The Lives of a Bengal Lancer

1935 • 109 minutes
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About this movie

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 reads the now often-misquoted line "We have ways to make men talk."
The film was produced by 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.