North West Frontier (1959)
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North West Frontier (USA: Flame Over India; Australia: Empress of India) is a 1959 British Eastmancolor adventure film starring Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom, Wilfrid Hyde-White and I. S. Johar. The CinemaScope film was produced by Marcel Hellman and directed by J. Lee Thompson. It was a commercial success at the British box-office in 1959. The film’s success led to J. Lee Thompson beginning his American career as a director.
The film is set in the North West Frontier Province of British India (now within modern Pakistan). It explores the ethnic tensions within British India after Muslim rebels attack a fortress and kill a Hindu maharajah.
Plot
In British-controlled India just after the turn of the 20th century, an English captain (Kenneth More) is asked to escort a maharajah’s son out of town after an uprising by Muslim factions threatens the boy’s life. As the captain sneaks the boy away with his governess (Lauren Bacall), danger seems to be all around. After another attack by rebels, the trio and a group of others — including a journalist and an arms dealer — secretly board an old train to try to escape to safety.
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