Line #13 Film/NorthWestFrontier


1	[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/north_west_frontier_1959.jpg]]
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3	''North West Frontier'' (also known as ''Flame Over India'' in the United States and ''Empress of India'' in Australia) is a 1959 British adventure film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Kenneth More, Creator/LaurenBacall, and Creator/HerbertLom.
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5	The setting is 1905, in the North West Frontier province of India. A Muslim uprising has begun, and British Army Captain Scott (More) is asked to take the 5-year-old Prince Kishan and his widowed governess, Mrs. Wyatt (Bacall), to the safety of Haserabad, and from there to Delhi. However, upon arriving Scott finds that the last train out has already departed, and the rebels have seized the gates.
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7	Undaunted, Scott finds a battered old locomotive called the ''Empress of India'' (but always affectionately referred to as "Victoria"[[note]]As in UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, who adopted the title "Empress of India" in 1876.[[/note]]) and enlists the help of its driver, Gupta (I. S. Johar), to get himself, the Prince, Mrs. Wyatt, and several extra passengers -- including Mr. Van Leyden (Lom), a Dutch journalist; Mr. Bridie (Creator/WilfridHydeWhite), a British ex-pat; Mr. Peters (Eugene Deckers), an arms dealer; Lady Windham (Ursula Jeans), the governor's wife; and two unnamed Indian [=NCOs=] -- out of Haserabad.
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9	----
10	!!This film provides examples of:
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12	* AdventurerOutfit: Scott, as befits an army officer in India.
13	* TheAllegedCar: Victoria is the train equivalent. It smokes constantly and the whistle goes off at the worst possible moments.
14	* ArmsDealer: Peters
15	* AsideGlance: Mr. Bridie looks at the camera and smiles during the attack on the train.
16	* BigBad: [[spoiler: Van Leyden.]]
17	* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: The group's only hope lies in an elderly locomotive whose glory days are long behind it.
18	%%* BritsLoveTea: Naturally, with three of the main characters being English. Mrs Wyatt even sarcastically suggests that Scott drinking coffee would "bring the British Empire crashing down."
19	* ChekhovsSkill: Mrs Wyatt is one of the only civilians on the train who knows how to use a gun. [[spoiler:Which comes in handy when Scott is fighting Van Leyden]].
20	* CompanionCube: Gupta treats Victoria as this. So does Scott.
21	* CoolTrain: Victoria. Despite being an ancient and poorly-maintained loco considered only good for shunting, she manages to get everyone to safety.
22	* CrazyPrepared: Lady Wyndham.
23	* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone, Scott, Peters, and Mrs. Wyatt most of all.
24	-->'''Peters:''' ''[about a gun]'' [[{{Irony}} I've never used one of these in my life.]]\
25	'''Scott:''' They're for killing people with.
26	* DisneyVillainDeath:
27	** [[spoiler:Van Leyden, who falls off the train.]]
28	** Almost happens to Prince Kishan, who almost falls off a bridge. Luckily, Scott was able to reach him.
29	* BewareTheSillyOnes: Gupta initially appears to be a servile EthnicScrappy speaking in humorously broken English. However, he's also a highly experienced railwayman whose expertise is essential to the mission.
30	* DoubleTake: Mr. Bridie does one when he sees the train being chased by horsemen.
31	* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:Van Leyden is visibly nauseated by the massacre, and seems to regret that killing the Prince is a necessity for his cause.]]
32	* GreyAndGreyMorality: Not so much among the central characters, but neither the British nor the rebels are portrayed as being in the right.
33	* {{Irony}}: Peters, an arms dealer, has never used a gun in his life.
34	* MightyWhitey: Peters and Scott both demonstrate this attitude. Scott even describes the Indians as "children" at one point.
35	* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: Attempted as a bluff by Peters who, as an arms dealer, would be considered the gun expert on the train.
36	* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Scott has elements of this, although this is DeliberateValuesDissonance given that he's a British soldier in India in 1905.
37	* PercussiveMaintenance: Used by Gupta on Victoria. Scott attempts it, but gets a facefull of oil for his trouble.
38	* RammingAlwaysWorks: Well, when the obstacle is a wooden gate and the ram is a fully coaled and watered locomotive with a full head of steam going downhill, yeah, that gate didn't stand a chance.
39	* TemptingFate:
40	--> '''Mr. Bridie:''' And now I supposed all our troubles are over.
41	* {{Understatement}}: "He got off." Said by Scott about [[spoiler:Van Leyden]] after he falls off the roof of the train.
42	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[spoiler:Van Leyden's motivation for attempting to murder a 5-year-old boy]]
43	* ThrillerOnTheExpress: The entire plot of the film.
44	* TheVonTropeFamily: Van Leyden.
45	* TraintopBattle: It was inevitable that this would happen sooner or later.
46	* UpperClassTwit: The monocled colonel.
47	* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler: Van Leyden.]]

Context Film / NorthWestFrontier