The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
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| The Lives of a Bengal Lancer | |
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| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Produced by | Louis D. Lighton |
| Starring | Gary Cooper Franchot Tone Richard Cromwell Guy Standing |
| Release date(s) | January 11, 1935 |
| Running time | 109 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a 1930 book, a memoir by Francis Yeats-Brown (1886-1944), and a 1935 movie loosely adapted from the book. Yeats-Brown served in India 1905-1914 (the focus of his book) and briefly after the Great War. The book has chapters entitled "Polo" and "Pig-Sticking" and emphasizes cantonment life at and around Bareilly in present-day Uttar Pradesh. The movie plot concerns the story of British soldiers defending the borders of India from nomadic raiders. It stars Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell, Monte Blue, Akim Tamiroff, Sir Guy Standing, C. Aubrey Smith, Kathleen Burke, Douglas Dumbrille, and J. Carrol Naish. The film was written by Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt, Waldemar Young, John L. Balderston and Achmed Abdullah. The plot of the movie bears little resemblance to the book. It was directed by Henry Hathaway. Cromwell is immortalized forever in pop culture, thanks to his mention in Gore Vidal's satirical novel Myra Breckinridge (1968) as 'the late Richard Cromwell, so satisfyingly tortured in Lives of a Bengal Lancer.'
Yeats-Brown was openminded towards other cultures and reported sensitively on Indian culture, becoming a student of Yoga himself. In later life, he was active in right wing politics in England, and firmly endorsed Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, asserting that Hitler had solved Germany's unemployment.
The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Picture.
[edit] Trivia
- Reputedly Adolf Hitler's favourite film. Other sources suggest that he preferred King Kong.
- Paiute Native Americans and Hindu fruit-pickers from Napa Valley were used as extras.
[edit] Quotes
- Mohammed Khan(Dumbrille):We have ways of making men talk.
