It's 1885. Colonel Creighton leads a mix of local and British forces in a dangerous time in British India. There are reports of the Russians sending arms into Afghanistan. Kim (Dean Stockwell) is a street kid who is secretly the son of a dead British soldier and works for horse trader Mahbub Ali (Errol Flynn) who is also a secret agent for the British. Kim befriends a Buddhist Lama (Paul Lukas) from Tibet on a mission to find the River of the Arrow.
Based on a Rudyard Kipling story, there is the issue of brown-face. There are a few white actors taking the Asian roles. Errol Flynn could almost pass and quite frankly, he's Errol Flynn. At least, he wasn't too heavy handed with the makeup and played up his red beard. The problem with Paul Lukas is that he looks nothing like a Tibetan. He's an old white guy with blonde hair. I wonder if people at the time would know what a Tibetan looks like. This type of exoticism is a relic of the past. It is still fascinating as a historical artifact.
As a movie, the plot meanders around. There are good elements of an adventure and exotic locations. The exotic elements would have been very appealing to 1950's America. It maintains a certain level of interest but a lot of this is very dated. It's a movie of a certain time.
Based on a Rudyard Kipling story, there is the issue of brown-face. There are a few white actors taking the Asian roles. Errol Flynn could almost pass and quite frankly, he's Errol Flynn. At least, he wasn't too heavy handed with the makeup and played up his red beard. The problem with Paul Lukas is that he looks nothing like a Tibetan. He's an old white guy with blonde hair. I wonder if people at the time would know what a Tibetan looks like. This type of exoticism is a relic of the past. It is still fascinating as a historical artifact.
As a movie, the plot meanders around. There are good elements of an adventure and exotic locations. The exotic elements would have been very appealing to 1950's America. It maintains a certain level of interest but a lot of this is very dated. It's a movie of a certain time.