Film Review: The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

In an era where Hollywood has wholeheartedly embraced the view that the source of all evil in the world is white supremacy, it is somewhat amusing to see that in its past, the industry openly propagated the virtues of colonial empires. Few films did this as explicitly, yet as successfully, as the 1935 adventure film The Lives of a Bengal Lancer.

The film is nominally based on the eponymous best-selling 1930 book of memoirs by Francis Yeats-Brown, a former British military officer who had served in British India at the start of the 20th century. However, the script changed the plot and characters beyond recognition, writing out even Yeats-Brown's character. The plot is set in North West Frontier Province, area of today’s Pakistan which bordered Afghanistan, a maze of local rulers and warlike tribes from both sides of the border which was controlled by British through combination of diplomacy and military force at the other. The latter is provided by 41st Bengal Lancers Regiment and the story follows three of its officers, Lt. McGregor (played by Gary Cooper), Lt. Forsythe (played by Franchot Tone), and Lt. Stone (played by Richard Cromwell). Their commander of the regiment is Colonel Tom Stone (played by Guy Standing), Lt. Stone’s father, and his task is to deal with Mohammed Khan (played by Douglas Dumbrille), Afghan chieftain who wants to obtain shipment of guns and ammunition in order to launch uprising against the British.

Originally devised as a very ambitious project, the production started in 1931 and was supposed to be shot on authentic locations in British India. However, the team that went there discovered that the intense heat of the Indian subcontinent was too much for the film stocks, which became damaged. Instead, only a section of the footage was used, and the production relied on California locations, with a number of Indian immigrants and local Native Americans being used as extras.

Director Henry Hathaway, a specialist in the action and western genres, directs the film with incredible ease, allowing the time to pass quickly while providing an excellent combination of drama, humor, and action, the latter displayed in a spectacular finale. The film benefits from a spirited cast, with Gary Cooper as the experienced, common-sense soldier, Richard Cromwell as the young man tortured by family issues and, later, guilty conscience, and Franchot Tone as the cynic and comedian. They are complemented well by the supporting cast, including the always dependable character actor C. Aubrey Smith as the protagonists' superior officer. The film, however, falters when Kathleen Burke appears as the token female character. Her role seems nothing more than eye candy and a femme fatale whose only purpose is to advance the plot.

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer became a huge hit and inspired Hollywood to create plenty of similar films with a British Empire setting. It was characterized by an apologetic approach towards the empire, and certain critics noticed that the British themselves weren't able or willing to glorify their still-existing empire in such a way. With opening scenes describing how a small number of, presumably white, men control a country of 300 million dark-skinned people and suggesting that the uprising that may endanger that is an evil thing, it isn't surprising to find that Yeats-Brown was a great fan of 1930s fascism and that The Lives of a Bengal Lancer was popular among German Nazis, with its idealised depiction of the British Raj a model of what the future Thousand Year Reich would be like. The film was allegedly Hitler's favourite.

Seen without its political context, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a more than solid action-adventure film that helped Gary Cooper maintain his stardom and later served as an inspiration for many great films, including Gunga Din, which, despite still being problematic, toned down some of its racial issues.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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