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)
Kazuhito Andô	...	Koichi (as Ando)
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:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Music recorded at Olympic Studios, London. Engineered by Keith Grant. Produced by Jack Fishman who also supervised the soundtrack album. All music published by Famous Music Corporation.

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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

Referenced in Growing Pains: Paper Tigers (1991)

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Soundtracks

Main Theme
(uncredited)
Music by Roy Budd and Jack Fishman (uncredited)
Sung by the Ray Conniff Singers

User Reviews

Nice family action-adventure film.

David Niven is the epitome of the retired English soldier "Major Bradbury" in this gently comedic thriller. He is hired to tutor the young son of the Japanese Ambassador (Toshirô Mifune) to another, somewhat less democratic nation. When he and the young boy "Koichi" (Ando) are kidnapped and held to ransom by some local freedom fighters, it soon transpires that "Maj. Bradbury" may have been exaggerating his credentials somewhat and Mifune starts to seriously worry for the fate of his child. Luckily the kidnappers are pretty hopeless and our pair manage to escape - though only into the jungle and a chase ensues. It's not a complex story, nor a particularly good one - but David Niven is a class act and with all his engaging and charming bravado, he manages to carry this - alongside a decent performance from the young boy too. I reckon the first five minutes were sponsored by British Airways....

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 November 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paper Tiger

Filming Locations:

Malacca, Malaysia

Company Credits

Production Co:

MacLean and Company, Euan Lloyd Productions, National Philharmonic Orchestra

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1