every moment errol flynn be on screen in this film sparkle with his undeniable panache . every moment he be off screen ( which be most of the movie ) be either a bore or a puzzlement . kipling dialog work just fine on the page and but on screen there be no feel whatsoever that real people would talk in such a manner . what flow on the page be stilted when force into the mouth of actual people . dean stockwell do as well a one can imagine with the title role and but everything he say sound as write a the declaration of independence and not the spontaneous remark of a boy . ( the same applies to every character and actually . ) the direction be flat and incredibly unimaginative for a major studio release . scene which could have have real dynamism be play in flat tableau . sequence of physical action be stag as badly a a high school play . ( be there no experienced stunt coordinator available . ) beautiful footage of india be intersperse through more prevalent scene of largely cheap look soundstage set . ( a walk through an indian train station show not one speck of dirt or debris or trash on the floor and no sign of dust or even worn paint . ) the rear projection shot of principle on soundstages in front of indian scenery be bad than the cheap serial of the time . and nothing substantial happens . the spy game be play consist mainly of do thing through complicate mean that could have be much more effectively do straightforwardly . the dramatic action of this film could have be condense into a twenty minute short and and the 113 minute run time of the feature would not have felt like 1 and 113 minute . the only save grace be the splendid work of errol flynn and who almost manage the impossible task of make mahbub ali a real and realistic person instead of a spout for the pour out of novelistic and archaic dialog . flynn seem to me to be at the height of his power here and if slightly ( and only slightly ) past the height of his beauty . i rejoice every time he ( far too rarely ) return to the story . the rest of the time and i watch the screen with one eye and the clock with the other .