Alerte aux Indes

Fun little movie that depicts the British and Indians living in some sort of Utopia together, with an evil villain (Raymond Massey, hamming it up with a vengeance) planning to slaughter the British troops at a banquet. It's up to his prince nephew, Sabu--the greatest of all child actors--to stop him. Definitely politically incorrect (although not outright racist), but with a lot of heart and humor. The humor disappears at the end in place of heavy suspense, and it's all wrapped up with a rousing, drawn-out battle scene. Hey, any movie with Scottish highlanders singing around a campfire is worth watching if you ask me. And it's in Technicolor to boot. 7/10.

Plot-- British colonial rule in parts of India is imperiled by the murder of the local monarch by his sinister brother (Massey). Now the British contingent (Livesey, Hobson, et al.) must rely on the young pro-British nephew (Sabu) to rally against the usurper.

As a boy growing up in a small mid-western town, I never missed this epic and its companion feature Four Feathers (1939) in our theater. After all, where else in pre-TV middle America could all that scenic exotica be seen. The be-turbaned Indian natives, the be-skirted English soldiers, the high mountain passes, all in rich Technicolor, along with the rich pageantry of masses of people moving here and there. And shouldn't forget the crackling, if somewhat clichéd, storyline, along with a charmingly youthful Sabu, a gloweringly sinister Raymond Massey, and a slim, long-limbed Valerie Hobson. Then there's that thundering drum, along with slinky native girls and twirling British Highlanders. The Korda's certainly spared no expense and it shows, from spirited opening to satisfying close. Sure, the subtext amounts to British colonial propaganda that no longer wears well. Still, the lavish spectacle remains, a treat for the eye. Of course, I've changed in many ways from those earlier days, but the Korda production can still entertain and impress, if given half a chance.

The film location is always shown as India but in fact part of the film was shot in the snowdonia range of mountains, in a place called Cwm Bychan lake,llanbeder in the county of Gwynedd. My Father was an extra on this film and I noticed that no mention has ever been made that part of the filming was actually done in North Wales

The British are trying to make peace treaties with numerous tribes in India to make sure there isn't an uprising among rebel tribes. Captain Carruthers makes a treaty with the prince, but when the prince's brother (Prince Ghul) murders the prince, he now has the tribes just where he wants him (in a spot to annihilate the British). The murdered prince's son (Prince Azul) reaches Carruthers and tells him of what happened, so Carruthers takes a troop to Ghul's fortress. Ghul welcomes Carruthers with a ceremony of a 5 day feast, but when the feast is over Ghul plans to kill all the British troops with their smuggled machine guns, unless Azim can lead a British battalion to Tokot to stop Ghul's mad plan. Despite being politically incorrect with the British superiority over the people of India, the film does contain a fair amount of action and thrills to entertain the film going audience, granted it is no Gunga Din or Four Feathers (the latter of which and this film share the same author). Massey oozes evil as Ghul, and their is decent support with Sabu, youthful as ever as Azim, Massey as the stuffed shirt Carruthers, and Hobson as his wife. The score is decent, but not that rousing and shooting in color limited the best chances to use lighting. Rating, 7.

Unabashedly pro-Raj, the story of a young Indian Prince and his friendship with some British army types. The release of this film was reported to have sparked anti-British riots in India. Sabu outdoes himself as the spunky and, ultimately, obsequious Prince who lines up with his friend/occupiers to battle the deliciously evil Raymond Massey. Very politically incorrect by today's standards the film is a good adventure yarn as well as a Korda tribute to the the rapidly vanishing British Empire. The plot borrows elements from the real life killing of Sir Louis Cavagnari and his party years earlier in Afghanistan. In reality British and colonial forces were actively engaged in military operations in Waziristan at the time of the making of the film.