Reminiscent of the "Bengal Lancer” Film

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 12, 15 January 1936, Page 11

Reminiscent of the "Bengal Lancer” Film

“THE LAST OUTPOST” SHOWS WAR IN ARABIAN DESERT (Regent: Screening Saturday.) Strongly reminiscent in treatment and significance of the sensational “Lives of a Bengal Lancer,” "but with an individual appeal that should, nevertheless, make it as eminently successful as the “Lancer” production is the new Paramount film, “The Last Outpost.” Heading the cast of principals is Claude Rains, appearing in a role quite apart from any he has yet attempted on the screen, with Cary Grant, Gertrude Michael, Kathleen Burke and Colin Tapley. Set against the colourful background of the Eastern Front during the World War, “The Last Outpost” tells a strangely intriguing, authentic story of the relentless warfare that the Truks waged in Kurdistan, in their endeavour to strike at India, the heart of the British Empire. Into this seething field of battle comes Cary Grant, captain of a British armoured car division. Captured by a band of Kurdish cavalry, he is rescued by Claude Rains, a British Intelligence officer who refuses to reveal his identity. The two form a strange friendship and, together, thej save an entire Armenian Balkari village from massacre by the Kurds by taking men, women, children and cattle across a swollen river to the Mesopotamia Mountains, at the same time averting a surprise attack on the British army stationed there. Grant, having suffered an injury to his leg, is sent to the British hospital at Cairo. He falls in love with his nurse, Gertrude Michael, who, confessing her love for him, tells him that the man she married, a Secret Service agent, had not been heard from in three years. At this point Rains returns to claim his wife. Torn between love and duty, Miss Michael bids Grant, who does not know Rains is her husband, one last good-bye. Chance brings the two men face to face, alone in a remote garrison in the interior where the natives plan to ambush the fort by starting a bush fire. The film closes in a dramatic, surprise sequence when the two men flee for their lives before the flames.

Gripping drama, tense climax after climax, thrilling, fast-moving action, romantic interludes following each other in rapid succession in this highpowered photoplay of the love of two men for one woman, complicated by their common mission as soldiers in the

sun-scorched desorts and jungle hells of Arabia, make i ‘The Last Outpost” a noteworthy achievement.