Yesterday's Enemy (1959)

Cut off by the Japanese advance into Burma, Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) and his exhausted British troops take over an enemy-held jungle village. Despite the protests of an elderly ... See full summary »

Director:

Val Guest

Writer:

Peter R. Newman

Stars:

Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, Leo McKern

Nominated for 4 BAFTA Film Awards.

Cast

Cast overview:
Stanley Baker	...	Captain Langford
Guy Rolfe	...	Padre
Leo McKern	...	Max
Gordon Jackson	...	Sgt. McKenzie
David Oxley	...	Doctor
Richard Pasco	...	2nd Lt. Hastings
Philip Ahn	...	Yamazaki
Bryan Forbes	...	Dawson
Wolfe Morris	...	Informer
David Lodge	...	Perkins
Percy Herbert	...	Wilson
Russell Waters	...	Brigadier
Barry Lowe	...	Turner
Burt Kwouk	...	Japanese Soldier

Storyline

Cut off by the Japanese advance into Burma, Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) and his exhausted British troops take over an enemy-held jungle village. Despite the protests of an elderly padre (Guy Rolfe) and of war correspondent Max Anderson (Leo McKern), Langford orders Sergeant McKenzie (Gordon Jackson) to shoot two innocent villagers, thereby "persuading" a Japanese informer to surrender vital information. When the Japanese recapture the village, their commander uses Langford's own desperate war-born tactics in a similar effort to extract information from the British.

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Taglines:

The Most Controversial War Drama Ever Filmed!

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Genres:

War | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Burmese

Release Date:

11 July 1959 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Feinde von gestern

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed entirely in the studio over the period of five weeks.

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Goofs

One of the Japanese soldiers is armed with a German MP38/40 machine pistol. Only the Bulgarians and the Germans used the MP38/40.

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Connections

Referenced in Looking for Peter (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Burma March"
(uncredited)
Composed by Franz Reizenstein

User Reviews

Why it is a secret

There is a reason why this powerful film has been so hard to see. It is now part of the fast fading truth that the Japanese were implacable, cruel and sadistic enemies. Rather than acknowledge just how horrible the behavior meted out by the Japanese war machine -- which absolutely included the enthusiastic support of most of the civilian population and a healthy percentage of Japanese residents of the US (and US born citizens of Japanese descent), we would rather moan about the use of the atomic bomb to end the war and avoid the monstrous casualties that would have resulted from an invasion of the home islands. What we expected, absent the use of BOTH bombs is very clear. Every purple heart issued since the end of WWII was created in anticipation of US casualties to be suffered to subdue the Japanese, based on their conduct of the war in China, in the Pacific and wherever they could impose their cruelty. Try looking up vivisection and US POWs Japan. This film tells more than our post-modern sensitivities can bear when it is so much easier to beat up on ourselves. By the way, we also saved countless Japanese and the one politician who recently admitted it publicly was hounded out of office. This film should be made available to anyone and everyone who doubts the reality of the war as it was rather than as our media prefers to pretend it was. Teahouses and mincing maidens my ...