King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) User Reviews

A Good Eastern!

[jpdoherty · 5/10 · 26 November 2009]

Fox's KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES (1953) is quite a reasonably good colourful adventure set in India in 1857. A remake of John Ford's "The Black Watch" (1929) it was based on the novel by Talbot Mundy from which derived a fairly decent screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts. Tyrone Power was the star and once again he was reunited with his favourite director and friend Henry King in Frank Rosenberg's elaborate production. This was the studio's fourth picture filmed in the then new stunning process of Cinemascope and Stereophonic sound! The new format lending itself beautifully to the Lone Pine Californian locations which doubled perfectly for India's Northwest Frontier. And veteran expert Cinematographer Leon Shamroy seemed right at home with his creative use of the widescreen camera.

Tyrone Power was Fox's top leading man in the forties but by the time the studio embarked on their wonderful Cinemascope productions in 1953 his star was beginning to wane. The actor was also tired of the usual adventure fare he was frequently thrust into by studio head Darryl Zanuck and longed to do other things in film for other companies. He wanted to break his contract (he amusingly referred to the studio as Penitentiary Fox) and turned down the lead in Fox's ambitious first scope movie "The Robe" resulting in Zanuck suspending him. But not for long! His friend and mentor Henry King came into the fray when he wanted Power to star in his first stab at Cinemascope - KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES and would settle for no one else. So Power and Zanuck kissed and made up and the star took up the assignment.

"India - 1857 - the one hundredth year of British rule" reads the post credits caption on the screen at the opening of the picture. Captain Alan King and his troop are escorting some supply wagons to the Peshawar district garrison not far from the infamous Khyber Pass where rebel Kerram Khan and his army of insurgents are holed up and are preparing for "The night of the long knives" the time when India will rise up against British rule. This is the film's basic premise and depicts one man's efforts to thwart an inevitable uprising. But along the way he will fall in love with the Colonel's daughter (the totally resistible Terry Moore) and be pilloried for being the half-caste boyhood friend of the rebel leader (Guy Rolfe) who he must confront and endeavour to kill.

KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES is a good adventure yarn and looks great on the wide canvas of the Cinemascope screen (a desert rescue sequence is particularly effective). Performances are generally good too. Power, though somewhat subdued, is fine as the troubled Captain King and Michael Rennie gives his usual smooth turn as the authoritative commanding officer. Charismatic British actor Guy Rolfe is superb as Karram Khan. Rolfe an actor with loads of screen presence never followed this up with anything worthwhile and became just another working actor mostly on television. He died back in England in 2003 at the age of 91. Now, the part of the leading lady is the picture's major fault! Terry Moore is completely miscast! To begin with she simply doesn't suit Tyrone Power at all! She's too young for him! Plus she's supposed to be an English girl raised and schooled in England but instead she just looks and sounds like an American High School student who discovers she has a crush on her history professor. Her casting here is almost identical to that of four years earlier when the equally resistible Wanda Hendricks was Power's leading lady in "Prince Of Foxes". What on earth was wrong with Ty? He seemed to have problems selecting an appropriate leading lady! HUH!

However a huge plus for the movie is the remarkable music by Bernard Herrmann! A rollicking eastern tinged Main Title with bravura brass fanfares and augmented timpani opens the score. There is some eerie music for the Hammer Of God scene and a ravishing love theme for the picture's softer moments which the composer fashions into a beautiful waltz for the Queen's Birthday Ball sequence. Alongside "Beneath The 12 Mile Reef" (1953) KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES is Herrmann's best adventure score!

If you can overlook the presence of Terry Moore (think Susan Hayward or Jean Peters) KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES is an engaging 100 minutes of entertainment. But why is this movie not on DVD? As far as I know it isn't even on Video tape! What is wrong with Fox Home Entertainment? They seem to have forgotten Ty Power in "Untamed" (1955) as well! In fact they seem to have totally forgotten what remains in their back catalogue! Where's "Seven Cities of Gold" (1955 / with a riveting performance from Michael Rennie), "Violent Saturday" (1955) and "Rio Conchos" (1964)? Who knows?? Anyone??

Re-Make of The Black Watch

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 10 December 2006]

King of the Khyber Rifles is getting its second film adaption in this 1953 remake of Black Watch. Our version stars 20th Century Fox mainstay Tyrone Power who was coming to an end of his long term studio contract.

This was also the ninth of eleven films Power did with director Henry King and they rate right up there with John Wayne-John Ford and Martin Scorsese-Robert DeNiro as a successful director/actor team. King directed Power's breakthrough film role in Lloyds of London and his collaborations with Power is some of the best work for either men.

I wouldn't rate King of the Khyber Rifles as one of the best for either man. Yet it's entertaining enough and full of enough action to satisfy those who crave it in their films.

Power plays a British Army captain of mixed racial parentage and religious background as his mother was Moslem. He encounters a lot of hostility from both sides, similar to what Ava Gardner faced in Bhowani Junction.

It turns out that the leader of the local rebels is his former childhood play mate and son of the Moslem cleric who took young Power in when he was orphaned. Guy Rolfe is the rebel chief and he's a cunning and vicious foe of the British occupation. Rolfe also did a superb job in Ivanhoe as King John and these two roles are probably his career parts. Rolfe's the best one in the film.

It might have been a bit better had someone other than Terry Moore played the daughter of the English colonel. Another reviewer says she comes off like a débutante and she really does. Michael Rennie as her father is a stalwart defender of the Empire.

King of the Khyber Rifles is decent enough entertainment, but it wasn't in any contention for any awards in 1953.

sweeping epic

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 18 December 2005]

Director Henry King and star Tyrone Power teamed up for their ninth film, almost 20 years after King helped Power shoot to stardom when he chose him as Jonathan in "Lloyds of London." Why do I think Power was somewhat less ebullient this time around. By 1953, he was surely in a mad rush to finish his contract with Fox, as he had already formed his own production company.

"King of the Khyber Rifles" gets the full major picture treatment, in CinemaScope, and it is a film filled with battles, adventure, panaromas, and a little romance thrown in. You can't have Tyrone Power in a movie without some of that! He plays a half-caste who is put in charge of the Khyber Rifles. Eventually, he is given the assignment of putting down a rebellion led by a childhood friend, Karram Khan, menacingly played by Guy Rolfe. Terry Moore plays the British daughter of the brigadier general (Michael Rennie) who falls in love with Power, and that's a forbidden love. In real life, when she first saw the actor, she was so staggered that she developed a facial tic. Power asked King if they could sit quietly and run lines before shooting the scene, which allowed her to calm down. She's fairly vapid in the role.

The last part of the movie is very exciting and beautifully photographed. The film definitely hold's one's interest.

Power looks great - handsome and tanned, as Lieutenant King, but it's really not much of a role. The romantic scenes are marvelous, and he does display a lot of physical prowess. He was unfortunately one of the huge stars of the golden era who did not do a lot of great pictures. Ironically, some of his films not highly thought of at the time have found appreciative audiences today, 47 years after his death. Too bad he's not here to see it.

In the Desert no-one can hear you scream!

[uds3 · 4 April 2002]

I agree with a few other reviewers here - why the hell does this never show up on TV, cable or even old video warehouses? I have seen it but once, in London the week of its initial release almost 50 years ago. I was 7. Thing is, I remember it perfectly, way better than SHOWTIME and I only saw THAT yesterday!

Top desert caper that was all audiences wanted to see in the 50's. No-one swashbuckled better than Tyrone Power during this period and KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES was a handsome production, especially on the gigantic CINEMASCOPE screen. Directed by action-specialist Henry King, who worked with Power in almost a dozen movies, the story was that of half-caste British soldier Alan King (Power) who had to battle not only Army etiquette but a rampaging uprising around the Khyber Pass! The well remembered image from this flick was the spearing of the helpless British soldiers at the stake. Power of course, gaining a last minute reprieve so he could complete the movie, take down the villains and win the girl.

Good supporting cast, Michael Rennie in particular cutting an impressive figure as Brigadier Maitland whose stiff upper lip was stiffer than most!

Good companion piece to this was ZARAK (Also reviewed somewhere!)

Colorful, rousing adventure

[frankfob · 7/10 · 27 October 2002]

Sweeping, exciting spectacle, though on a bit lesser scale than usual. Power is a mixed-race (half British/half Indian) British officer in India battling the British class system on one side, the Indian caste system on the other side, racism from both sides, and rampaging, rebellious natives on all sides. Although he lacked the dynamism and ebullient personality of fellow swashbuckler Errol Flynn, Power nevertheless handled these kinds of action roles well, and was a good enough actor to pull them off believably. Terry Moore is, as always, miscast--she has the sunny demeanor of a USC cheerleader rather than the demure, dignified charm one would expect of the daughter of a senior, upper-class British officer. Michael Rennie's lip is properly stiff as the British commander, and Guy Rolfe is thoroughly effective as Power's megalomaniacal, menacing half-brother who is the leader of the rebels. Several extremely well staged action scenes--particularly at the climax--some very tense moments, crisp and beautiful Technicolor photography and Power's not-inconsiderable presence and charm make this a must-see for adventure fans--if they can ever find the damn thing. As mentioned previously, it hardly ever shows up on television and it's not out--legitimately, at least--on video or DVD yet.

The Night of the Long Knives

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 8 January 2022]

Previously filmed by John Ford in 1929 with Victor McLaglen as 'The Black Watch'. This handsome-looking Empire film set in 1857 is actually a far more sombre, character-driven film than the swashbuckler the title suggests - with an atmospheric score by Bernard Herrmann - in which Tyrone Power's swarthy complexion here sees him play a haste caste romancing a pert young Terry Moore playing the daughter of General Michael Rennie and caught between the Regiment and a very saturnine Guy Rolfe as his brother.

Adventure movie set in India with plenty of fights , emotion , thrills and breathtaking battles

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 20 August 2018]

Tyrone Power that in ¨Witness for prosecution¨ caused sensation here in his most exciting role . The story of a love that was greater than honor and race ; and a courage that stood alone against the fury of India's great rebellion . Set in India as the title indicates , half-legend , half-land ...alive and wondrous thanks to spectacular outdoors through the magic of sterophonic sound , big screen , and anamorphic lens . The great desert , thundering path of empire, the fanatic Afridi horsemen and the hordes of Kurran Khan ...the Bazaars of Peshawar and the Night of the Long Knives . And the crowning spectacle of the man who carved a saga of battle and love across the towering peaks of the Khiver Pass .

Adventure and thrilling movie set in India in the turbulent late 19th century . It is a rousing , moving , stirring tale , but rough-edged fare . Dealing with interesting issues , such as imperialism , colonialism and racism . One of Tyrone's later movies , a bit later on , he would die while shooting in Spain : Salomon and Queen Sabah directed by King Vidor , being replaced by Yul Brynner , but still within his tradition of making adventure movies which spanned around the world . Power plays with some sensitivity the captain isolated by his colleagues and by the girlfriend's father .Tyrone Power gives a good acting , as usual .Tyrone seems to be more serious than the Swashbucklers or pirate movies he played when his good looks and swordmanship were both at their peak and much competition with Errol Flynn in the adventure stakes , such as : Black Swan , The Zorro , Prince of Foxes , Captain from Castile and The Black Rose . These enjoyable films were all well played by Power who was nearly at his most agile and deft style , as he starred various ¨Sword and Swagger¨ films and was superstar of Hollywood swashbucklers . While his love interest , the very young Terry Moore is mediocre . There are strong but brief performances from Michael Rennie , Frank De Kova , John Justin , Richard Wyler and the villain Guy Rolfe who often performs baddie roles .This is the second version based on the novel , John Ford directed the first titled The Black Watch set in WWI , though this Henry King movie was set in 1857 , shooting in Lone Pine , California ,during three months.

It packs a colorful photography in Technicolor , with color de Luxe. Lavishly produced by Frank Rosenberg, and Universal International , being accompanied by brilliant and glimmer cinematography by Leon Shamroy . Thrilling as well as sensitive musical score by maestro Bernard Herrmann , Hitchcock's ordinary . The motion picture was well directed by Henry King. He was an expert on adventure genre , as Henry made Stanley and Livingstone , assisted uncredited in Son of Fury , directed the masterpiece : The black swan , and Prince of Foxes , the Biblical : David and Bathseba , The snows of Kilimanjaro and Untamed . As well as Lloyd's of London and In old Chicago .Rating : better than average . The flick will appeal to Tyrone Power fans .

A great novel reduced to shambles

[clanciai · 7/10 · 8 March 2017]

Based on Talbot Mundy's best and most famous novel, which unfortunately I was an expert on, this film was a total disappointment, in spite of its great assets of mainly stupendous mountain scenery and Bernard Herrmann's music. But the mountain scenery was nothing at all about the famous Khyber pass but all shot in California, and above all, the splendid story of Talbot Mundy's secret agent thriller of jihadism and the cutting of heads even 160 years ago by taliban rebels and with a dancing queen of beauty at the centre of intrigue, also involving some archaeology and reminiscenses of Alexander the Great's famous visit to Afghanistan, was reduced to a cheap and petty pulp fiction of the commonest of Hollywood clichés. The acting is not very good either. The only one making a strong impression by his stage presence and acting is Guy Rolfe as the villain, the rebel king, while supporting parts, such as John Justin and Michael Rennie, also make a good job, while Terry Moore is a complete disaster. However could Tyrone Power fall in love with such a nuisance of a bobby-soxer? It's as far from credible as anything could be. Tyrone Power is himself, and that's enough for him - with such a face he never even needed to act.

A great pity for a great story to be so poorly handled and reduced to mere superficial entertainment. Talbot Mundy was a theosophist and mystic who wrote many books, and this one could have been made into as great a Kipling epic as "The Man who Wanted to be King".

An excellent adventure film

[cjenkins · 8/10 · 13 November 1998]

This film is an excellent adventure film. Tyrone Power was a good actor - always entertaining and full of charm. Sadly this film is NEVER shown on TV and is not available on video - this is nothing short of being a scandal!!! Although this is not Power at his best, it is worth seeing, and certainly worthy of a place in my video collection. Smarten up 20th Century Fox and find this film before it decays to dust - or has this happened already?

Sprawling, if stilted, epic as only Hollywood could do

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 8 June 2009]

The "king" of the title is the name of Tyrone Powers character a half caste officer who gets mixed up with Indian revolts in 1857 India. A huge sprawling epic made in the way that only old Hollywood could do, this is a rousing, if very stiff and stilted action tale thats all about looking good and being spectacular. Tyrone Power is wonderfully miscast as the hero, a man of action and duty who manages to do what no one else can do. Power is for me at best an adequate actor who only rarely found a role that worked for him. Here he cuts a dashing figure, but he otherwise seems out of place a British officer. I kind of groaned for the first 20 minutes before I gave myself over to the film thanks to its constantly on the go plot which has things moving at a good clip through beautiful landscapes. Very much worth a look, especially on a big screen, its an old style epic of the popcorn munching variety.

Between 6 and 7 out of 10

A Sad Tale of Americans Conquering India !

[adabsiz · 1/10 · 3 October 2021]

Not only most of the cast were unashamedly Americans fighting in North India (they could have been fighting Red Indians !) , but also the Alabama Hills and Iverson Ranch doubled up as the background to this sad tale of the British Raj !

And everyone looked so clean, fresh and coiffed even after riding and fighting in the arrid mountains of the Khyber Pass ...

How Hollywood got away with this nonsense no one knows. Avoid even on a rainy Sunday !

Spectacularly directed by a sure-handed craftsman...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 27 August 2000]

Henry King directed Tyrone Power in ll pictures (This one was number nine) beginning with "Lloyds of London," which first shot the young actor to stardom...

King directed many of Power's best pictures including "In Old Chicago," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Jesse James," "The Black Rose," "Captain From Castile" and "Prince of Foxes"...

Power was a great actor able to star in everything from Musicals and Westerns to historical epics and swashbucklers... He was originally meant to do the first CinemaScope film, "The Robe" in 1953, but ended up with "The King of the Khyber Rifles" instead.

Power gives adequate performance as Alan King, a half-caste British army captain charging around the hills of India with courage and pride...

He crushes a rebel uprising led by a boyhood friend, and engages in a fight-to-the-death... He struggles up and down rocky cliffs of the Himalayan Mountain Ranges and romances his commanding officer's daughter... all against the backdrop of a legendary Indian Mutiny (also called Sepoy Mutiny)

Michael Rennie is cast as the tall Brigadier General Maitland who judges King (Tyrone Power) by his special qualifications, appointing him commander of the Khyber Riflemen...

Rennie's pretty daughter Susan (Terry Moore) finds herself attracted to the handsome captain, causing a rivalry between King and Lieutenant Heath (John Justin), the officer who spread the news about King's mixed racial descent...

Guy Rolfe is the ruthless Karram Khan, a rebel who tries to end the British rule... He warns King: "Last night you spare my life, now I return the gesture. But we will meet again and when we do, there will be no hesitation."

The most dramatic moment of the motion picture is the spearing to death of four helpless British captives tied to a long wooden mast, waiting in fear to be executed by Khan's men... Power is also fastened, expecting the same fate, to be thrust in the chest by a deadly weapon...

The film, spectacularly directed by a sure-handed craftsman, is sufficiently picturesque with bright and shining landscapes, very entertaining with an alarming storm and a rousing climax in which Power leads a furious assault filling the giant CinemaScope screen with impressive action sequences...

A class system versus another.

[Artemis-9 · 7/10 · 14 September 2003]

The film does give a fairly good contrast between the Indian and the English class systems. From the viewpoint of someone who's totally for racial integration and against class discrimination, this looked like an history, or political lesson, when I saw it in my early teens. What impressed me equally then, was the great beauty of Indian women, particularly that dancer in flimsy dress - and that were shown in erotic scenes or situations that the government censorship in my country would not have approved for 12-y-o minors, if it was not intended as propaganda against the English (who snubbed Portugal for not being democratic), and India who had taken back the former colonies of Goa, Damão and Diu a few years before). I recall the poor colours, and jumpy film, as the copy had been much used in popular theatres during its first release. Reading the critics of people who saw this film at a more mature age than I, I guess I would give it a second viewing if it appeared on video.

Dull historical nonsense, in this cavalry 'eastern'

[weezeralfalfa · 4/10 · 29 March 2015]

In an era when Hollywood was trying to compete with TV by offering lavish exotic spectaculars, filmed in widescreen Cinemascope, with stereophonic sound, this film comes across as one of the dullest ones, with minimal historical relevancy, to boot. The High Sierras in the background provide spectacular mountain scenery, perhaps reminiscent of that in the relevant Afghanistan-present Pakistan border region. Otherwise, there is little to recommend in the film. Tyrone Power, as the supposed half -caste hero Alan King, sleepwalks his way through his role, and looks as half-cast as did Esther Williams as a supposed half-caste Polynesian. Guy Rolfe, as the fictional Afghan rebel chieftain nemesis, Karran Khan, with ambitions to conquer all of India, as a would-be latter day Akbar the Great, had zero charisma, despite his defiant posturing.

Terry Moore, much criticized as the choice for the love interest of King, came across as an OK spirited ingénue, bored with life within the frontier garrison, taking to forbidden horse and carriage rides in the surrounding stark countryside, as one means of relieving her boredom. She's immediately smitten by the handsome King, upon his arrival at the garrison, and wastes no time letting King know, practically throwing herself at him. Unlike most of the officers in the garrison, she has no qualms about King being of half caste parentage, and looks forward to a marriage with him, against her father's approval. Unlike Power's comedic tempestuous relationships with Betty Grable, in "Yank in the RAF", or with Maureen O'Hara, in "The Black Swan", all is sweetness, if a tad dull, in their courtship. In their tense last meeting, King agrees with her father that marriage with him wouldn't likely work out socially, and that it is wise to send her back to England, for safety. However, in the last scene, when the victorious Khyber Rifles are parading by, she reappears as a spectator, providing no clue about the current status of her relationship with King, nor whether she still is about to leave for England.

This story supposedly takes place in 1857: the year of the Indian Rebellion and frequent mutiny or unrest of native troopers(sepoys) in the Indian Army. Toward the end, news of the rebellion in some other parts of India is received at the garrison, and it's predicted that the people in the surrounding area will soon be in rebellion, probably led by Karram Khan, unless he is first killed. However, historically , the neighboring Punjab, along with the Northwest Frontier Territories, where this garrison is located, was one of the least affected by this rebellion. The concern by the sepoys that the paper cartridges for the newly arrived Enfield rifles reportedly are greased with pig and beef fat is historically correct. In the film, despite assurances by King that this is untrue, the sepoys refuse to use the Enfields when faced with storming the Khan's stronghold at Khyber Pass. Instead, they choose to rely on their short traditional Afghan daggers, against the muskets of the Khan's troops. This whole sequence of storming the Khan's stronghold, along with the prior solitary visit of King, claiming to be deserter from the British army, looks quite implausible. It's highly unlikely that the Khyber Rifles could sneak up in broad daylight on KK's stronghold without being seen by at least one sentry! Also, they were at a distinct disadvantage in fighting with only their daggers, against muskets plus daggers. Yet, they won. King's obligatory grapple with KK is brief and shot under dark interior conditions. Anticlimactically, KK is killed during the grapple, not by King, but by a sepoy who has a special reason for revenge.

Incidentally, the historic Khyber Rifles, composed of Afghans, plus a British commander, as shown, didn't begin until the 1880s, several decades after this story supposedly takes place! The screenplay could have, instead, included the important political consequences of the ultimate defeat of the '57 rebellion: the dissolution of the East India Company and last vestiges of the former Moghal empire, and their replacement with the British Raj government.

Several previous films had dealt with essentially the same subject. I would recommend John Ford's "Wee Willie Winkie" as being a more interesting version. Instead of a climactic fight to the finish, little Shirley Temple charms the rebellious Khan into giving up his plundering tradition, thus saving many lives.

The first revisionist colonial adventure of India

[briantaves · 23 September 2004]

While offering many racist undercurrents in portraying imperialism and eastern characters, adventure movies have long satisfied a desire for escape, becoming one of the principal avenues for presenting views of foreign cultures (however warped) and distant lands to curious and receptive audiences. The genre is sufficiently flexible to allow for only a lukewarm endorsement of colonialism or questioning of its political effects, a tradition going back at least to 1928 and the notable production of WHITE SHADOWS OVER THE SOUTH SEAS. However, this theme only became established after World War II, as films began to reflect the crumbling of western empires in Africa and Asia and recognition grew of the pernicious effects of imperialism and its attendant racism. The first major film signpost of these changes was KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES (1953), set in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, a conflict that had rarely been treated in films up to that time. The story centers on a character of Eurasian ancestry, Captain Alan King (Tyrone Power), who falls in love with an English girl, Susan (Terry Moore), the daughter of the outpost's commander, General Maitland (Michael Rennie)--providing an opportunity for exploring racial attitudes in a colonial setting. Focusing on a relationship between a half-caste and a white girl was, in the early 1950s, an original cinematic theme, and KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES was unique for presenting it in adventure.

KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES explores King's personal difficulties as he tries to find his own social position, living in uneasy suspension between the world of the native and the foreign sahibs, torn between them; only the adventurous experience can resolve his status. Prejudice against King emerges because of his parentage; fellow officers refuse to be billeted in the same quarters, and he is conspicuously not invited to the queen's birthday ball. The stress is not simply on his courage but more on the numerous challenges he must face in daily living. A social outcast at the fort, King is most secure in the home of his adopted father, Hamid Bahra, a Moslem holy man; the picture was originally to end with King returning to Bahra before joining Susan. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES has a lone hero and none of the emphasis on military camaraderie, or the careless, Boys' Own tone to be found in such films as GUNGA DIN. Authentic details of Indian atmosphere convey a sense of accuracy, such as the rumors that the cartridges for the new Enfield rifles are greased with pig's fat, simultaneously offending Moslem and Hindu alike. King must use his unique appeal as a fellow native to lead the Khyber Rifles in an attack on Khan's encampment. At the last moment, King's men resolve not to use the rifles but offer to follow him using their knives. The imperial conflict is between men who are sons of India, whether Kurram Khan and his followers or King and the Khyber Rifles. Yet KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES ultimately evades the question of the desire for Indian independence, through depicting Kurram Khan's leadership as far more ruthless and dictatorial than British rule. King is in a unique position; his half-caste status, negotiating between British and Indian with a knowledge of both, enables a British victory, establishing not just his equality within the fort but also his eligibility to marry Susan. The British outpost offers the hero the only world where his merits can win recognition, partaking of both sides of his ancestry by following in his father's military footsteps. King's birthplace and home are India, not England, and though he may serve the British, he does so for the distinction such duty may bring through association with a respected unit like the Khyber Rifles. King secures greater respect than is accorded to white officers like Maitland. While utilizing many of the incidents and motifs of THE LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, GUNGA DIN, and other such movies, KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES also sums them up, providing both a commentary and a decisive new turn. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES brings Indians to the forefront, honoring the native traditions while still treating heroes and villains according to standardized genre patterns. While clearly an adventure of colonial India in the classical mode, KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES represents a fundamental shift to an awareness of its own conventions, allowing the film to be watched today more easily than many other adventures of a similar vintage. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES was the fourth picture shot in Twentieth Century-Fox's new widescreen process, CinemaScope, and it was widely acclaimed as the the first picture whose action fully justified use of the anamorphic lens. Fox's directing "King" was assigned to it: Henry King, a sixty-seven year old veteran whose career stretched back to the teens, and was a personal favorite of Zanuck as well as a close friend of leading star Tyrone Power. Power, tired of playing action roles, disliked KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES, and by then was more interested in unusual, challenging character roles. Unfortunately, Zanuck wanted to use Terry Moore, who was already under contract, as the leading lady, a role she sought assiduously despite being completely miscast in the part. Zanuck was enthusiastic about shooting KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES in Lone Pine, and Henry King agreed that a location trip to India was unnecessary, and the California locale substituted so well that many reviewers believed that at least portions of the picture had been shot in India. Producer Frank Rosenberg selected Bernard Herrmann to write the score, hoping for and receiving something more exotic and less intrusive than the type of martial music Alfred Newman had written for previous Henry King-Tyrone Power adventure films at Fox. KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES was widely touted as Fox's Christmas release, becoming a box-office hit, and it is still popular on television.

King Of The Khyber Rifles (Henry King, 1953) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 30 March 2009]

Having been familiar with Talbot Mundy's original source novel via a "Classics Illustrated" comic-book version I had read in the early 1980s (my father still owns a very nice collection of these dating back to his own childhood), it had always seemed strange to me how scarce 20th Century Fox's film version – shot in the prestigious Cinemascope ratio and starring popular movie star Tyrone Power – really was. Over the years, I only recall 2 screenings in my neck of the woods (on Italian and Cable TV) but it was never released on VHS; I suppose that it does get shown on the "Fox Movie Channel" once in a while but there is still no legitimate DVD in sight – despite many lesser Power movies having already made it onto the digital format! Recently, I did come across a copy of that local Cable TV screening of the mid-1990s which, being typically pan-and-scanned, soft-looking and occasionally hazy, betrayed its origins as a VHS-to-DVD transfer! Although I am grateful for the opportunity to finally see it (since I generally lap these exotic adventures up), I have to say that I was surprisingly underwhelmed by the end results. Everybody involved seems to be working below-par somehow: at 39, Power is still handsome enough as the half-caste Captain hero but his romance with the annoying heroine Terry Moore (who was 15 years his junior!) comes off as decidedly unconvincing. The cast is rounded up by a stiff upper-lipped Michael Rennie (as Moore's father and Power's superior), John Justin (playing a foppish, racist Lieutenant and Power's romantic rival) and Guy Rolfe (whose zesty portrayal of villainous Karram Khan – Power's old childhood friend and subsequent mortal enemy – enlivens the film's latter stages). The crew members fare little better, alas: Henry King may have been nominated for a DGA but you would hardly guess it from watching the film; composer Bernard Herrmann does get to slip in a few worthwhile musical passages but the overall score is not up to his usual high standards; Leon Shamroy's Widescreen color cinematography was doubtless spectacular on the big screen but, hampered by the compromised video version I watched, it still was not enough to elevate the film for me. For the record, around the same time I acquired KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES, John Ford's obscure, earlier film version of the story entitled THE BLACK WATCH (1929), with Victor McLaglen and Myrna Loy, also came my way but, having a ton of the director's movies in my vast collection still unwatched, I will leave that viewing for when I eventually tackle the lot!

Could have been better

[sundar-2 · 6/10 · 12 August 2019]

I just finished watching 'King of the Khyber Rifles'. It is only loosely based on Talbot Mundy's book which I enjoyed reading many years ago. Mundy, an Englishman, wrote sympathetically about India and its people. But in the book, Captain King was not an Anglo-Indian, but in this movie, he is and often gets called a chi-chi or a half-caste. Not politically correct, but this movie is set in 1857. This is the one of the 2 movies in which Irish-American Tyrone Power plays a likeable Indian or half-Indian character! The other movie is 'Rains of Ranchipur', which portrays a love affair between an Englishwoman and an Indian doctor.

The first half of the film is rather slow-moving. Tyrone Power and Terry Moore lack any chemistry together. Ty looks rather stiff and bored. But in the second half of the movie, he is more animated as a dashing officer who leads a charge against the lawless frontier tribes whose lands are now in Pakistan, but were part of British India till 1947. The so-called Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 forms the backdrop of this film which shows only one fictional battle in a remote part of what was north-western India, far removed from north and central India where most of the battles took place.

Michael Rennie is quite good as the upright British officer, but Terry Moore, later to be Mrs. Howard Hughes, is quite unimpressive in her role and is not all that good-looking.

Action and Romance on the Indian Frontier.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 3 April 2014]

Henry King, a long-time Hollywood craftsman, directed this tale of action, romance, intrigue, and racial prejudice among the British Army in India. The year is 1857, the one hundredth year of British occupation. The viewer may notice that in one scene, in the office of the commanding officer, Michael Rennie, two crossed flags are shown on the wall. One flag is the recognizable Union Jack.

The other flag is a curious one. The union jack is tucked away in the upper left hand corner and the rest of the flag is taken up with alternating red and white stripes. That's the flag of the Honorable British East India Company, the entity that actually governed the subcontinent. No messing about with excuses. Money was money and the company traded in dyes, indigo, tea, and opium. The stock was all owned by wealthy citizens.

Where was I? These historical peregrinations confuse even me. Tyrone Power is Captain King, a Moslem half caste, assigned to Rennie's post. Rennie has a cute daughter with an upturned nose, Terry Moore, who practically throws herself at Power's feet. Most of the officers seem to dislike him. And Rennie tries to play fair but he's naturally upset when his beautiful daughter takes a shine to a Wog, I mean a native gentleman. This entire theme, which runs through the film from beginning to end, struck me at times as an allegory, a conflict that paralleled that of racism in America, a subject the producers were unwilling to touch in 1953. "They are ready to die for you, but they can't be invited to the officer's club," someone remarks.

The direction is efficient enough. And Movie Flats, near Lone Pine, California, is a decent substitute for India. It always has been, since before "Gunga Din." Tyrone Power was fine in roles like this: stiff and distant and filled with principle. Only once or twice did he compromise this image, in "Nightmare Alley" for one. Terry Moore's role is similarly circumscribed. She was better in "Beneath the Twelve Mile Reef." Rennie is stalwart. The chief villain is Guy Rolfe, under ten pounds of black-face make up. He's a tall and commanding presence and when he's on the screen it's hard to look at anyone else. Bennie Herrmann's score is rather routine except for its hints at "Vertigo." The final action scene, shot as day-for-night, is slam bang but without any real distinction.

The forbidden romance between the outcast newcomer and the CO's daughter is lifted from John Ford's "Fort Apache", where it was handled with irony and skill. Power's pulling a girl into some desert ruins to escape a sandstorm is lifted from "Suez", where poor Power had to go through the same routine. The film smacks of the 1950s, when natives were supposed to say lines like, "We have many roads to travel. We'll cast our shadows upon them together."

I enjoyed it as a kid. It didn't seem so impressive now, except for the spiffy uniforms. You should see them. The band and some of the officers and men wear the kilt. Tightly tailored, and all colors -- red, blue, and a more serviceable tan, which the soldiers of the time called khaki, having borrowed the word from the native language into English. Two officers are seen in blouses of washed-out blue. It would be worth serving on the frontier just to appear in such sartorial splendor.

There's just not enough Power to make it high voltage, Captain.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 11 August 2012]

King of the Kyber Rifles is directed by Henry King and adapted to screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts from a story written by Harry Kleiner. It stars Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie, John Justin and Guy Rolfe. Music is scored by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Leon Shamroy.

A remake of John Ford's The Black Watch (1929), and loosely based on Talbot Munday's novel of the same name, film finds Power as Captain Alan King, who whilst stationed in India 1857 finds himself looked down upon because of his half caste blood. Things are further stirred when King turns the eye of the General's (Rennie) daughter (Moore). The Garrison needs to sort itself out because Indian rebels are on the war path.

One of the early 20th Century Fox productions in Technicolor and CinemaScope, King of the Kyber Rifles, filmed out of Lone Pine in the Alabama Hills, is gorgeous to look at, has top draw high energy action (though there isn't as much as you would like), and the cast turn in performances that are full of stiff upper lip and stout of heart splendour. A handsome production for sure, across the board (Shamroy and Herrmann deliver the goods once again), but story often drags and passages of talk come off as trite, forcing us to hanker for the next wide location shot or perky action sequence. There's a very disjointed feel to the narrative structure, we have to fill in some gaps ourselves, it's almost as if the makers were wondering which way to lean as regards the best selling point. To make an intelligent movie with the odd bit of action filmed in Scope? Or just an out and out Errol Flynn action type movie to stir the blood whilst forgoing any emotional depth?

They don't achieve either, and thus we are left with a good looking failure. Shame, Power and King were often a great pairing, and with the tools available on the production, this should have been a cracker. 6/10

Rousing tale of the raj

[lorenellroy · 8/10 · 29 February 2008]

The story was previously filmed as The Black Watch ,after the famed British regiment of the same name,by none other than John Ford ,and is based on a once popular now long forgotten novel by Talbot Munday . In this 1953 version Tyrone Power plays Captain Alan King a mixed race Brish Officer in Imperial India in 1857.He leads a supply column of native troops ,the Khyber Rifles ,to the British base at Peshawar and they are attacked by Afridi tribesman under the command of his old childhood friend Karram Khan (Guy Rolfe).The attack is repelled and the column reaches Peshawar .There King falls in (reciprocated )love with the daughter of the base commander and in so doing incurs the enmity of a fellow officer Lieutenant Heath (John Justin)who also loves the young lady in question (Terry Moore).The revelation of his mixed race ancestry results in the girls father CommnaNder Maitland (Michael Rennie)to forbid the romance between King and his daughter .She is then kidnapped by Karrem Khan's forces and he sets out to rescue her by infiltrating his ranks .

Henry King is a largely neglected and under-rated director who made some splendid movies and in this instance he conjured up s work that has energy,flair and drive in abundance .Power is perhaps a tad too old for the part but still gives a dashing and attractive performance and is well backed yo by the menacing Rolfe ,the austere and dignified Rennie and the always reliable Justin.Moore is suitably decorative without being any great shakes in the Thespic department. The script touches on without really exploring the bigotry angle and overall this is a well shot and decently acted slice of Imperial heroics.The politically correct will not like it -but since I view them as children who need to grow up I won't let their thin lipped moral rigidity deter me from enjoying the picture .Nor should you

"It's a case of one man's life against the safety of the garrison"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 24 January 2022]

A decent adventure movie set in 19th Century India filmed in glorious 'Technicolor' and 'Cinemascope' with a splendid percussive score by Bernard Hermann. There are themes of colonialism and racial prejudice but these are not evidenced in a heavy handed way. The action scenes are well staged with California doubling plausibly for India, and doesn't shy away from more violent moments. Perhaps Tyrone Power as Captain King and Terry Moore as Susan were miscast but sterling support was given by Michael Rennie, Guy Rolfe and John Justin. Veteran Henry King directs in his usual professional manner.

The film is based on a story by Harry Kleiner vaguely based on the 1916 novel by Talbot Mundy, which is a shame as Mundy's work is really exciting and if the filmmakers had stuck to the original source it would have been a more interesting movie. The novel is well worth reading.

Another genre piece

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 5/10 · 18 August 2006]

The idea for a story about boyhood friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the Indian Mutiny is a promising one; make one of them a half-caste officer on whom the commandant's wilful daughter has set her sudden fancy, much to the agonies of her father's would-be liberal conscience, and you ought to have a powerful picture.

Sadly, "King of the Khyber Rifles" isn't that film.

The potentially interesting theme of the conflicts of loyalty between the warlord Karram Khan, his father who has turned to pacifism, and his foster-brother Charles King is barely touched upon, and then only in a cursory manner as a plot mechanism. When, returning to camp, Captain King is arrested under suspicion of being in league with the rebels, an accusation circumstances have conspired to render all too probable... the whole careful set-up is disregarded the moment said rebels actually attack. In fact, King is instantly released and entrusted with leading an undercover attack against these same rebels!

The film is much more interested in its racially-conscious romantic subplot than in any conflicts of loyalty, but the romance unfortunately falls pretty flat for me. As mentioned by other reviewers, Terry Moore -- so charming opposite an SFX gorilla in "Mighty Joe Young" -- here plays the role of Susan as a Valley Girl airhead with anachronistic attitudes, while I found it hard to see why she instantly hurls herself at the head of Tyrone Power, who appears to participate in the entire film with polite but wooden reluctance. There is so little screen chemistry on view between them that when she comes bursting into King's bedroom at night to confess her passion -- an act, for a lady of 1857, that would have compromised her honour as effectively as actually sleeping with him -- I rather expected the embarrassed Captain to repulse her gently on the grounds that he simply did not return her feelings.

Nor do the racial politics seem particularly well thought-out. British India, even the Northwest Frontier, was not the American Deep South, where the higher the admixture of white blood the better; the 'chi-chi' was looked down upon by the Indian as by the Englishman, a fact correctly acknowledged in the film by King's mother's ostracism, but not in the plot assumption that his own half-blood status gives him an edge with "them". And the argument he uses on his rebellious men, that if he can honourably bite the cartridges so can they, makes little sense unless he also shares their religion and hence the taboo -- which, to all appearances, he does not.

But all this could be ignored; my real problem with this film was that it failed to engage or excite me, save for that one justly famous moment when the captured soldiers are dispatched one by one, transfixed by the horsemen's spears. Watching approaching death, Tyrone Power's face conveys emotion at last -- but the moment passes, and film and star alike go through the motions until the end.

Given its material, this could have been a great picture. As it turns out, it's just another genre entry, and a somewhat cursory one at that. The star's heart doesn't seem to be in it, and neither script nor action hold any great sparkle to compensate.

What a great Classic

[3DPhil · 8/10 · 12 May 2008]

I just came across this film as a free download on Lovefilm, it's in cinema-scope, Technicolour, great cast including Tyrone Power, Terry Moore Michael Rennie, John Justin, Guy Rolfe and directed by one of the great Hollywood directors, Henry King. Tyrone Power gives one of his best performances, he plays the part of a mixed race British officer with such dignity, I was also very impressed with Michael Rennie as the company commander and farther of the girl Tyrone's character falls in love with, what is there not to like. Here is the link so you can get to see this wonderful film: http://www.lovefilm.com/product/93881-King-of-the-Khyber-Rifles.html

A tiresome somewhat remake

[AlsExGal · 5/10 · 28 June 2018]

There were a few British Empire action films, often set in India, turned out by the Hollywood studios during the '50s, nostalgic throwbacks to the cycle of similar epics churned out by the studios in the late '30s. None of the '50s efforts are particularly noteworthy and certainly none of them in league with the likes of Gunga Din, Charge of the Light Brigade, Lives of a Bengal Lancer or, from Britain, Korda's great The Four Feathers.

King of the Khyber Rifles was a 20th Century Fox CinemaScope effort, directed by Henry King, with only superficial similarities to either the novel by Talbot Mundy or the earlier film version (John Ford's The Black Watch of 1929).

Tyrone Power, in his last completed costume film, plays a half caste officer on the Indian frontier who must deal with prejudice among his brother officers (one of whom is very polite but moves out of their shared living quarters when he discovers Power's mother was Muslim). But he is also actively pursued by the headstrong daughter (Terry Moore) of his commanding officer (Michael Rennie). This is a disappointing production, never springing to life either dramatically or as an action adventure. In fact, under King's pedestrian, largely meandering direction, there is very little in the way of action to be found in this film.

Power, who was openly tired of being cast by Fox in costume epics, is noticeably subdued in this film. Moore seems very impulsively American as the daughter of the British general, while Rennie gives a nicely dignified portrayal as her father who is broad minded when it comes to non whites serving in the military but not so much as to want to have one in the family.

The one flamboyant performance in the film is that of Guy Rolfe, as Power's former boyhood friend, Karram Khan, who now leads the hill people against the British usurpers of their land. Rolfe's character is ruthless, though he does shows signs of a personal code of honour.

Bernard Herrmann contributes a truly rousing epic musical score to the production, much better than the film deserves. Typical of a film of squandered opportunities, however, Herrmann's great effort is only heard under the film's opening titles. What a waste.

For whatever reason King of the Khyber Rifles has never been released on DVD in North America, one of the few Power films in which this is the case. A letter boxed version can be found on You Tube. If nothing else, click on it for the first two minutes to hear Herrmann's great score.

Not available on video!?! Pourquoi pas?

[gregcouture · 9 July 2003]

Quite a few of those machine-tooled early CinemaScope productions from Twentieth Century Fox seem to be consigned to the dustbins of the memories of those of us who had the good fortune to see them in their full widescreen ratio with a magnetic stereophonic soundtrack during their initial release.

This one, directed with unusual energy by that Hollywood veteran, Henry King; lensed by that master of the color cameras, Leon Shamroy; and graced with a suitably sweeping score by Bernard Herrmann, looks like its lost in the archives where, let us hope, the master negative survives until the day that keepers of the Twentieth vaults come to their senses and favor us with a DVD release in the original (not reduced to anything less, please!) widescreen anamorphic format.

Terry Moore, who enjoyed a brief run as one of Fox's oft-used ingenues (and ladies of somewhat easier virtue, as in "Peyton Place") did seem a bit miscast, but Tyrone Power, Michael Rennie and well-chosen supporting players outshone her shortcomings. I recall that TIME magazine gave this quite a positive review and I remember that its use of mountainous California locations were quite convincing as a substitute for sending a company (or just a second unit) all the way to India's probably less hospitable subcontinent.