King of the Khyber Rifles *** (1953, Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie) – Classic Movie Review 12,095

The attractive and popular 1953 adventure film King of the Khyber Rifles stars Tyrone Power and Terry Moore. It was one of the first shot in Technicolor and CinemaScope.

Director Henry King’s attractive and popular 1953 20th Century Fox adventure film King of the Khyber Rifles is supposedly based on the novel by Talbot Mundy, but actually has a new story by Harry Kleiner, and stars Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, and Michael Rennie.

As Captain Alan King, Power is on feisty form as the hero of the day, who steps in to save the British forces under attack in 19th-century India.

This old-style adventure yarn presents nothing new, even way back then, but it is lustily entertaining and still quite a lot of high-spirited fun.

It is acted and made with plenty of enthusiasm, the CinemaScope and Technicolor give it a pleasing gloss in Leon Shamroy’s cinematography, and Lyle R Wheeler and Maurice Ransford’s production designs are strong, while Bernard Herrmann’s score is a further ace in the pack.

Terry Moore (born Helen Luella Koford on 7 January 1929) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952). She was still filming at age 90 in 2019.

Elia Kazan cast Moore in the female lead for Man on a Tightrope (1953). Then 20th Century Fox gave her a contract and the female lead in Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953), followed by King of the Khyber Rifles (1953), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Shack Out on 101 (1955), Portrait of Alison (1955), Between Heaven and Hell (1956), Bernardine (1957), Peyton Place (1957), A Private’s Affair (1959) and Cast a Long Shadow (1959).

Also in the cast are Guy Rolfe, John Justin, Richard Wyler, Murray Matheson, Frank DeKova, Argentina Brunetti, Harry Carter, Maurice Colbourne, Ramsay Hill, George Khoury, Frank Lackteen, Alan Lee, Alberto Morin, Gavin Muir, Richard Peel, Joe Sawaya, Gilchrist Stuart, Aly Wassil, Patrick Whyte, Billy Wilkerson, Aram Katcher, Tom Cound, and George Keymas.

It shares little more than its title with Talbot Mundy’s novel King of the Khyber Rifles, which John Ford used as the basis for The Black Watch (1929).

The Khyber Pass scenes were shot in the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California. Filming started there on 14 July 1953, and during filming, 22 people were injured when an explosion went off. It was released on 22 December 1953.

Carry on Up the Khyber spoofs it.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,095

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