Paper Tiger (1975)

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.

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writer:

Jack Davies

Stars:

David Niven, Toshirô Mifune, Hardy Krüger

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

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)

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.

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Plot Keywords:

tutor | terrorist | japanese | kidnapping | tall tale | 

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Taglines:

They all saw him as a hero ... but could he live up to it?

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tigre de papel

Filming Locations:

Malacca, Malaysia

Company Credits

Production Co:

MacLean and Company, Euan Lloyd Productions, National Philharmonic Orchestra

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Toshirô Mifune is dubbed by David de Keyser

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Goofs

When the Bedford 4-Ton truck is tipped over the cliff, the model that's initially pushed with a digger is the mid 1970's model previously driven into the scene, but the one that tumbles down the hill is a much older (late 1950's/early 1960's) model with different style of cab.

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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.

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Connections

References The Singing Fool (1928)

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Soundtracks

My Little Friend
(closing theme)
Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
Music: Roy Budd
Sung by Ray Conniff Singers

User Reviews

Intriguing, forgotten thriller

PAPER TIGER is an intriguing little comedy thriller with an unusual storyline. The film as a whole has a number of diverse ingredients which gel together quite well and lead up to a satisfying whole. It's entirely forgotten these days, despite the starring roles and the presence of Hollywood director Ken Annakin (SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON), which is a bit of a shame.

David Niven nails his character just right in playing a Walter Mitty type who regales his associates with stories of derring-do in the war (the flashback scenes are very funny). He travels to a made-up Far Eastern country to become English tutor to a Japanese ambassador, and the film chronicles their friendship. Ando, the child actor, stars in his only screen role and is very endearing, but all eyes are on the excellent Toshiro Mifune playing his father. I noted that Mifune nearly got his son kidnapped in Kurosawa's HIGH & LOW, well it really does happen here!

The film has a fairly slow first half although the second half picks up with all manner of terrorist activities and some choppy action. The latter scenes with Niven and Ando are very well handled and the film narrowly avoids being overly sentimental, remaining funny instead. The Malaysian locations standing in for the made-up country are fun and Hardy Kruger is great as a reporter. Overall, PAPER TIGER is a fun, warming little thriller with Niven on top form.