oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- King of the Khyber Rifles (1953). Takes place during the British Royal Raj era in India. Where a Half-cast born native Indian man becomes a British army officer and attempts to do his job in the ranks. He has many problems in and out of the British army.*Special Stars- Tyone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie, Guy Rolfe, Frank Dekova.*Theme- The strict class system in 19th century Britian and also in it's armed forces makes challenges on everyone.*Trivia/location/goofs- External filming location: The 'Alabama Hills', outside Lone Pine Ca, off Hwy 395 below Mount Whitney area. Watch for the great character actor Frank DeKova playing another darkened ethnic par. He would later be seen in more films playing an American Indian.*Emotion- I recently saw this on my TV in a letter-boxed wide screen form. While I normally enjoy seeing the director's full frame and composition, this film suffered for me. I found the pace and plot to not served this film well with the lack of different closer angles and lenses to see the action and plot. I thought it ruined the film's story to a great measure. I know CimemaScope movies are supposed to show large scope and geographical beauty, but this bogged down the plot. And this seemed to pander to the CimemaScope gimmick too much to ruin the watchablility of the whole story. This period and historical film missed it for me. Thumbs DOWN.*Based On-British rule in Indian during Victorian times.-

weezeralfalfa In an era when Hollywood was trying to compete with TV by offering lavish exotic spectaculars, filmed in widescreen Cinemascope, with stereophonic sound, this film comes across as one of the dullest ones, with minimal historical relevancy, to boot. The High Sierras in the background provide spectacular mountain scenery, perhaps reminiscent of that in the relevant Afghanistan-present Pakistan border region. Otherwise, there is little to recommend in the film. Tyrone Power, as the supposed half -caste hero Alan King, sleepwalks his way through his role, and looks as half-cast as did Esther Williams as a supposed half-caste Polynesian. Guy Rolfe, as the fictional Afghan rebel chieftain nemesis, Karran Khan, with ambitions to conquer all of India, as a would-be latter day Akbar the Great, had zero charisma, despite his defiant posturing.Terry Moore, much criticized as the choice for the love interest of King, came across as an OK spirited ingénue, bored with life within the frontier garrison, taking to forbidden horse and carriage rides in the surrounding stark countryside, as one means of relieving her boredom. She's immediately smitten by the handsome King, upon his arrival at the garrison, and wastes no time letting King know, practically throwing herself at him. Unlike most of the officers in the garrison, she has no qualms about King being of half caste parentage, and looks forward to a marriage with him, against her father's approval. Unlike Power's comedic tempestuous relationships with Betty Grable, in "Yank in the RAF", or with Maureen O'Hara, in "The Black Swan", all is sweetness, if a tad dull, in their courtship. In their tense last meeting, King agrees with her father that marriage with him wouldn't likely work out socially, and that it is wise to send her back to England, for safety. However, in the last scene, when the victorious Khyber Rifles are parading by, she reappears as a spectator, providing no clue about the current status of her relationship with King, nor whether she still is about to leave for England.This story supposedly takes place in 1857: the year of the Indian Rebellion and frequent mutiny or unrest of native troopers(sepoys) in the Indian Army. Toward the end, news of the rebellion in some other parts of India is received at the garrison, and it's predicted that the people in the surrounding area will soon be in rebellion, probably led by Karram Khan, unless he is first killed. However, historically , the neighboring Punjab, along with the Northwest Frontier Territories, where this garrison is located, was one of the least affected by this rebellion. The concern by the sepoys that the paper cartridges for the newly arrived Enfield rifles reportedly are greased with pig and beef fat is historically correct. In the film, despite assurances by King that this is untrue, the sepoys refuse to use the Enfields when faced with storming the Khan's stronghold at Khyber Pass. Instead, they choose to rely on their short traditional Afghan daggers, against the muskets of the Khan's troops. This whole sequence of storming the Khan's stronghold, along with the prior solitary visit of King, claiming to be deserter from the British army, looks quite implausible. It's highly unlikely that the Khyber Rifles could sneak up in broad daylight on KK's stronghold without being seen by at least one sentry! Also, they were at a distinct disadvantage in fighting with only their daggers, against muskets plus daggers. Yet, they won. King's obligatory grapple with KK is brief and shot under dark interior conditions. Anticlimactically, KK is killed during the grapple, not by King, but by a sepoy who has a special reason for revenge.Incidentally, the historic Khyber Rifles, composed of Afghans, plus a British commander, as shown, didn't begin until the 1880s, several decades after this story supposedly takes place! The screenplay could have, instead, included the important political consequences of the ultimate defeat of the '57 rebellion: the dissolution of the East India Company and last vestiges of the former Moghal empire, and their replacement with the British Raj government.Several previous films had dealt with essentially the same subject. I would recommend John Ford's "Wee Willie Winkie" as being a more interesting version. Instead of a climactic fight to the finish, little Shirley Temple charms the rebellious Khan into giving up his plundering tradition, thus saving many lives.

dbborroughs The "king" of the title is the name of Tyrone Powers character a half caste officer who gets mixed up with Indian revolts in 1857 India. A huge sprawling epic made in the way that only old Hollywood could do, this is a rousing, if very stiff and stilted action tale thats all about looking good and being spectacular. Tyrone Power is wonderfully miscast as the hero, a man of action and duty who manages to do what no one else can do. Power is for me at best an adequate actor who only rarely found a role that worked for him. Here he cuts a dashing figure, but he otherwise seems out of place a British officer. I kind of groaned for the first 20 minutes before I gave myself over to the film thanks to its constantly on the go plot which has things moving at a good clip through beautiful landscapes. Very much worth a look, especially on a big screen, its an old style epic of the popcorn munching variety.Between 6 and 7 out of 10

Artemis-9 The film does give a fairly good contrast between the Indian and the English class systems. From the viewpoint of someone who's totally for racial integration and against class discrimination, this looked like an history, or political lesson, when I saw it in my early teens. What impressed me equally then, was the great beauty of Indian women, particularly that dancer in flimsy dress - and that were shown in erotic scenes or situations that the government censorship in my country would not have approved for 12-y-o minors, if it was not intended as propaganda against the English (who snubbed Portugal for not being democratic), and India who had taken back the former colonies of Goa, Damão and Diu a few years before). I recall the poor colours, and jumpy film, as the copy had been much used in popular theatres during its first release. Reading the critics of people who saw this film at a more mature age than I, I guess I would give it a second viewing if it appeared on video.