Simply A Masterpiece

Overrated and overhyped

Excellent adaptation.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Another B movie that explain a hundred years of British occupation in India,l like this genre of movie,they are cheap entertainment but have a charming of those glorious days in 50',almost done in studios with fine sets gave us a good feeling of nostalgia.Arlene Dahl was so gorgeous,but Hudson didn't like to kiss,sorry for him missing a good opportunite to take in arms such beauty girl!! Fine casting with Arnold Moss,Michael Ansara,Torin Tatcher and the exotic beauty of Ursula Thiess,as a friend mine said,how more B,more better it is!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.5

Coming out a year after 20th Century Fox's King Of The Khyber Rifles, Bengal Brigade from Universal covered a whole lot of the same ground, but not as well. Bengal Brigade is a story of the Sepoy Rebellion in India during the 19th Century or at least a small portion of it seen from Rock Hudson's corner of India.When we meet Hudson he disobeys orders and leads a troop of men to rescue his own former company that was trapped and being cut to pieces by rebels. For that he gets a court martial and he resigns. That also has the effect of breaking his engagement to Arlene Dahl the daughter of his commander Torin Thatcher. Another officer Dan O'Herlihy who lied about some key points at Hudson's court martial is looking to catch Dahl on the rebound.After leaving the army Hudson starts hearing bits and pieces about a mutiny among the native Sepoy troops. But it comes fast and furious and Hudson along with the rest of the British are soon fighting for their lives.I don't think Bengal Brigade would do too well if it were shown in India today. The Sepoy Rebellion in their history goes down as the first strike for independence from the British Raj. The troops led by Michael Ansara who stay loyal to Hudson because of his identification with them would be regarded in American terms as Uncle Toms today.Ursula Thiess plays a strange role as a Hindu dancer who's got a big old crush on Hudson. It's her reason for betraying her own people and aiding him and the British.King Of The Khyber Rifles was a far better film than Bengal Brigade.

The fifties was undeniably the golden age of Hollywood. Not only are the fifties unsurpassed in cinematic splendor, it is also a decade that would unsurpassed in three dimensional characters for four decades.This is cinematic splendor and old fashioned British pride. What's important to note is that the "British pride" is not the Hollywood establishment that liars make it out to be.Take this film, for instance. It is a lavish portrayal of British officers decked out without a taint, in colonial India, "helping" the poor people against oppressive native leaders.And this isn't as far from the truth as the hypocrites of the next four decades would have you believe. The white man has always been the "bad guy" in Hollywood movies. The exceptions, even before 1960, still amount to less than 5%.Except for the horrendous "Arrowhead", almost every Western ever made depicts the native Americans as mostly people who try to get along, who have dignity, and the truly evil people are unscrupulous white men.Here, we have as even a number as one can find. The women are all honorable. About one third of the British are bad apples, about one third of the Indians. One third of the British are heroic, and so are one third of the Indians.All this said, it is humorous to see the British splendor, and you almost expect Monty Python to show Rock Hudson needing to use a latrine. The uppity up British are just so impeccable.They do have character, though. More on the level of two dimension than one or three. This has a big budget look, and is very escapist, no matter what nationality you are.

The most surprising thing about this movie is that it was directed by Laslo Benedek ,a man associated with the more serious end of the movie market -as per Death of a Salesman and the Brando vehicle The Wild One .It is set in the year 1856 in British India ,more specifically on the North West Frontier .Rock Hudson is improbably cast as a British army Captain who is tried ,convicted and forced to resign his commission for disobeying the orders of a senior officer even though by doing so he was responsible for the capture of a key rebel stronghold .He becomes a big game hunter but continues to be devoted to the British cause and infiltrates a group of rebels plotting to overthrow the Raj .In between all these distractions he manages to make time to woo Vivian Morrow(Arlene Dahl)the daughter of the regimental commander Colonel Morrow (Tobin Thatcher) Hudson is miscast but battles valiantly with the role ,Dahl is merely decorative as is Ursula Thiess . The best performances -mostly because they are better cast-are given by Thatcher and Dan O'Herlihy as British soldiersThis is a good co-feature movie and will be enjoyed by lovers of the old style "ripping yarn