The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)
| The Lives of a Bengal Lancer | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
| Produced by | Louis D. Lighton |
| Written by |
William Slavens McNutt Grover Jones Waldemar Young John L. Balderston Achmed Abdullah |
| Starring |
Gary Cooper Franchot Tone Richard Cromwell Guy Standing |
| Music by | Herman Hand John Leipold Milan Roder Heinz Roemheld |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Edited by | Ellsworth Hoagland |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $49 million (2008 equivalent of $1.5 million in the 1930s) |
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a 1935 American epic-adventure-drama film loosely adapted from the 1930 autobiography of the same name by British author Francis Yeats-Brown. The film is a Paramount picture directed by Henry Hathaway and written by Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt, Waldemar Young, John L. Balderston and Achmed Abdullah.
The plot of the film, which bears little resemblance to Brown's book, tells the story of a group of British cavalrymen and high-ranking officers desperately trying to defend their stronghold and headquarters at Bengal against the rebellious natives during the days of the British Raj. It stars Gary Cooper as Lieutenant Alan McGregor, Franchot Tone as Lieutenant John Forsythe, Richard Cromwell as Lieutenant Donald Stone, Guy Standing as Colonel Tom Stone and Douglass Dumbrille as the rebel leader Mohammed Khan, who utters the frequently misquoted line "We have ways to make men talk."
Production and planning of the film began in 1931 and Paramount expected the film to be released that same year. However, due to a crisis in which most of the location footage deteriorated due to the high temperatures, the project was delayed for four years. The motion picture was released in American cinemas in January 1935.
The film's release was met with positive reviews and good box office results. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning Assistant Director, with other nominations including Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. It grossed $49 million (2008 equivalent of $1.5 million in the 1930s) at the box office. Historian John Reid has described the film as "one of the greatest adventure films of all time".
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Wikipedia