Yesterday's Enemy (1959)

In World War II, during the Japanese invasion of Burma, the lost remnant of a British Army Brigade HQ, led by the ruthless Captain Alan Langford, escapes through the jungle toward the British lines.

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 (as Wolf Morris)
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 (I)') 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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Plot Keywords:

ethics | morals | ethics of war | major | machine gun | 

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Taglines:

War Is Hell!

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Val Guest recruited numerous waiters from Chinese restaurants to double as Japanese soldiers, and also had to relay his instructions to them via an interpreter.

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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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Quotes

Captain Langford: He knew there's only one way to fight a war, any war. With your gloves off.

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Crazy Credits

There is no 'The End' at the end of the film. The camera merely pans away from a memorial which reads 'WHEN YOU GO HOME TELL THEM OF US AND SAY- FOR THEIR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY'; and silence, but with just birds singing.

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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

A very very good movie

War for all those that do not glorify it is true hell. This movie is a document to the above statement; it feels like you are watching a play in a jungle the acting is superb the story tackles moral questions that nowadays dont seem to concern anybodyth about the hypocrisy and the utter futility of war, the fact that the action scenes are very old fashioned makes no difference to the superior quality of this production a must see for all those that want a first hand view into this hypocrisy and futility

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Burmese Japanese

Release Date:

11 July 1959 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Yesterday's Enemy

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1