Jungle Fighters (1961)
"The Long and the Short and the Tall" (original title)

A troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises in the jungle so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to ... See full summary »

Director:

Leslie Norman

Writers:

Willis Hall (play), Wolf Mankowitz (screenplay),

Stars:

Laurence Harvey, Richard Todd, Richard Harris

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Laurence Harvey	...	Pvt. 'Bammo' Bamforth
Richard Todd	...	Sgt. 'Mitch' Mitchem
Richard Harris	...	Cpl. Johnstone
David McCallum	...	Pvt. Sammy Whitaker
Ronald Fraser	...	LCpl. 'Mac' Macleish
John Meillon	...	Pvt. 'Smudger' Smith
John Rees	...	Pvt. Evans
Kenji Takaki	...	Tojo

Storyline

A troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises in the jungle so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to their whereabouts. As they progress to what they think is closer to the base camp they find themselves farther and farther from radio range until the only channel they can get clearly is that of a Japanese broadcast. They now realize they are probably only 10 to 15 miles from a Japanese camp! The tension is added to by rowdy and openly admitted "non-hero" Private Bamforth who has nothing good to say about anyone and especially Corporal Johnstone (who holds an equal dislike for Bamforth). When a Japanese soldier is taken as their prisoner, the true colors of each man comes to the surface ...

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Plot Keywords:

world war two | prisoner of war | independent film | based on play

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Genres:

War | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

8 September 1961 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Jungle Fighters

Filming Locations:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael Balcon Productions, Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Caine was Peter O'Toole's understudy in the London stage production.

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Goofs

In the hut the soldiers' clothes become dry very quickly. Even when Laurence Harvey is wringing his shirt to get the water out, the rest of his clothes are dry. In the jungle during the rainy season, clothes would take hours if not days to dry out.

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Soundtracks

"Bless 'Em All"
(uncredited)
Written by Fred Godfrey, Jimmy Hughes and Frank Lake
Performed by the cast

User Reviews

"Harvey Miscast"

A great film which I had not watched for twenty years or so.But what really struck me was Lawrence Harvey's terrible accent.What was it supposed to be? I think it was on a par with Dick Van Dyke's in Mary Poppins.Some actors can move effortlessly between upper class and working class and be totally believable but in this case it almost ruined the film for me.It was a little "stagey" I agree and I think it could have been much better if the actors had swapped their parts around in a couple of cases.I would like to see a new version put onto film with a really good cast of contemporary actors and maybe shot on location.