The Long and the Short and the Tall

The Long and the Short and the Tall

110 mins | Drama, War | Feb. 28, 1961

Based on a play by Willis Hall. A troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises in the jungle so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to their whereabouts. As they progress to what they think is closer to the base camp they find themselves farther and farther from radio range until the only channel they can get clearly is that of a Japanese broadcast. They now realize they are probably only 10 to 15 miles from a Japanese camp! The tension is added to by rowdy and openly admitted "non-hero" Private Bamforth who has nothing good to say about anyone and especially Corporal Johnstone (who holds an equal dislike for Bamforth). When a Japanese soldier is taken as their prisoner, the true colours of each man comes to the surface

The Long and the Short and the Tall

110 mins | Drama, War | Feb. 28, 1961

The Long and the Short and the Tall
Based on a play by Willis Hall. A troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises in the jungle so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to their whereabouts. As they progress to what they think is closer to the base camp they find themselves farther and farther from radio range until the only channel they can get clearly is that of a Japanese broadcast. They now realize they are probably only 10 to 15 miles from a Japanese camp! The tension is added to by rowdy and openly admitted "non-hero" Private Bamforth who has nothing good to say about anyone and especially Corporal Johnstone (who holds an equal dislike for Bamforth). When a Japanese soldier is taken as their prisoner, the true colours of each man comes to the surface
IMDb rating 6.7
Producers Michael Balcon Productions
Original title The Long and the Short and the Tall
Directors Leslie Norman
Writers Willis Hall, Wolf Mankowitz

Cast

Laurence Harvey

as Pvt. 'Bammo' Bamforth

Richard Todd

as Sgt. 'Mitch' Mitchem

Richard Harris

as Cpl. Johnstone

David McCallum

as Pvt. Sammy Whitaker

Ronald Fraser

as L / Cpl. Macleish

John Meillon

as Pte. Smith

John Rees

as Pte. Evans

Kenji Takaki

as Tojo