An absolutely first rate picture - easily one of Shirley Temple's best and it ranks surprisingly high in John Ford's output too, although common critical perception does not seem to treat it so. My own feeling is that having to make a Shirley Temple vehicle helped the director pull back on his indulgences - he was given limitations (all Shirley Temple vehicles had inherent limitations) but rose to them magnificently.
I was surprised how Fordian this was given it starred little Shirley - it's very much also a life-at-an-outpost movie in the vein of Fort Apache, They Were Expendable or She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, with the difference being it's Imperial India 1897, the soldiers are British and the "Indians" are Pathans. There's Victor McLaglen (excellent form) as a sergeant, details of fort life (drills, routine, comic relief, funerals, outbursts of action, ritual, parades, waltzes), the women are part of people's lives, there is much talk of duty.
There are still familiar Shirley Temple elements - she melts hearts of common soldiers, gruff sergeants, natives and crusty superiors, battles snobs, helps matchmake - but it's done incredibly well. Shirley is a very positive role model here - sensible, smart, questioning the bloodthirsty ways of British and Indian, brave, fun, always up for a laugh, keeping things in perspective. She doesn't brook any nonsense from Victor McLaglen or C Aubrey Smith, both of whom adore her and with whom she has great chemistry. There are also some lovely moments with Cesar Romero, as a local chieftan - none of it has the whiff of dodginess that hung over other Shirley films. (Shirley even has her first kind of romance, via a bantering relationship with a cocky drummer boy).
The actors who play Shirley's widowed mother and mother's lover aren't that great, but their scenes are handled well and it's actually a decent sub plot - he romances mum at the dance while there's an attack, and C Aubrey Smith rouses on him about duty. (From what I recall the love interest isn't reall redeemed, either - he's arrested and that's that.)
There is some British Imperial propaganda, but its mostly about keeping the peace, doing duty and encouraging tribespeople to settle down and make money rather than fight, and why can't we talk instead of shoot each other. The ending isn't that realistic, with Shirley brokering a peace treaty, but is enjoyable wish fulfilment and is a lot more positive than many Hollywood movies from this (or any) area.
Superb photography, vigorously shot action, a wonderful death scene from McLaglen, with Shirley unaware he is dying, and a fellow soldier playing the bagpipes (the movie does struggle to recover from this, but the death serves to motivate her action in the third act). Temple regarded this as her best movie and she was probably right.
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