SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

calvinnme 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.

MartinHafer I am not sure why so many Hollywood productions featured the Imperial British in a very favorable light--such as in "Gunga Din", "Lives of a Bengal Lancer", "The Four Feathers" and this film. You'd think, in light of our own Revolution, we'd be rooting for the natives!! It was THEIR land, after all. Regardless, the film is just one of a bazillion others in most regards--just not as interesting. The only major difference is that there's a subplot about Tyrone Power supposedly being a half-caste--part British and part Indian Muslim. But the writer really didn't do that much with it--just make Power a gung-ho Britain-loving officer. As a result, although it is a bit different, otherwise it's a very ordinary film. As for Power, he's rather limp and it's not among his better films.By the way, although this is a pretty fair film, it does have one of the dumber clichés in film and TV history. When Tyrone Power's character shows people a picture of his father in a locket, it's his exact image--as if fathers give birth to sons who look 100% like them!! I would have at least taken the picture with a fake nose or weird hairdo! Oh well, at least it wasn't an identical cousin! You know, it would have been great if the picture had been of Tyrone Power, Sr.---Tyrone's father who was a famous actor during the silent era.

bkoganbing 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.

briantaves 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.