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Removed empty portal template using script

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	==External links==		==External links==
	~~{{Portal\|Film}}~~
	* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1084834/index.html ''Northwest Frontier''] at [[BFI Screenonline]]		* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1084834/index.html ''Northwest Frontier''] at [[BFI Screenonline]]
	* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/northwest_frontier/ Northwest Frontier] at ''[[Rotten Tomatoes]]''		* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/northwest_frontier/ Northwest Frontier] at ''[[Rotten Tomatoes]]''

46.31.244.127: /* Plot */Corrected character name.

2021-08-04T10:06:34Z

Plot: Corrected character name.

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{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}

{{Infobox film
| name = North West Frontier
| image = North West Frontier, a 1959 film.jpg
| caption = [[Film poster|UK quad theatrical release poster]]
| director = [[J. Lee Thompson]]
| producer = [[Marcel Hellman]]
| writer = [[Robin Estridge]] '''adapted from script by''' [[Frank S. Nugent]]
|based_on = original story by Patrick Ford [[Will Price (screen writer)|Will Price]]
| starring = [[Kenneth More]] [[Lauren Bacall]] [[Herbert Lom]] [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] [[I. S. Johar]]
| music = [[Mischa Spoliansky]]
| cinematography = [[Geoffrey Unsworth]]
| editing = [[Frederick Wilson (film editor)|Frederick Wilson]]
| studio = Rank Organisation Film Productions<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1084834/credits.html|title=North West Frontier (1959)|work=BFI Screenonline|date=2003–2014|access-date=22 June 2020}}</ref>
| distributor = [[The Rank Organisation]] (UK) [[20th Century Fox]] (USA)
| released = 7 October 1959 (London Premiere)
| runtime = 129 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget = £500,000<ref>Chibnall p 204</ref>
}}

'''''North West Frontier''''' (USA: '''''Flame Over India'''''; Australia: '''''Empress of India''''')<ref>{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B03E6D9153EEF3ABC4850DFB266838B679EDE |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| access-date=8 August 2017 |title=Review: Flame over India}}</ref> is a 1959 British [[Eastmancolor]] [[adventure film]] starring [[Kenneth More]], [[Lauren Bacall]], [[Herbert Lom]], [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] and [[I. S. Johar]]. The [[CinemaScope]] film was produced by [[Marcel Hellman]] and directed by [[J. Lee Thompson]]. It was a commercial success at the British box-office in 1959. The film's success led to J. Lee Thompson beginning his American career as a director.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/63532/North_West_Frontier.html |title=Northwest Frontier |publisher=[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]] |access-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607061151/http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/63532/North_West_Frontier.html |archive-date=7 June 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The film is set in the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier Province]] of [[British India]] (now within modern [[Pakistan]]). It explores the ethnic tensions within British India after Muslim rebels attack a fortress and kill a Hindu [[maharajah]].

==Plot==
In 1905 on the North West Frontier of British India, a [[maharaja]]h asks [[British Army]] [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] Scott to take his young son, Prince Kishan, to Haserabad and then send him to [[Delhi]] to protect him from an uprising. Accompanying them is the prince's governess, an American widow named Mrs. Wyatt. They leave as the rebels storm the palace and kill the prince's father. This makes his five year old son the leader of the Hindu population in the region.

On arrival at Haserabad, Captain Scott sees that many local Hindus and Europeans are leaving on the last train to Kalapur. The Muslim rebels soon close in and take control of the outer wall and gate beside the railway yard. The British governor tells Scott that he must take the young prince to Kalapur for his safety. In the [[railyard]], the British captain discovers the "''Empress of India''", an old railway engine cared for by its driver Gupta, affectionately known as ''Victoria''. They calculate that it will manage the journey if limited to pulling a single carriage.

Early the next morning, Captain Scott quietly loads the passengers onto the old train. They include Mrs. Wyatt, Prince Kishan, [[arms dealer]] Mr. Peters, British expatriate Mr. Bridie, Lady Windham (the governor's wife), two [[British Indian Army]] [[Havildar|NCOs]], and Dutch journalist Mr. Peter van Leyden ([[Herbert Lom]]). ''Victoria'' quietly [[freewheel]]s down a gradient and out of the yard, but when her whistle is accidentally sounded, Gupta fires the engine and crashes her through the outer gate. The enemy fire on them and chase them but cannot keep up with the train.

Later that morning, the train encounters an abandoned train at a remote station. This is the refugee train which preceded them out of Haserabad. Everyone on board has been massacred (presumably by the rebels). Despite being told not to by Captain Scott, Mrs. Wyatt leaves the carriage and finds one survivor, a baby concealed by his mother's body.

The next morning, the train must stop because a portion of the track has been blown up. Mrs. Wyatt spots the signaling flashes of a [[heliograph]] atop a mountain summit, and everyone quickly realises that the Muslim rebels are sitting in ambush in the surrounding hills. With track repairs barely finished by Captain Scott, the train gets away under a hail of gunfire. Gupta is wounded but survives.

Later that day, while stopping to [[Water crane|refill]] the engine's water tank, Scott walks into the pump house to find Van Leyden allowing Prince Kishan to stand dangerously close to the pump's rapidly spinning [[flywheel]]. In the evening Van Leyden refuses alcohol and the group correctly deduce he is Muslim. He explains this by saying he is [[indo people|half Indian]]. During the night, Mr. Van Leyden again approaches the prince, only to notice Lady Windham watching him.

The train reaches a bomb-damaged bridge. There is nothing under one section of rail except the ground far below. Scott has the others carefully cross that section one by one to lighten the train that will follow them. Finally, only Van Leyden and the prince remain behind. Van Leyden seems to deliberately hold the boy back and endanger his life. He falls and Scott grabs his hand, pulling him back to safety. Afterward, Scott accuses Van Leyden of trying to kill the prince, and he places the reporter under arrest. After that, Captain Scott, under Gupta's guidance, carefully maneuvers the train across.

Later, while going through a tunnel, Van Leyden uses the opportunity to overpower his guard. He uses a [[Maxim machine gun]] to threaten the passengers and now declares his loyalty to [[Muslim nationalism in South Asia|the Muslim cause]]. He is unable to kill Prince Kishnan because the boy is with Captain Scott in the locomotive's cab. Scott returns to the carriage with the young prince after spotting more rebel heliograph signals, but they are saved when the machine gun is knocked off balance by a kick from Mr. Bridie. Scott crawls up the carriage and starts to fight him. The two men end on the roof. At the climax of the fight a shot rings out: Mrs. Wyatt has shot Van Leyden with one of the rifles. He falls off and dies as the Muslim rebels ride up on horses.

The Muslim rebels chase the train on horseback but are thwarted when ''Victoria'' enters a two-mile-long hillside tunnel. On the other side, the train reaches the safety of Kalapur to strains of [[The Eton Boating Song]]. At the station, young Prince Kishan is met by his Hindu entourage, while Gupta is taken to hospital, and Lady Windham is informed that her husband, the governor, is safe. On learning Prince Kishan may yet fight the British, as his father instructed him, Scott quotes [[Rudyard Kipling|Kipling]] ("Be thankful you're livin', and trust to your luck, And march to your front like a soldier") before he and Mrs. Wyatt leave together carrying the infant she had saved earlier.

==Cast==
{{col div}}
* [[Kenneth More]] as Capt. William Charles Willoughby Scott
* [[Lauren Bacall]] as Catherine Wyatt
* [[Herbert Lom]] as Peter van Leyden
* [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] as Mr. Bridie
* [[I. S. Johar]] as Gupta, the driver
* [[Ursula Jeans]] as Lady Windham
* [[Eugene Deckers]] as Peters
* [[Ian Hunter (actor)|Ian Hunter]] as Sir John Windham
* [[Jack Gwillim]] as Brigadier Ames
* Govind Raja Ross as Prince Kishan
* [[Basil Hoskins]] as A.D.C.
* S. M. Asgaralli as Havildar (1st Indian Soldier)
* S. S. Chowdhary as 2nd Indian Soldier
* [[Moultrie Kelsall]] as British Correspondent
* [[Lionel Murton]] as American Correspondent
* Jaron Yalton as Indian Correspondent
* Homi Bode as Indian Correspondent
* Frank Olegario as Rajah
* Ronald Cardew as Staff Colonel at Kalapur Station
{{col div end}}

==Production==
===Casting===
In 1957, More announced he would play "a romantic adventure" part set during the [[Indian Mutiny]], ''[[Nightrunners of Bengal]]''.<ref name=Trib>{{cite news |title=Kenneth More-Britain's Best: He's No Matinee Idol, but Film Fans Around the World Love Him |author=Gwen Morgan |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune|Chicago Daily Tribune]] |date=14 July 1957}} </ref> That film was never made and it is likely that More was transferred instead to ''North West Frontier'', a similar project.<ref name=Trib/> [[Olivia de Havilland]] was originally announced as the female lead.<ref>{{cite news |title=Looking at Hollywood: British Star Herbert Lom Scores Hit in Hollywood |author=Hedda Hopper |author-link=Hedda Hopper |newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune |date=31 October 1958}} </ref> Lauren Bacall's casting was announced in January 1959.<ref>'Hamlet' Seats Available
The Christian Science Monitor 7 Jan 1959: 5.</ref> She sold her Hollywood house and put her children in school in London for the duration of the shoot.<ref>AMERICAN STAR IN NEW FIRMAMENT By STEPHEN WATTSLONDON. New York Times 2 Aug 1959: X5.</ref>

===Filming===
Location scenes filming in [[India]] took place at the [[Amber Fort]], in [[Rajasthan]]. Some of the rail sequences were shot in southern Spain in the [[Granada (province)|province of Granada]]. The area's dry arid [[steppe]] was used to portray British India. Parts of the railway, which is now abandoned, traversed the northern part of the [[Sierra Nevada (Spain)|Sierra Nevada]] between [[Guadix]] and [[Baza, Granada|Baza]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://garringo.cool.ne.jp/around%20guadix2-old%20railway2.htm|title=Old Railway 2|publisher=Garingo.cool.ne.jp|access-date=2 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307021125/http://garringo.cool.ne.jp/around%20guadix2-old%20railway2.htm|archive-date=7 March 2009|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Filming took place in India in April 1959.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=India|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety214-1959-04/page/n395/mode/1up?q=%22northwest+frontier%22|date=22 April 1959|page=85}}</ref> More wrote in his memoirs that it was a physically difficult shoot, with many cast and crew falling ill with dysentery and other illnesses. The unit stayed at the Maharajah's former palace, which had been turned into a hotel.<ref>More p 174</ref> Filming started in Granada, Spain on 10 May 1959 and took five weeks.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety214-1959-05/page/n10/mode/1up?q=%22northwest+frontier%22|title=Sevilla Crawls with Crews|page=11|date=6 May 1959}}</ref>
[[File:Puente del Anchuron - HDR.jpg|thumb|Besides models and studio effects, the damaged bridge was filmed at the Anchurón bridge. It was reformed in the 1970s.<ref name="Calvo">{{cite journal |last1=Calvo Poyo |first1=Francisco J. |last2=de Oña López |first2=Juan |title=Metamorfosis del puente del Anchurón en la línea Linares-Almería |journal=IV Congreso de Historia Ferroviaria |date=September 2006 |doi=10.13140/2.1.2355.4882 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270901984 |access-date=14 September 2020 |trans-title=Metamorphosis of the Anchurón bridge in the line Linares-Almería |location=Málaga |language=es |format=pdf}}</ref>]]
The bomb-damaged rail bridge that the train must cross is over the Carretera de [[Belerda]] (at {{nowrap|{{coord|37|23|22.82|N|3|11|44.44|W|scale:10000|display=inline|name=Location of the damaged bridge in the film Northwest Frontier}}}}). The ending used [[Iznalloz]] railway station near Barrio Primero De Mayo (at {{nowrap|{{coord|37|23|45.27|N|3|31|39.75|W|scale:10000|display=inline}}}}).

An article by Ray Ellis, entitled ''Railway Films of the Raj'', published in the Indian Railway Study Group Newsletter No.9 in January 1993, states:

:A large part of this film was shot on location in Spain, on the [[Iberian gauge|1668 mm]] gauge [[Adif|Zafra-Huelva Railway]], of the RENFE. Originally built by a British Company, the line runs parallel with the Spanish-Portuguese border, and has some spectacular bridges and some very Indian looking scenery. The little tank engine used as "Empress of India" is one of four 0-6-0T's that was built by [[Kerr, Stuart and Company]] (works nos 713,714,715 & 725) in 1900 for the South of Spain Railway, and later RENFE 030.0209-212. The engine used was modified to look more like a locomotive filmed in India, which included the fitting of [[Norwegian coupling|'chopper']] couplings.

:For filming sequences on the sound stage at [[Pinewood Studios]], London, full size replicas of the locomotive, rolling stock and part of the bridge were constructed, with Pinewood's usual remarkable accuracy.

:Some scenes were also filmed in India using metre gauge trains, somewhere near [[Jaipur]]. These include the departure of the 'refugee' train and the scenes where the 'escape' train catches up and passes the 'refugee' train. The 'refugee' train is hauled by an OJ class 4-4-0 (built by [[W. G. Bagnall]] in 1943) and the 'escape' train is hauled by a TJ class 0-6-0T (built by [[W. G. Bagnall|Bagnall]] in 1942, and sent to India, despite having been ordered by a steelworks in Turkey!). This later engine was also heavily modified to look more like the modified locomotive used in Spain.

==Release==
The film was a major hit in the UK, being among the six most popular films in Great Britain for the year ended 31 October 1959.<ref>{{cite news |title=Four British Films In 'Top 6': Boulting Comedy Heads Box Office List |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=11 December 1959}} </ref> Kenneth More wrote in his memoirs that it "was a great success".<ref>More p 176</ref>

The film was one of seven made by Rank which were bought for distribution in the US by 20th Century Fox.<ref>{{cite news |title=Of Local Origin |newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 January 1960}} </ref> Lauren Bacall called it a "good little movie ... with a stupid title" (referring to the US title, ''Flame Over India'').<ref>{{cite news |title=New Chapter For A Manhattan Hollywood Queen |author=Howard Thompson |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 February 1964}} </ref>

==Awards nominations==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Subject
! Result
|-
|rowspan=3|[[13th British Academy Film Awards|BAFTA]]
|[[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film from Any Source]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1960/film/film-and-british-film |title=Film <nowiki>|</nowiki> Film And British Film in 1960 |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] BAFTA)}}</ref>
|[[J. Lee Thompson]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[BAFTA Award for Best British Film|Best British Film]]
|J. Lee Thompson
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay|Best British Screenplay]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1960/film/british-screenplay |title=Film <nowiki>|</nowiki> British Screenplay in 1960 |publisher=BAFTA}}</ref>
|[[Robin Estridge]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==
* Chibnall, Steve, ''J. Lee Thompson'' Manchester University Press, 2000
*{{cite book|title= More or less|last=More|first= Kenneth|year=1978 |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton }}

==External links==
{{Portal|Film}}
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1084834/index.html ''Northwest Frontier''] at [[BFI Screenonline]]
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/northwest_frontier/ Northwest Frontier] at ''[[Rotten Tomatoes]]''
* [http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=106566&section=review ''North West Frontier'' – Overview – Review] at ''[[Channel 4]]''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121010132857/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/44485 ''North West Frontier'' – Overview] at ''[[British Film Institute]]''
* {{imdb title|0053126|North West Frontier}}
* {{Amg movie|65148|North West Frontier}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=2043629}}

{{J. Lee Thompson}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:North West Frontier (Film)}}
[[Category:1959 films]]
[[Category:British films]]
[[Category:British adventure films]]
[[Category:British historical adventure films]]
[[Category:1950s historical adventure films]]
[[Category:British Empire war films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by J. Lee Thompson]]
[[Category:Films set in 1905]]
[[Category:Films set in the British Raj]]
[[Category:Province of Granada]]
[[Category:Films shot in Spain]]
[[Category:Rail transport films]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Foreign films shot in India]]
[[Category:CinemaScope films]]

North West Frontier (film) - Revision history

CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

46.31.244.127: /* Plot */Corrected character name.