The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHenry Hathaway
Screenplay byWilliam Slavens McNutt
Grover Jones
Waldemar Young
John L. Balderston
Achmed Abdullah
Laurence Stallings (offscreen credit)[1]
Based onThe Lives of a Bengal Lancer
1930 novel
by Francis Yeats-Brown
Produced byLouis D. Lighton
StarringGary Cooper
Franchot Tone
Richard Cromwell
Guy Standing
CinematographyCharles Lang
Edited byEllsworth Hoagland
Music byHerman Hand
John Leipold
Milan Roder
Heinz Roemheld
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • January 11, 1935 (1935-01-11) (United States)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.5 million (worldwide rentals)[2]

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a 1935 American adventure film starring Gary Cooper, directed by Henry Hathaway, and written by Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt, Waldemar Young, John L. Balderston, and Achmed Abdullah. The setting and title come from the 1930 autobiography of the British soldier Francis Yeats-Brown.

The story, which has little in common with Yeats-Brown’s book, tells of a group of British cavalrymen and high-ranking officers desperately trying to defend their stronghold and headquarters at Bengal against the rebellious natives during the days of the British Raj. Cooper plays Lieutenant Alan McGregor, Franchot Tone, Lieutenant John Forsythe, Richard Cromwell, Lieutenant Donald Stone, Guy Standing, Colonel Tom Stone, and Douglass Dumbrille plays the rebel leader Mohammed Khan, who speaks the now often-misquoted line "We have ways to make men talk."[3][4][5]

The film was produced and released by Paramount Pictures. Planning began in 1931, and Paramount had expected the film to be released that same year. However, most of the location footage deteriorated due to the high temperatures, and the project was delayed. It was eventually released in the US in 1935.

It met with positive reviews and good box office results, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning Assistant Director, with other nominations including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. The film grossed $1.5 million in worldwide theatrical rentals.[2]

  1. ^ "AFI|Catalog".
  2. ^ a b Welky 2008, pp. 88–89.
  3. ^ Deis, Robert (January 11, 2015). "The Origin of the Movie Cliché 'We Have Ways of Making You Talk!'". This Day in Quotes. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Knowles 1999, p. 196.
  5. ^ "Top 15 Film Misquotes" (October 18, 2007). Listverse. Retrieved July 13, 2015.