Northwest Frontier
Encyclopedia
North West Frontier is a 1959
British
adventure film
starring Kenneth More
and Lauren Bacall
. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson
from a screenplay by Robin Estridge and also features Wilfrid Hyde-White
, Herbert Lom
and I. S. Johar
.
The film is set in the North West Frontier Province of British India, which now lies within modern Pakistan
. The film explores tensions between Hindu and Muslim Indians as Muslim rebels attack a fortress to kill a young Hindu maharajah.
The success of the film led to the American career of the director, who went on to make the Hollywood classic The Guns of Navarone
in 1961, and it was also noted for Geoffrey Unsworth
's cinematography.
North West Frontier, British India, 1905: a Hindu
maharajah asks British Army
Captain
Scott (Kenneth More
) to take his son, Prince Kishan, to the safety of the Governor's Residence in Haserabad because a Muslim
uprising has begun in his province. Accompanying them is a widow, Mrs Wyatt (Lauren Bacall
), the prince's American nanny/governess. Soon after leaving, the rebels storm the palace and kill the maharajah.
On arrival at Haserabad, Captain Scott sees that the last trainful of local Hindus and Europeans are leaving on the last train to Kalapur. After it leaves, the rebels close in and take control of the outer wall and gate beside the railway yard. The British governor then tells Scott that he must take the young prince to Kalapur because it has become too dangerous to keep him in Haserabad. In the railyard, the British captain discovers the Empress of India, an old, obsolete engine lovingly cared for by its driver Gupta (I. S. Johar
) and a battered old carriage.
In the early hours of the next morning, Captain Scott quietly loads the passengers on the train. They include Mrs Wyatt, Prince Kishan, arms dealer Mr Peters (Eugene Deckers
), British ex-pat Mr Bridie (Wilfrid Hyde-White
), Lady Wyndham (the governor's wife), two Indian NCOs
and half-Dutch, half-Indian journalist Mr Van Layden (Herbert Lom
). To avoid detection the Empress freewheel
s out of the yard, but unexpectedly the old engine lets off her whistle, alerting the rebels to the plan, so Gupta engages the steam to smash through the outer gate.
Later that morning, the train encounters the refugee train that had left the day before. It is found that everyone on board had been massacred by the rebels. But Mrs Wyatt, who rebuffs Captain Scott's order to remain on her train, finds one survivor; a small baby who was concealed by his mother's body. Later on that day, while stopping to refill
the engine's tanks, Scott walks into the pump house to find Van Layden allowing Prince Kishan to stand dangerously close to the spinning flywheel
. During the night, Mr Van Layden again approaches the prince only to notice Lady Wyndham staring at him.
The next morning, the train has to stop because part of the track has been blown up. However, they then realise that the rebels are already waiting for them in the surrounding mountains. The rebels' cover is blown when Mrs Wyatt spots a light shining at the mountain summit, which turns out to be a heliograph
, the method of communication the rebels are using. With the job barely finished, the train gets away under a hail of gunfire. Gupta is hit in the arm but he survives. The train then reaches a large viaduct bridge which has been damaged by a bomb although the rails remain intact. All the passengers disembark and carefully cross the broken section. But again Van Layden's behaviour nearly results in the prince's death because he held him too short almost letting him fall. Captain Scott then carefully drives the train across the broken section. Once everybody is back on board, he accuses Van Layden of trying to kill the prince. The reporter is placed under arrest in the luggage compartment.
However going through a tunnel Van Layden uses the opportunity to overpower his guard. He then uses a Maxim machine gun to hold the passengers hostage. But he cannot kill Prince Kishnan immediately because he is riding on the engine outside. Eventually Scott returns to the carriage with the young prince, after spotting more heliograph signals used by the rebels, showing they've been waiting for them again, but they are saved as Van Layden is knocked off balance at the crucial moment. The British officer Scott pursues Van Layden onto the carriage roof. However it is Mrs Wyatt who shoots and kills Van Layden just as he is about to finish off Scott. The rebels catch up with the train on horseback, however they have to stop when it enters a two-mile-long tunnel. On the other side, the train and its passengers reach the safety of Kalapur. At the station Prince Kishan is met by senior Hindus, Gupta is taken to hospital, Lady Wyndham is informed her husband is safe because the rebels withdrew with the departure of the prince and Scott and Mrs Wyatt leave together.
near Guadix
, a city in the province of Granada
, the dry arid steppe
doubling for British India. The railway, now abandoned, traversed the northern part of the Sierra Nevada
.
The famous viaduct scene was filmed at Hacho Bridge
which was completed in 1894 by engineers influenced by Gustav Eiffel. It is one of the largest bridges in Spain, 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) long and 50 metres (164 ft) high. The bridge is located between the two Andalusian cities
of Guadahortuna and Alamedilla
.
Today the line across the viaduct has been lifted. A modern rail crossing has been built alongside the old iron bridge.
Interiors were filmed at Pinewood Studios
, London
.
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
starring Kenneth More
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
and Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
. The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson
J. Lee Thompson
John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
from a screenplay by Robin Estridge and also features Wilfrid Hyde-White
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Wilfrid Hyde-White was an English character actor.-Early life and career:Wilfrid Hyde White was born at the rectory in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, the son of William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide Drought...
, Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
and I. S. Johar
I. S. Johar
Inderjeet s Johar , better known as I. S. Johar, was an Indian actor, writer, producer and director.-Early life:...
.
The film is set in the North West Frontier Province of British India, which now lies within modern Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The film explores tensions between Hindu and Muslim Indians as Muslim rebels attack a fortress to kill a young Hindu maharajah.
The success of the film led to the American career of the director, who went on to make the Hollywood classic The Guns of Navarone
The Guns of Navarone (film)
The Guns of Navarone is a 1961 British-American Action/Adventure war film based on the 1957 novel of the same name about the Dodecanese Campaign of World War II by Scottish thriller writer Alistair MacLean. It stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, along with Anthony Quayle and Stanley...
in 1961, and it was also noted for Geoffrey Unsworth
Geoffrey Unsworth
Geoffrey Unsworth OBE, BSC was a British cinematographer who worked on nearly 90 feature films spanning over more than 40 years....
's cinematography.
Plot
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
maharajah asks British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
Scott (Kenneth More
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
) to take his son, Prince Kishan, to the safety of the Governor's Residence in Haserabad because a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
uprising has begun in his province. Accompanying them is a widow, Mrs Wyatt (Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
), the prince's American nanny/governess. Soon after leaving, the rebels storm the palace and kill the maharajah.
On arrival at Haserabad, Captain Scott sees that the last trainful of local Hindus and Europeans are leaving on the last train to Kalapur. After it leaves, the rebels close in and take control of the outer wall and gate beside the railway yard. The British governor then tells Scott that he must take the young prince to Kalapur because it has become too dangerous to keep him in Haserabad. In the railyard, the British captain discovers the Empress of India, an old, obsolete engine lovingly cared for by its driver Gupta (I. S. Johar
I. S. Johar
Inderjeet s Johar , better known as I. S. Johar, was an Indian actor, writer, producer and director.-Early life:...
) and a battered old carriage.
In the early hours of the next morning, Captain Scott quietly loads the passengers on the train. They include Mrs Wyatt, Prince Kishan, arms dealer Mr Peters (Eugene Deckers
Eugene Deckers
Eugene Deckers was a Belgian stage actor who relocated to England when his Nazi-held homeland was liberated by the Allies. Re-establishing himself on the British stage, Deckers made his first English language film appearance in 1946. Formerly a romantic lead, he specialized in "continental"...
), British ex-pat Mr Bridie (Wilfrid Hyde-White
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Wilfrid Hyde-White was an English character actor.-Early life and career:Wilfrid Hyde White was born at the rectory in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, the son of William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide Drought...
), Lady Wyndham (the governor's wife), two Indian NCOs
Havildar
Havildar ) was the Military 'In Charge' of a Fort during the times of Maratha Empire. In the British Indian Army it was equivalent rank to Sergeant, next above Naik, and is still used in the modern Indian Army and Pakistan Army. The cavalry equivalent is Daffadar...
and half-Dutch, half-Indian journalist Mr Van Layden (Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
). To avoid detection the Empress freewheel
Freewheel
thumb|Freewheel mechanismIn mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft...
s out of the yard, but unexpectedly the old engine lets off her whistle, alerting the rebels to the plan, so Gupta engages the steam to smash through the outer gate.
Later that morning, the train encounters the refugee train that had left the day before. It is found that everyone on board had been massacred by the rebels. But Mrs Wyatt, who rebuffs Captain Scott's order to remain on her train, finds one survivor; a small baby who was concealed by his mother's body. Later on that day, while stopping to refill
Water crane
A water crane or standpipe is a device used for delivering a large volume of water into the tank or tender of a steam locomotive. As a steam locomotive consumes large quantities of water, water cranes were a vital part of railway station equipment, often situated at the end of a platform, so that...
the engine's tanks, Scott walks into the pump house to find Van Layden allowing Prince Kishan to stand dangerously close to the spinning flywheel
Flywheel
A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that is used to store rotational energy. Flywheels have a significant moment of inertia, and thus resist changes in rotational speed. The amount of energy stored in a flywheel is proportional to the square of its rotational speed...
. During the night, Mr Van Layden again approaches the prince only to notice Lady Wyndham staring at him.
The next morning, the train has to stop because part of the track has been blown up. However, they then realise that the rebels are already waiting for them in the surrounding mountains. The rebels' cover is blown when Mrs Wyatt spots a light shining at the mountain summit, which turns out to be a heliograph
Heliograph
A heliograph is a wireless solar telegraph that signals by flashes of sunlight reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter...
, the method of communication the rebels are using. With the job barely finished, the train gets away under a hail of gunfire. Gupta is hit in the arm but he survives. The train then reaches a large viaduct bridge which has been damaged by a bomb although the rails remain intact. All the passengers disembark and carefully cross the broken section. But again Van Layden's behaviour nearly results in the prince's death because he held him too short almost letting him fall. Captain Scott then carefully drives the train across the broken section. Once everybody is back on board, he accuses Van Layden of trying to kill the prince. The reporter is placed under arrest in the luggage compartment.
However going through a tunnel Van Layden uses the opportunity to overpower his guard. He then uses a Maxim machine gun to hold the passengers hostage. But he cannot kill Prince Kishnan immediately because he is riding on the engine outside. Eventually Scott returns to the carriage with the young prince, after spotting more heliograph signals used by the rebels, showing they've been waiting for them again, but they are saved as Van Layden is knocked off balance at the crucial moment. The British officer Scott pursues Van Layden onto the carriage roof. However it is Mrs Wyatt who shoots and kills Van Layden just as he is about to finish off Scott. The rebels catch up with the train on horseback, however they have to stop when it enters a two-mile-long tunnel. On the other side, the train and its passengers reach the safety of Kalapur. At the station Prince Kishan is met by senior Hindus, Gupta is taken to hospital, Lady Wyndham is informed her husband is safe because the rebels withdrew with the departure of the prince and Scott and Mrs Wyatt leave together.
Cast
- Kenneth MoreKenneth MoreKenneth Gilbert More CBE was a highly successful English film actor during the post-World War II era and starred in many feature films, often in the role of an archetypal carefree and happy-go-lucky middle-class gentleman.-Early life:Kenneth More was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the...
as Captain Scott - Lauren BacallLauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
as Catherine Wyatt - Herbert LomHerbert LomHerbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
as Van Layden - Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteWilfrid Hyde-WhiteWilfrid Hyde-White was an English character actor.-Early life and career:Wilfrid Hyde White was born at the rectory in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, the son of William Edward White, canon of Gloucester Cathedral, and his wife, Ethel Adelaide Drought...
as Mr. Bridie - I. S. JoharI. S. JoharInderjeet s Johar , better known as I. S. Johar, was an Indian actor, writer, producer and director.-Early life:...
as Gupta, the driver - Ursula JeansUrsula JeansUrsula Jean McMinn was a British actress on film, stage, and television.Ursula Jeans was born in Shimla, British India, to British parents, and brought up and educated in London. She was the youngest of three siblings...
as Lady Wyndham, the Governor's Wife - Eugene DeckersEugene DeckersEugene Deckers was a Belgian stage actor who relocated to England when his Nazi-held homeland was liberated by the Allies. Re-establishing himself on the British stage, Deckers made his first English language film appearance in 1946. Formerly a romantic lead, he specialized in "continental"...
as Mr. Peters - Ian HunterIan Hunter (actor)Ian Hunter was a British character actor.Among dozens of film roles, his best-remembered appearances include That Certain Woman with Bette Davis, The Adventures of Robin Hood , The Little Princess and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...
as Sir John Wyndham, the Governor - Jack GwillimJack GwillimJack William Frederick Gwillim was a prolific English character actor.-Career:Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, he served in the Royal Navy for over twenty years, attaining the rank of Commander...
as Brigadier Ames - Govind Raja Ross as Prince Kishan
- Basil HoskinsBasil Hoskins-Biography:Hoskins, a native of Edmonton, London was educated at the Edmonton County School. The popular British actor who also had a distinguished career on the London stage, Hoskins studied acting at RADA and later joined the Nottingham Playhouse company...
as Aide-de-camp - Moultrie KelsallMoultrie KelsallMoultrie Rowe Kelsall was a Scottish film and television character actor, who began his career in the industry as a radio station director and television producer...
as British Correspondent - Lionel MurtonLionel MurtonWilliam Lionel Murton was a British-Canadian character actor. He most often played Americans/Canadians in numerous films and television series, from the late 1940s...
as American Correspondent
Awards
- BAFTA Awards
- 196013th British Academy Film AwardsThe 13th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1960, honoured the best films of 1959.-Best Film: Ben-Hur *Anatomy of a Murder*Ansiktet*The Big Country*Compulsion*Gigi...
: Best FilmBAFTA Award for Best FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
: Nominated - 196013th British Academy Film AwardsThe 13th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1960, honoured the best films of 1959.-Best Film: Ben-Hur *Anatomy of a Murder*Ansiktet*The Big Country*Compulsion*Gigi...
: Best Film from Any SourceBAFTA Award for Best FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
: J. Lee ThompsonJ. Lee ThompsonJohn Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...
: Nominated - 196013th British Academy Film AwardsThe 13th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1960, honoured the best films of 1959.-Best Film: Ben-Hur *Anatomy of a Murder*Ansiktet*The Big Country*Compulsion*Gigi...
: Best British ScreenplayBritish Academy Film AwardsThe British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
: Robin Estridge: Nominated
- 1960
Production notes
Exteriors were shot in southern SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
near Guadix
Guadix
Guadix, a city of southern Spain, in the province of Granada; on the left bank of the river Guadix, a sub-tributary of the Guadiana Menor, and on the Madrid-Valdepeñas-Almería railway...
, a city in the province of Granada
Granada (province)
Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea . Its capital city is also called Granada.The province covers an area of 12,635 km²...
, the dry arid steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
doubling for British India. The railway, now abandoned, traversed the northern part of the Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada (Spain)
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the region of provinces of Granada and Almería in Spain. It contains the highest point of continental Spain, Mulhacén at 3478 m above sea level....
.
The famous viaduct scene was filmed at Hacho Bridge
Hacho Bridge
Hacho Bridge is a former railway bridge in Granada which was part of the Almeria railway through the Sierra Nevada, Spain. It remains the longest iron viaduct on the Spanish rail network...
which was completed in 1894 by engineers influenced by Gustav Eiffel. It is one of the largest bridges in Spain, 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) long and 50 metres (164 ft) high. The bridge is located between the two Andalusian cities
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
of Guadahortuna and Alamedilla
Alamedilla
Alamedilla is a city located in the province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2005 census , the city has a population of 811 inhabitants.- External links :* - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía...
.
Today the line across the viaduct has been lifted. A modern rail crossing has been built alongside the old iron bridge.
Interiors were filmed at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Public domain
The US-released version Flame Over India has lapsed into the public domain, and is regularly shown on American public television.External links
- Northwest Frontier at Rottentomatoes
- North West Frontier - Overview - Review at Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. - 'North West Frontier - Overview at British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...