A somewhat prim and proper Englishman is hired as the tutor to the son of the Japanese ambassador. His life changes when he and the boy are kidnapped by terrorists for political purposes.
From his roles in Just Mercy to Straight Outta Compton, O'Shea Jackson Jr. knows a thing or two about great biopics.
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Title: Paper Tiger (1975)
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1
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| David Niven | ... | 'Major' Bradbury | |
| Toshirô Mifune | ... | The Ambassador (as Toshiro Mifune) | |
| Hardy Krüger | ... | Muller (as Hardy Kruger) | |
 |
Ando | ... | Koichi |
| Irene Tsu | ... | Talah | |
| Ivan Desny | ... | Foreign Minister | |
| Miiko Taka | ... | Madame Kagoyama | |
| Jeff Corey | ... | Mr. King | |
| Patricia Donahue | ... | Mrs. King | |
| Ronald Fraser | ... | Sergeant Forster | |
|
|
Jeannine Siniscal | ... | Foreign Minister's Girl |
| Kurt Christian | ... | Harok | |
|
|
Mika Kitagawa | ... | Ambassador's Secretary |
|
|
Eric Soh | ... | Pathet |
|
|
Salleh Ben Joned | ... | Sokono (as Salleh Joned) |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
A somewhat prim and proper Englishman is hired as the tutor to the son of the Japanese ambassador. His life changes when he and the boy are kidnapped by terrorists for political purposes.
Taglines:
They all saw him as a hero ... but could he live up to it?Parents Guide:
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
5 November 1975 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Paper Tiger See more »Company Credits
Production Co:
MacLean and Company, Euan Lloyd Productions, National Philharmonic Orchestra See more »
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Edit
The events in which they become involved are, unhappily, happening almost daily in some part of the world.
It must therefore be emphasised that all the characters are fictitious, as is the country in which the story takes place.
KULAGONG is somewhere in South East Asia. See more »
(uncredited)
Music by Roy Budd and Jack Fishman (uncredited)
Sung by the Ray Conniff Singers
See more »
Did You Know?
Goofs
When the truck is seen tumbling down the cliff you can see there is nothing underneath the hood (or bonnet) where the engine should be. See more »Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: This is the story of a man and a boy.The events in which they become involved are, unhappily, happening almost daily in some part of the world.
It must therefore be emphasised that all the characters are fictitious, as is the country in which the story takes place.
KULAGONG is somewhere in South East Asia. See more »
Soundtracks
Main Theme(uncredited)
Music by Roy Budd and Jack Fishman (uncredited)
Sung by the Ray Conniff Singers
See more »
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David Niven of course reached the high point of his career with his Best Actor Oscar for Separate Tables, where he played a blowhard "major' who was a permanent guest at Wendy Hiller's establishment. 18 years later he kind of revives that character when he takes a job as a tutor for Toshiro Mifune's little boy Ando in Paper Tiger.
Like in Separate Tables Niven puts on a great front about his great war exploits which is all a front to hide a deeply flawed man. Here he's doing the same thing for Ando. Mifune is the Japanese ambassador to some Asian island country, not named but I'm guessing Sri Lanka because there is a reference to a Tamil minority that is a rebel faction.
Anyway these rebels or at least this cell of them led by Irene Tsu decide to kidnap the Japanese Ambassador's son to call attention to their prisoners. As we've seen many times, mostly in the Middle East, they'll kill the kid and Niven who was with him at the time unless their comrades are released from prison.
Niven who also appropriates the rank of major in this film as well is actually forced to become the hero he's told Ando he was. He never got that chance in Separate Tables.
I think this might have been aimed at the kiddie market, but it's way too bloody and violent for that. Niven already did that with Please Don't Eat The Daisies and he would do a couple of films for Disney Studios which were certainly better suited than Paper Tiger.
Still it's decently entertaining, but not for the little ones.