J. Lee Thompson's adventure (retitled FLAME OVER India) is a dramatic tale of an hazardous train journey to take Indian Prince Kishan (Govind Raja Ross) out of the clutch of Muslim rebels and into safety. The passengers comprise a diverse group - the brave soldier Captain Scott (Kenneth More), the feisty doctor's wife (Lauren Bacall), the impassive governor's spouse (Ursula Jeans), a British bureaucrat (Wilfrid Hyde White), an arms-dealer (Eugene Deckers) and a Dutch journalist (Herbert Lom) who turns out to be a saboteur in disguise.
Thrillingly photographed by Geoffrey Unsworth in India, NORTH-WEST PASSAGE contains some spectacular sequences as the beaten-up old train plows across the Indian landscape under Gupta's (I. S. Johar's) control. Frequently attacked by Muslim rebels, who are seen galloping towards the train on horseback, the passengers manage to repel them with a combination of luck and sheer courage. The film does contain its fair share of stereotypes: Hyde-White's Bridie is suave yet naive; Jeans does a fair job of sustaining her stiff upper lip in the face of adversity; while Bacall shows a commendable disdain for British authority (as an American, she is accustomed to having her own way).
Yet the film is a fascinating product of its time, as it tries to transmit a liberal message at a time when the British Empire was in the process of breaking up. More's Captain Scott is both brave yet fair (it is no coincidence that his name should recall that of the intrepid polar explorer, immortalized in SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (1948)), and tries his best to look after the Prince. While Lom's Van Leyden possesses violent instincts, he continually castigates the British for their desire to divide and rule: what is evident from the Governor's wife's behavior, both towards the Prince and to a little Indian baby they find on the way, is that she is not interested in power, but rather trying to help people in distress. Likewise Bacall makes every effort to look after the Prince, as well as helping Scott out when all seems lost. Whereas the British are still in power - the action takes place in 1905, some forty-three years before India gained independence - they are more than willing to share it, and thereby ensure that everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. Such policies were also pursued at the end of the Fifties (when the film was released) as the British oversaw a series of peaceful transitions to independent government in both Africa and Asia.
Thrillingly photographed by Geoffrey Unsworth in India, NORTH-WEST PASSAGE contains some spectacular sequences as the beaten-up old train plows across the Indian landscape under Gupta's (I. S. Johar's) control. Frequently attacked by Muslim rebels, who are seen galloping towards the train on horseback, the passengers manage to repel them with a combination of luck and sheer courage. The film does contain its fair share of stereotypes: Hyde-White's Bridie is suave yet naive; Jeans does a fair job of sustaining her stiff upper lip in the face of adversity; while Bacall shows a commendable disdain for British authority (as an American, she is accustomed to having her own way).
Yet the film is a fascinating product of its time, as it tries to transmit a liberal message at a time when the British Empire was in the process of breaking up. More's Captain Scott is both brave yet fair (it is no coincidence that his name should recall that of the intrepid polar explorer, immortalized in SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC (1948)), and tries his best to look after the Prince. While Lom's Van Leyden possesses violent instincts, he continually castigates the British for their desire to divide and rule: what is evident from the Governor's wife's behavior, both towards the Prince and to a little Indian baby they find on the way, is that she is not interested in power, but rather trying to help people in distress. Likewise Bacall makes every effort to look after the Prince, as well as helping Scott out when all seems lost. Whereas the British are still in power - the action takes place in 1905, some forty-three years before India gained independence - they are more than willing to share it, and thereby ensure that everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. Such policies were also pursued at the end of the Fifties (when the film was released) as the British oversaw a series of peaceful transitions to independent government in both Africa and Asia.