King Rat (1965)

Director:

Bryan Forbes

Writers:

James Clavell (novel)
Bryan Forbes (written for the screen by)

Release Date:

27 October 1965 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

He entered WWII a soldier... and left a King.

Plot:

The Japanese prisoner-of-war camp Changi in Singapore, which houses Allied POWs, is a living hell. The...

Plot Keywords:

Prisoner Of War | Singapore | WWII | Deep Focus | Japan

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

George Segal	...	Corporal King: The American Hut
Tom Courtenay	...	Lt. Robin Grey: The Provost Staff
James Fox	...	Peter Marlowe: Hut 16
Patrick O'Neal	...	Top Sgt. Max: The American Hut
Denholm Elliott	...	Lt. G.D. Larkin: Hut 16
James Donald	...	Dr. Kennedy: The Hospital Staff
Todd Armstrong	...	Tex: The American Hut
John Mills	...	Col. George Smedley-Taylor: The Senior Officers
Gerald Sim	...	Lt. Col. Jones: The Senior Officers
Leonard Rossiter	...	Maj. McCoy: Hut 16
John Standing	...	Capt. Daven: Hut 16
Alan Webb	...	Col. Brant: The Senior Officers
John Ronane	...	Capt. Hawkins: Hut 16
Sammy Reese	...	Kurt: The American Hut
Michael Lees	...	Stevens: The Hospital Staff

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #20928) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Company:

Coleytown

Trivia:

Both Paul Newman and Steve McQueen were offered the chance to star in the film. They both turned it down and the role went to George Segal.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: After Maj. McCoy and the others have been arrested for possessing a radio, and Col. Smedley-Taylor is waiting outside for news, the shadow of the boom mic being lowered is cast over the actors in the background.

Quotes:

Lt. Robin Grey: Why do you think it is, Corporal, that you have so much and the rest of us so little? One day, Corporal, you're going to make a slip. All this wealth you've got isn't going to check against my list. And when you do; when that happens... I'll be ready. And you'll be in there...
[points to the bamboo cage]
Lt. Robin Grey: in my cage. I'm not playing at being provost marshall, you know. And I've never yet heard of a run of luck that didn't run out. And yours will - depend on it - because you're like all criminals: you're greedy.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Walk on the Moon (1999)

Clavell's most researched work

I saw "King Rat" on television shortly before going to Vietnam. A few months later I was reading the James Clavell novel while serving on DaNang Air Base with air force communications intelligence. It struck me that this book and this movie, which was "researched" by James Clavell when he was a POW in a camp near Singapore during World War II, have the real feel of what it is to be surrounded by enemy forces one almost never sees while being kept isolated on a hot, humid, dusty encampment It's an environment that brings out the best and the worst in mankind. The novel, the movie, and my own war zone experience also point out that adapting to a war zone and mastering the skills that enable one to survive and even prosper there do not necessarily mean that the individual will subsequently be adaptable to "civilization" when he returns to it. The novel, the movie, and my own experiences also raise the questions that are raised in "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" (and even in "Rambo" for that matter): Which is more of a challenge and which is the "real" life: adapting to the war zone as a youth or the expectations by "civilization" that you readjust to life back in "the world" as if nothing had happened?