Kim (1950)

OK, so perhaps Errol Flynn has gone to seed a little, but he still oozes charm and charisma as the rakish "Mahbub Ali" in this tale of Empire and intrigue. A young street-wise orphan "Kim" (Dean Stockwell) befriends the travelling lama Paul Lukas and using his wits and guile manages to find food - and spectacles - for his ageing mentor. Whilst travelling to find the old man's sacred river he is apprehended by the military who discover he is really an army brat and so is to be sent to a posh school into which he does not fit readily. His cleverness, mischief and repeated attempts to escape attract the attention of the spymasters and soon his adventures really begin as he joins the perilous effort to thwart Russian Imperial ambitions in British Imperial India. This is a great, fun, action adventure based on a super boys-own story from Rudyard Kipling. The colour is the stuff you could bathe in; the pace well directed by Victor Saville and all-in-all, it has well stood the 70 years since it was made.