''King of the Khyber Rifles'' is a 1953 adventure film directed by Henry King and starring

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...

and Terry Moore. The film shares its title but little else with the novel '' King of the Khyber Rifles'' (1916) by

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...

. This novel was also the basis for

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

's '' The Black Watch'' (1929). The Khyber Pass scenes were shot in the

Alabama Hills The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California. Though geographically separate from the Sierra Nevada, they are part of ...

, Lone Pine,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, the film was one of the first shot in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

CinemaScope.

Plot

In 1857, freshly-arrived Sandhurst-trained Captain Alan King, survives an attack on his escort to his

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

garrison near the Khyber Pass because of Ahmed, a native

Afridi The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal ...

deserter from the Muslim fanatic rebel Karram Khan's forces. King was born locally and speaks

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

. As soon as his fellow officers learn that his mother was a native Muslim (which got his parents disowned even by their own families), he encounters prejudiced discrimination, including Lieutenant Geoffrey Heath moving out of their quarters. Brigadier General J. R. Maitland, whose policy is full equality among whites, learns that King knew Karram Khan as a boy and charges him with training and commanding the native cavalry. The general's daughter, Susan Maitland, takes a fancy to Alan, and falls in love, but the general decides to send her home to England after a kidnap attempt which was foiled by King. King volunteers to engage Karram Khan, the only man who can bring the normally divided local tribes together in revolt, pretending to have deserted.

Cast

as Captain Alan King * Terry Moore as Susan Maitland *

Michael Rennie Michael Rennie (born Eric Alexander Rennie; 25 August 1909 – 10 June 1971) was a British film, television and stage actor, who had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films, including his portrayal of the space visitor Klaatu in the s ...

as Brigadier Gen. J. R. Maitland * Murray Matheson as Major Ian MacAllister * Gavin Muir as Major Lee * John Justin as Lieutenant Geoffrey Heath * Richard Wyler as Lieutenant Ben Baird *

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

as Corporal Stuart *

Guy Rolfe Guy Rolfe (born Edwin Arthur Rolfe, 27 December 1911 – 19 October 2003) was a British actor. Career Rolfe was born in Kilburn, London. Before turning to acting at the age of 24 he was a professional boxer and racing driver, making his stage ...

as Karram Kha *

Frank DeKova Frank de Kova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an American character actor in films, stage, and TV. Biography De Kova was born in New York City. He was a teacher at a school in New York before joining a Shakespeare repertory group. He ...

as Ali Nur *

Argentina Brunetti Argentina Brunetti (born Argentina Ferraù; August 31, 1907 – December 20, 2005) was an Argentinian stage and film actress and writer. Biography Brunetti was born Argentina Ferraù in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Italian parents; her moth ...

as Lali * Sujata as Native dancer * Frank Lacteen as Ahmed

Development

Fox announced plans to remake the film in 1938. They were going to make it with Richard Greene or Victor McLaglen, but plans were pushed back because of the start of World War Two. In 1951 the project was reactivated as a vehicle for

Walter Doniger Walter J. Doniger (July 1, 1917, in New York, New York - November 24, 2011, in Los Angeles, California) was an American film and television director. He was a graduate of the Harvard School of Business. Career In the early 1940s, Doniger starte ...

was to write the script and Frank Rosenberg was to produce. By December

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgrou ...

was listed as director. In January 1953 Fox announced the film would be one of a series of "super specials" the studio would make in CinemaScope. In April 1953 Henry King was given the job of directing and Power was confirmed as star. Guy Rolfe signed in June. Filming started 14 July in

Lone Pine, California Lone Pine is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. Lone Pine is located south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of . The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. T ...

. During filming, 22 people were injured when an explosion went off with more force than anticipated.PRISONER FLEES COURT, RECAPTURED: Friend Also Held, Accused of Aiding Escape From Detention Room Los Angeles Times 20 Aug 1953: A14.

References

External links

* * *
Review of film
at Variety * * {{DEFAULTSORT:King Of The Khyber Rifles (Film) 1953 films American historical adventure films 20th Century Fox films 1950s historical adventure films British Empire war films Films set in the British Raj Films directed by Henry King Films scored by Bernard Herrmann Films based on British novels Films set in 1857 Films with screenplays by Harry Kleiner CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films