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I first saw this film as a boy, and it immediately struck me; then I remembered it for years as one of the best films I had ever seen in terms of plot, characters, exoticism, and historic appeal. Twenty five years later I was able to purchase a copy and saw the magic working all over again, this time with my children. It is a story of friendship, courage, cowardice and redemption. Lieutenants Stone and Forsythe are assigned to the 41st Lancers in Bengal. The tribes under Mohammed Khan are on the verge of rebellion. A Russian spy tries to promote her country's interests in the region. Then Lieutenant Stone is captured and Mc Gregor -played by Gary Cooper, superb as usualand Forsyth try to find him and defuse the crisis ... One scene of torture (Mohammed Khan inserts burning sticks under the nails of his prisoners one after the other) makes the film unsuitable for younger children -with a traditional education I supposeas nightmares are likely to follow. Recommended age bracket 10-15 and older of course ! The film (1935) is of course in black and white good for your children's artistic education and never a hindrance to their pleasure. What makes the film a classic is that it embodies the spirit of 19th century colonization the British are of course right, Mohammed Khan is of course cruel and wily. The film can therefore -with older children ?be used to start a discussion on historical perspective and the use of national and cultural stereotypes. But above all, this is a well-played, attractive, breathtaking film with a superbly moving finale and good action scenes without the special effects you would expect from much, much later years which too often prove disturbing for children.

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Gary Cooper playing Lieut. MacGregor is his strong, stoic self in the 1935 British colonial adventure set in India, "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer". The free spirited MacGregor is too random and impulsive for his straight laced, principled commanding officer Colonel "Ramrod" Stone played authoritatively by Sir Guy Standing. Cooper is compelled to nursemaid Col. Stone's son, a junior officer new to the regiment and fresh out of military school, played by the baby faced Richard Cromwell. The cocky smart aleck Franchot Tone playing Lieut. Forsythe aids Cooper and completes the trio around which the plot is based.

The Lancers are guarding the northern frontier of India and have been menaced by Oxford educated Afghan prince Mohammed Khan. Khan, leader of a large band of rebellious zealots has designs on capturing a huge supply of ammunition meant for the British.

He kidnaps the younger Lt. Stone to force his fathers hand. Cooper and Tone obviously go to his rescue against orders.

"Lives" is a noteworthy B&W period piece from the 30's but is slightly inferior in its scope and magnitude to both Gunga Din and The Four Feathers, which were both unquestioned cinema classics

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The best of the lot (IMHO much better than Gunga Din). Great action scene, and a pretty good story line. None of the philosophical insight of the original novel, but hey, who watches this stuff for inner wisdom anyway? Watch out for a uncredited appearance of Myrna Loy as a native Pathan Temptress (do I get extra points since this is not in IMDB?)

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I give extra points to this movie for just its one famous line, Mohammed Khan threatening his captives with the little phrase, "We have ways to make men talk."

But thinking about it's how silly is it to cast Douglas Dumbrille as Mohammed Khan, the radical Moslem leader of the rebellion? Didn't they have any Indian actors in Hollywood who could have played the part? Dumbrille made quite a career out of ethnic types, but he was actually from Hamilton, Ontario. Abbott and Costello fans will recall him playing the Sheik in ABBOTT & COSTELLO JOIN THE FOREIGN LEGION, and he was also menacing (though Russian) in CHARLIE CHAN CITY IN DARKNESS. I gues he could play just about everything, but it is really a stretch to make him the Islam insurgent who wants to capture two million rounds of ammo from the British to whom it "properly" belongs.

Nowhere in the movie is there any attempt to make sense out of the fact that the British are fish out of water in Afghanistan. None of the characters ever says to each other, "Why are we here in the first place?" They just act like it's their duty to save Asia from itself--the white man's burden. That said, Cooper and Tone have tremendous chemistry together, like Newman and Redford, only more or less the same age range. But as British soldiers? I don't think so!

Why didn't they just say they were Americans? Richard Cromwell makes a strong impression--he was the fellow who married Angela Lansbury without telling her he batted for the other team (they divorced after a year or so). Here he's fresh, vigorous, very much the tenderfoot to Coop's strawfoot. The casting works here, and he even sounds a bit more British than the others, even though he was born about two miles from the studio where they shot this super action adventure. Another who makes a strong impression is the one and only "Panther Woman" from ISLAND OF LOST SOULS--Kathleen Burke, whose mysterious and exotic beauty always got her cast as something "special." She was the pride of Hammond, Indiana, a suburb of Chicago and at one time one of Indiana's largest industrial centers. The Doublemint Twins are from there, and also the famous Xmas movie A CHRISTMAS STORY is laid in Hammond.

LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER became a classic in its day, even though people were wondering, what about that plural "lives" in the title. Shouldn't it have been "LIVES OF SOME BENGAL LANCERS"? Others were sure it evoked the specter of reincarnation. It is one of director Henry Hathaway's perennial crowd pleasers and now, at last, it is available on DVD!

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Cary Cooper does a restrained slow burn as an independently-minded but highly capable colonial soldier, stationed in the remote, volatile edges of the far-flung and perpetually shaky British empire. The locale is the rugged, untameable mountain terrain of Kashmir and Afghanistan, where local warlords and would-be kings wreck havoc with the disciplined, top-heavy imperial armies. Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought it might. Anyway, this is a thoroughly enjoyable, good old-fashioned, black-and-white adventure flick, which includes a few interesting character studies inside the barracks walls. Franchot Tone is particularly appealing as the tart-tounged newcomer who antagonizes Cooper, but inevitably becomes his best friend and comrade in arms. Recommended!