan's mountain fortress, but her innocent kindness to the local rebel chief brings peace and understanding to the Frontier. Corny and wonderful. A transgendered adaptation of a Kipling story.
 "Oh Mr. Khan, Mr. Khan. You dropped your necklace." --Priscilla, in Wee Willie Winkie

Black Narcissus (1946) Not a military colonial movie at all, and taking place long after the Victorian era, but a favorite, and set in a fortress-palace in India's northern frontier region. A group of nuns struggles to establish a convent and hospital in the Himalayas, but the Mysteries of Place and Hollywood freudianism bring it all to naught. It is one of the most visually beautiful movies ever made, and the scenes of the palace clinging to the mountain crags are breathtaking, as well as valuable for modelmakers.

Flame over India Alternate title: Northwest Frontier(1959) British officer, with a few Indian soldiers and a Maxim gun, commandeers a run-down locomotive and two cars to help a Hindu boy-prince and a handful of civilians to escape from Moslem insurrectionists. Most of the action takes place on the rickety train. Great for colonial military buffs who are also railway fans (like a certain Maj. General).
"It's easy for you to mock us. We're used to that. Half the world mocks us --
 and half the world is only civilized because we have made it so." --Lady Wyndham in Flame over India

A Passage to India (1984, British) David Lean directs E.M. Forster's classic tale of race relations in Imperial India and a repressed Englishwoman's accusation against a mild-mannered Moslem doctor. This film was nominated for nine British and eleven American Academy Awards, so it is apparently quite impressive to people who haven't read the book.

Gandhi (1982, British-Indian) Patrick Wilson comments: "Beautiful if sanitized account of the life of "The Great Soul."  The images of India are so strong, you can actually feel the heat.  Militarily, the best (?) scenes depict the Amritsar Massacre with chilling authenticity."

Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) Tough, stuffy colonel battles a wily Khan, his own neglected son, and his subordinates to protect an ammunition shipment. Beautiful b&w photography, great sets and locations, solid action, old-fashioned heroics. Most enjoyable. (A hideous curse on any man who colorizes it.)
Patrick Wilson comments: "Newcomer officer learns what duty really means on the (then) contemporary Northwest Frontier, with a Harvard-educated Khan with better manners (but sneakier tricks) than Prince Charles!  Off beat, excellent action."

Drums Alternate title: The Drum (1938) Russian agents may be supplying an ambitious North Indian ruler with (gasp!) machine guns. This worries the Brits, and a stop must be put to it.

Bengal Brigade (1954) Disgraced officer (Rock Hudson) tries to thwart a local rajah at the onset of the Indian Mutiny. Pretty in spots, but vacant.

Storm Over Bengal (1938) Comments:

Conduct Unbecoming (1974) Tim Balzer comments: "An 'unofficial' courtmartial tries a young subaltern in an Indian cavalry regiment for an alleged assualt on an officer's widow. Great cast, good plot, good "regimental life" portrayal. No action. A few long shots of the regiment on parade."

The Deceivers (1988, British) Patrick Wilson comments: "Excellent (mostly) historical account of John Company's infiltration and destruction of Thuggee in 1830's India.  Spooky, atmospheric, with good action and uniforms."  "Tombako kah lo!"

The Long Duel (1967, British) Nathan Johnson comments: "Set in late-colonial India, the film depicts the winding down of the constant border warfare between the hill tribes and the Raj. Excellent in all respects, but not what most people expect."

The Adventures of Capain Marvel Jeffry Scott Jones comments: "This '30s adventure serial features several battles with Pathan-style tribesmen before switching to America, and also at the end of the series. Some of the action sequences are first rate."

Elephant Boy (1937, British) Kipling's tale of a young Indian boy and his beloved work elephant who accompany a white hunter on a 40-elephant safari to capture wild elephants for the army. This film has ELEPHANTS - big and small, domestic and wild, at work, at play, singly and in huge herds, even model elephants (if you look closely). No military action - but, if you like elephants...

Bhowani Junction (1956, US/British) Pretty but unengaging melodrama of India's turmoil on the eve of independence, as seen by a British colonel and a female Anglo-Indian subordinate. Several military and numerous railway sequences.

Elephant Walk (1954) 103 minutes of decorating ideas for anyone with a bungalow big enough to play bicycle polo in.

Bandit Queen (Indian,1999) Adulatory and controversial treatment of the life of Phoolan Devi, the much-victimized lower-caste child-bride who grew up to lead a gang of dacoits, visit terror on her tormentors, and become a living legend (and later a member of Parliament) in the 1980s. Inaccurate (according to both Devi and her opponents), but a visually beautiful and compelling story of latter-day banditry in north-central India. Beware: many explicit scenes of mental, physical and sexual abuse - not for those of delicate sensibilities, and definitely not for children.

Young Winston See listing under Northern and Central Africa

Carry on up the Khyber (1968, British) British music-hall comedy comes to the Frontier. Bum and bollocks jokes, nudge-nudge entendre, escape in dancing-girl drag. For those who like that sort of thing, well, that is the sort of thing they like.
Robert Smith comments: "THE best of the 'Carry On' comedies, featuring such immortal characters as 'the Khazi of Kalibar', the British govenor 'Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond' and the Burpa chieftan 'Bungdit-in.' Very funny."

Bonnie Scotland (1935): Mark Henry comments: "Laurel and Hardy end up on India's Northwest Frontier in a Highland Regt."

China and the Far East
Lord Jim (1965) Guilt-ridden ship's officer seeks his fortune in the warlord-ruled interior of Asia. From the Joseph Conrad novel.

Anna and the King (1999) David Edgington comments: "Definitely not the Yul Brynner version. Lots of scenes of the bustling Bangkok harbor, street scenes, small units of the Siamese army in action, lots of elephants and howdahs, and of course the palace and the royal hangers-on are there in 'more-than-oriental splendor.'"

The Real Glory (1936) Action in the Phillippines, as the Moros try to lure US troops into a jungle ambush. Gary Cooper's noble doctor seems a bit modern for 1902, but the film is solid and appealing, with a good final assault on the town. However, the Maj. General wishes to declare a moratorium on cinematic threats to sew prisoners into pigskins.
Patrick Wilson comments: "U.S. Army doctor and other officers teach the Philippine Constabulary to defend themselves against the nastiest Moro datu this side of Darth Vader.  Plenty of rousing action with Krags, Gatlings, campilans and barongs in abundance."

Krakatoa, East of Java (1968) Not in the Major-General's atlas, it isn't. Salvage operation with balloon and diving chamber braves the 1883 volcanic eruption. Unbelievably poor writing and pacing, many cheap dramatic tricks, but nifty steamer and gadgets, great engine-room shots, one or two exciting action sequences, and Technicolor. Wish I'd seen it in the original Cinerama.

Cavalry Command (1963) Jeffry Scott Jones comments: "US cavalry tries to win the hearts and minds of Filipino villagers in 1902. No large actions, but skirmishes with Igorot tribesmen and insurrecto commanders. Mainly worth seeing for the authentic Filipino locations, costumes, and customs. Parallels to advisor-era Vietnam seem inescapable."

Fighting Devil Dogs Jeffry Scott Jones comments: "A '30s serial which splices in newsreel footage of US Marines manning barricades during various crises in China. Action sequences also involve marines vs. Filipino-style natives, warlord armies and a Darth Vader precursor with a giant flying-wing aircraft."

The Sand Pebbles (1966) Long, gritty tale, with an authentic feel, of an American gunboat trapped in China during an outbreak of Chinese xenophobia.

55 Days at Peking (1963) Elaborately-mounted story of the siege of the foreign legations during the Boxer Rebellion. Lots of detail for modelers.

High Road to China (1983) Okay, okay, Tom Selleck poses on the poster with a Lewis gun and ammunition belts (doh!) draped over his manly shoulders, and everyone in the remote native villages seems to speak English, and what was the operational range of a Tiger Moth anyway? Still this story of a cynical pilot hired to help an adventurous heiress find her father in central Asia is great fun. And the defense of the fortified town against the bandit warlord is terrific.

Shanghai Express (1932) Marlene Dietrich vamps it up on a slow train through bandit-infested China. Good street scene as the train crawls through a packed city, and a potent reminder to be sure you know exactly who it is you're being rude to.
 "It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily" --Lily in Shanghai Express

China Seas (1935) Tough/tender sea-captain faces Malay pirates in the '30s. Best feature: the steamroller loose on deck in the typhoon; didn't they set the brakes? Worst: a psychopathically obnoxious Jean Harlow as the old girlfriend.

They Met in Bombay (1941) Impersonating a British officer in Hong Kong, jewel-thief Clark Gable suddenly finds himself leading troops against the Japanese. Slow at first, but ends with some decent action. Beautiful Chinese walled town, great lorries, and Tommies firing Lewis guns.

Soldier of Fortune (1955) Shady Hong Kong merchant sails his armed junk to rescue a journalist in Canton. Well out of the colonial period (1950s in fact), but colorful locations and details make the film worthwhile - especially the marvelous and useful junk and sampan sequences. Not an epic story, but enjoyable and very watchable.

Two Brothers (British/French 2004) Two orphaned tiger cubs' and an English hunter's lives intertwine as they try to survive corrupt French Indo-China in the early 20th Century. Romanticized, but not the maudlin 'Bambi in the Bamboo' polemic suggested by its advertising. Well-done colonial setting, elephantback tiger hunt with spectacular howdahs. Quite enjoyable, actually.

The Last Samurai (2003) Feudal Japan Pocahontasized. American officer, ridden with white guilt, is captured and redeemed by rebel samurai in 1870s Japan. Good props and sets, fine battle sequences between traditional samurai and modernized Imperial Army - otherwise, hamfisted and dreary. Apparently, Hollywood so loathes techno-commercial civilization that it will embrace a bloodthirsty warrior aristocracy as a heartwarming model of preindustrial virtue. A movie about Japanese culture with no subtlety or nuance at all - who would have thought it possible?

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