Posted on 12/08/2019 10:23:18 AM PST by Steely Tom
This is a movie about the history of India and the events that led up to the splitting off of Pakistan from India in 1947. In it, British Army Captain Scott is tasked to rescue a Hindu child-prince from a "Muslim uprising" and convey him to safety at the Governor's residence in Haserabad (it is not clear whether "Haserabad" is a real place, or a renamed version of "Hyderabad).
They journey across the "North West Frontier," which is territory in what is now Pakistan, into India, which is more firmly controlled by the British. This journey takes place by means of an old steam train, and is similar in some ways to a Raiders of the Lost Ark type of adventure.
During the movie, the villain, a character named Peter van Leyden, tries repeatedly to murder the young prince; each time he does so he is thwarted by luck or courage on the part of Captain Scott.
As Scott's suspicions are aroused as to the intentions of van Leyden, Lauren Bacall scolds him and accuses him of being judgmental and prejudiced against Muslims. It turns out that Scott is right to be suspicious of van Leyden, who eventually shows his true colors and threatens to murder everyone on the train if he can't get the Prince.
In the end, van Leyden is thrown from the train but doesn't die, at least right away. He is treated with contempt by the locals in a brief scene.
The happy ending has the young Prince being delivered to safety, with Scott walking off with his arm around Lauren Bacall.
However, the “religion” in that movie is Communism.
Nice connection! No need (IMHO) for the quotation marks around the word religion, though.
It depends. Officially, it's not a listed religion, it's a political orientation or movement. Practically, it IS a religion. In the latter case, we agree that quotes are not warranted.
It's a religion without a deity, other than a sort of collective consciousness said to be possessed by "the masses."
I think Marx believed it would become a state religion, with the state taking the place of a deity. When that didn't work (which took them many decades to figure out), they created other pseudo-religions, environmentalism and multiculturalism among them. These pseudo-religions all prescribe the same route to salvation, which is international socialism and the destruction of Capitalism.
I don’t get the connection to JFK. By Jan of 61 when he went into office the red scare was basically over and the feds power somewhat restricted by USSC decisions
I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid — the ‘tell’ Herb Lom’s character showed with the pigskin briefcase. He didn’t want to touch it... I can remember that scene from the flick as clear as a bell today and nothing else clearly about the movie.
It’s a religion without a larger cosmic view or a sense of the afterlife.
Like Islam, it makes the State all-powerful. Which, incentivizes the unscrupulous, criminal, and merely bossy, to tie their fortunes to advancement in the State, regardless of whether its Islamic or Marxist.
I also think that Communism has passed through the early stages of purism and progressed (and I don’t mean that in the sense of progress) into worldly corruption. Like our parties, a position in the Communist parties is an opportunity for economic advantage. That’s true in Islam, but not entirely—there’s still more purist devotion on the bottom. Communists... not so much in long-term Communist countries, although new believers with a need to believe are now popping up in the formerly capitalist West.
Your comment reminded me of a detail in the background of Dennis Rader (the serial killer who came to be known as "BTK"). Rader was attracted to jobs that carried authority; he was a "compliance officer" in Park City, KS, among other things. From Wikipedia:
In May 1991, he became a dogcatcher and compliance officer in Park City. In this position, neighbors recalled him as being sometimes overzealous and extremely strict, as well as taking special pleasure in bullying and harassing single women. One neighbor complained he killed her dog for no reason.
https://www.amazon.com/North-West-Frontier-Lauren-Bacall/dp/B07KN2K15J
Hyderabad exists in India!
I just checked on Amazon Prime. It’s also running there, in the uncut full length, for those of us with subscriptions. Neat trivia detail: the British Empire Indian soldiers in the movie use SMLE rifles that the British adopted in 1904 and the movie’s set in 1905.
Actors and actresses live in fantasy land. They are breathing dolls that are dressed and made up by other people who are then told them what to do, what to say, when to say it and how to say it.
There is a reason why they used to be regarded as not quite respectable by normal people.
At least one reason.
That was of course before technology was invented that enabled a small subset of them to become fantastically wealthy; a technology that none of them could possibly have created on their own.
Well, perhaps Hedy Lamarr might have... but as for the rest, forget it.
You’re quite right. The Russian threat of the era lasted awhile, for good reason. It took Reagan to untie that knot. I can’t recall, off hand, about the Supreme Court’s impact.
Thanks Steely Tom, something to watch tonight.
Just watched it. FANTASTIC MOVIE. The Herbert Lom character is a perfect exemplar of all the murderous Mudslime terrorists we’ve encountered since, with on exaggeration. Hard to find any better, more contemporaneous movie. FIVE STARS!!
Thank you, great movie!
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