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The Hindoo's Treachery

In this action-packed tale from the days of the Raj, a British colonel’s daughter is abducted by brigands in the “Afridi hills”

War 1910 11 mins Silent

Overview

This short adventure film tells the story of a woman’s kidnapping, and the bravery of British soldiers riding to her rescue. This damsel-in-distress plot is often associated with silent film, although women were often the heroes of action movies in this era. Exoticism is provided by the story’s setting, in the British Raj in India, with extravagantly garbed brigands and “shikari” guides in turbans and blackface makeup. In truth, these scenes were likely shot in the Surrey countryside.

Film company Cricks and Martin was founded in 1908 in Mitcham, Surrey. In 1910, the year this film was made, the firm moved to a larger studio in Croydon. Its founders, George Howard Cricks and John Howard Martin, boasted that their Lion’s Head Brand was a guarantee of films that would be both moral and patriotic: here the British soldiers easily outwit the villainous Indian brigands, for example. Of greater lasting interest is the fact that this film is very smartly shot with clever compositions that maximise the amount of action in each frame.

Director

Dave Aylott

Genres

War

Country

United Kingdom

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles