Aux frontières des Indes

I found it by accident on YouTube and what a pleasant surprise it turned out top be. An action film set in British India with a superb script. Lauren Bacall, Kenneth More and Herbert Lom lead the cast. A gripping train raid that never lets go. The director is J Lee Thompson and in my movie going life, J Lee Thompson is associated with many unexpected treats. "Tiger Bay" for instance, remember that one? With Hayley Mills and Horst Buchholz or the insane Shirley MacLaine comedy "What A Way To Go" Not to mention "The Guns Of Navarone" or the original "Cape Fear" . Here, Thompson excels. A suspenseful, thrilling tale told by a master. .

We are in British India, Moslem rebels want to kill a young Hindu prince and thus killing his family blood line. The British army are charged with the task of ensuring the prince is safely escorted from the troubled provinces. The duty falls to one intrepid Captain Scott, the only chance to achieve the aim is by train, with his allies on board being a rather unique group of individuals, can Scott achieve the mission against the mounting odds?.

North West Frontier has everything a great action adventure should have, whilst also adding in tension, drama and an array of wonderfully colourful characters. The opening to the film is pulsating, as Scott has to fight off the rebels whilst smuggling the prince and his governess out to safety. From then on we are on a train journey that is rich with enjoyment, the tension mounts among the passengers, not least because of the class and cultural differences, and perhaps allmotives are not in alignment? But they must club together if they are to survive this dangerous journey.

Kenneth Moore, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom and Wilfrid Hyde-White (comedy gold when under attack) are all pulling together to make a cracking yarn. Directing duties falls to J. Lee Thompson, whose CV boasts "Ice Cold In Alex", "The Guns Of Navarone" and "Cape Fear", so this material was thankfully in very safe hands. The photography from Geoffrey Unsworth is top notch, barren and desolate landscapes beautifully realising the peril of the passengers' journey, whilst the music from Mischa Spoliansky leaves a lasting impression.

This train may well be crammed full of genre stereotypes, and sure enough the patronising nature of the piece is dated at the edges, but this remains a gloriously enjoyable film that the whole family can readily digest. 9/10

Just one heck of a fun film with a nice bit of writing in the script. The theme of the British being stuck between two fighting groups of people, Hindus and Islamic is so right for the times now (Feb 2003). Then give Miss Bacall a decent part, with Wilfred Hyde Write and Herbert Lom and the rest of a wonderful group of character actors made my train ride across the Northwest frontier a most moving experience.

Based on a story by Patrick Ford, the son of the legendary John, 'North West Frontier' clearly owes a debt to Ford seniors classic 'Stagecoach' as a mixed group of travellers set out on a perilous journey. In its own way, 'North West Frontier' matches that Hollywood classic in quality. After a stunning opening twenty minutes where barely a line of dialogue is spoken, the movie lives up to the old cliché of "offering a roller-coaster ride of excitement", something which is much promised but seldom delivered.

Kenneth More is one of my favourite actors and he is wonderful in this. Perhaps his character lacks the neurotic edge that the late Sir John Mills brought to the directors earlier movie 'Ice Cold In Alex' (a movie which shares plot elements with this one), but instead More brings an air of honest decency to the part. The evocatively named "Captain Scott" is no super-hero, but simply an honest man trying to do a difficult job.

Lauren Bacall also gives a fine performance, in a role which could easily have been the film's weakest link as a token Hollywood 'big name' for the American market. While the likes of Lom and Hyde White fill their roles with practised ease as I. S Gupta steals every scene he is in.

At over two hours it is a long movie, yet the 129 minutes seem to fly by and I was genuinely sad to bid farewell to the passengers and crew of the 'Empress of India', while the 'Eaton Boating Song' played in my head for day afterwards.

In this age of remakes and plundering classics to create mega mall blockbusters, here is one film that not only deserves major adventure status all on it's exciting and superb own, it is ripe for a 're-imagining' as perhaps an Indiana Jones film. NORTHWEST FRONTIER is a train chase movie, something movie audiences love. Always a thrilling and spectacular way to offer a microcosm of a society and analyze it through the behavior of the characters as they weave their way through trouble. Read other comments for the story. With a stellar cast, a panavision location of the Indian desert and mountains, visually thrilling 'rattly old train in peril' stunts, some startling political dramas, ambush and shootouts, punch-ups on a speeding carriage and a truly terrifying upsetting 'walk' through the aftermath of a massacre...etc this is the one adventure film of the past 50 years that is both British to its bootstraps and a big screen audience pleaser. It is a crime that the DVD release is NOT in panavision (what is wrong with these DVD companies?) ...almost as much a social crime that NORTHWEST FRONTIER is not a famous classic of International cinema. If it is on TV anytime of the day or night, watch it and be as thrilled as anyone like me who champions it. Sometimes listed as FLAME OF India, it was directed by J Lee Thompson who later made the visually thrilling chase adventure BITE THE BULLET in 1975 (also with great train scenes) ...if NORTHWEST FRONTIER was made in 2006 exactly the same as it appears already, it would gross $100 million and be a big fat hit. If you ever get to see the wonderful Republic film from 1953 called FAIR WIND TO JAVA it too is a unappreciated adventure spectacular, also a source of 'Indiana Jones" antics and a seagoing companion piece to this great train chase.