The Blessings of the British Empire
Sanders is a British officer who has picked up the white man's burden and made Nigeria a better place for the Africans who populate it. We know they are happy, because they are always singing. The British do not sing, however, because running an empire is serious business. There seems to be a cult of personality, however, since the place falls apart as soon as Sanders goes on vacation. As word spreads that he is dead, we see animals running about, so apparently even they are upset. War breaks out, and Sanders has to return. While he was gone, a couple of smugglers had been selling gin and rifles to the natives, which is against the law. But the rifles don't seem to do the natives any good, because they continue to use spears. As the boat Sanders is on races to save Bosambo, a good African chieftain who loves being ruled by Sanders and the British Empire, an officer commands an African worker who is operating the boiler to put more wood on the fire for more speed. The African replies that the boiler will blow. But the stiff upper lip of the British officer is not cowed by mere physics, and he contemptuously dismisses the warning. The boiler backs down and humbly submits to British authority, just like everything else.score 6/10
disinterested_spectator 22 November 2014
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3129066/35357
Pages:
[1]