Watch Kim
- Approved
- 1951
- 1 hr 53 min
-
6.5 (2,241)
Set in colonial India during the late 19th century, the 1950 movie Kim tells the story of an orphan boy, Kimball O'Hara, who becomes unwittingly embroiled in the espionage world of the British Empire. The movie opens with a young Kim (played by Dean Stockwell) making his living on the streets of Lahore, where he picks pockets and runs errands for the locals. Along the way, he befriends an elderly Tibetan lama (played by Paul Lukas), who is on a quest to find the "River of the Arrow" â a mythical place that is said to bring enlightenment to those who find it.
As Kim and the lama journey across the country, they encounter a variety of people â some friendly, others not so much. One of these people is a British army officer named Colonel Creighton (played by Errol Flynn) who takes an interest in Kim's street smarts and begins to use him as a spy.
Colonel Creighton's boss, a man named Hurree Chunder Mookerjee, wants to use Kim to spy on the Russian intelligence service, which is seeking to destabilize the British Empire. Kim agrees to help the British, but he does so reluctantly â he is torn between his loyalty to his new friends and his desire to do right by the British Empire.
As the story progresses, Kim finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations. He becomes involved in a plot to steal secret plans from the Russian intelligence service, and he is tasked with delivering an important message to a British officer who is stationed in another part of the country.
Along the way, Kim learns about the complexities of the world he lives in â he sees the desperation of the poor, the cruelty of the powerful, and the futility of war. He also comes to appreciate the companionship of the lama, who becomes a surrogate father figure to him.
The movie is notable for its stunning cinematography, which showcases the beauty of India's landscape and its diverse cultures. The performances of the three lead actors â Flynn, Stockwell, and Lukas â are also excellent. Flynn is particularly effective as the charismatic but morally ambiguous Colonel Creighton, who sees Kim as a pawn in his game of espionage.
At its heart, Kim is a coming-of-age story that explores themes of loyalty, identity, and cultural difference. It is a beautiful and thought-provoking adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic novel.
Kim is a 1951 classic with a runtime of 1 hour and 53 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.5.