Customer Reviews

Never So Few

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Spectacular cinematography and a strong cast make this a film worth watching, despite a script that is sometimes stilted. Sinatra as always fills the screen with his presence, and he is backed by one of my favorite British actors, Richard Johnson, and stealing every scene that he's in is Steve McQueen, in one of his early post-"The Blob" roles. Also excellent is Brian Donleavy, and another early appearance of a future star, Charles Bronson,
There is a big romance, and here is where the film lags. The bathtub scene should have been left on the cutting room floor, and a few others trimmed. Gina Lollobrigida however is exquisitely beautiful in the thankless role of a woman living with an older, wealthy man (Paul Henreid), until Sinatra saunters into her life. Others in the cast include Peter Lawford, Dean Jones, and if you don't blink, you'll see the future Star Trek Captain Sulu, George Takei, complaining about his hospital food.

The WWII plot is about jungle combat with the Kachin native troops in Burma, with both the Japanese and Chinese as the enemy. Captain Reynolds (Sinatra) and his men are outnumbered, and break rules for the sake of survival. Reynolds is unconventional, sometimes brutal when necessary, and smart; it's a great part for Sinatra, and he makes the most of it.
There are wonderful vistas, filmed by William Daniels (the cinematographer for many Sinatra films), and the screenplay by Tom Chamales was based on his novel. The direction by John Sturges is good in the action sequences, and Sturges was so impressed with McQueen's work, that he cast him in his next film, "The Magnificent Seven," and two years later in "The Great Escape." Total running time is 125 minutes.

In 1959,no one heard of Vietnam or the struggles with the Indo-China question,or at least the American public did not know much about the Far East and its complicated politics. The Excellent "Never So Few" really comes out of nowhere to become a topnotch war film and predicts the Vietnam War in some of its implications.The director John Sturges has always been a great action director, for this is the director that gave us the wonderful classic, "The Great Escape," among many very good action films and the action sequences in this movie are vibrant, real, and startling. The cast is excellent. Frank Sinatra has never been better save "The Manchurian Candidate," probably his best role and of course Maggio in "From Here to Eternity," which he won an Academy Award for.He is totally convincing here as the guerilla officer leader of the native forces in Burma with some "advisors" and the similarities are many to Vietnam, when the sides blurr and decisions are made out of necessities over military orders.Other standouts in the cast went on to become superstars. Steve McQueen steals many scenes he is in and gives portents of stardom to come. John Sturges uses him beautifully here and of course again in "The Great Escape." Others include Charles Bronson before he got the Death Wish, Dean Jones, Richard Johnson( One of Kim Novak's husbands for a short time but here and excellent actor), and Gina Lollobrigida, who brings the action to a stop and the romantic scenes don't ring as true as the rest of the film. But overall, "Never So Few" is an action film that holds up fairly well, telegraphs future movie stars, and has an epic stature it really earns. Sturges was one of our best action directors and "Never So Few" is one of his better efforts. Re-dicover it. A great movie of action and substance.

Captains Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) and Danny DeMortimer (Richard Johnson) are fighting the Japanese in Burma during World War II. Ordered to take a "holiday" to Calcutta to find a doctor and get medical supplies for their group of guerrillas, they find Dr. Grey Travis (Peter Lawford) and a driver named Bill Ringa (Steve McQueen). But the two officers also meet war profiteer Nikko Regas (Paul Henried) and his mistress, Carla Vesari (Gina Lollobrigida). Although she is not responsive to Reynold's initial overtures, when she warms up to the captain when he is in the hospital after being wounded. When Reynolds returns to the field he has to put up with not only the Japanese, but a Chinese warlord who is stealing American supplies to sell to the Japanese. The main problem with "Never So Few" is the romance between Sinatra and Lollobrigida, which gets in the way of what is a more than decent story of O.S.S. operatives in the Burma theater. I know this is sacrilegious, but every time Gina came on screen, I went to make popcorn or get something to drink. There is really no chemistry between the two. Only when Sinatra is with his troops out in the jungle is "Never So Few" on the right track. This 1959 film, directed by John Sturges (who later directed McQueen in "The Great Escape"), is based on the novel by Tom T. Chamales.

Never So Few is an excellent WWII adventure that deals with a part of the war that very few other movies even go near. Captain Tom Reynolds is the leader of a force of Americans and Kachins, Burmese natives, who wreak havoc on Japanese forces in the Burmese jungle in whichever way they can. During an ordered vacation, Reynolds falls in love as well as picking up a doctor, a driver, and much needed medical supplies. This is a very good movie that suffers because of an unneccesary love story. I know this part was inserted to draw people in, but the movie is much better when it deals with Reynolds and his Kachin unit. The action scenes are very well done at the beginning and the end while most of the middle portion is occupied by the relationship between Reynolds and Carla. Even with the love story, this is still a very enjoyable film.

Never So Few boasts an impressive cast that works well together. Frank Sinatra in the role of Capt. Tom Reynolds is very good as the leader of the Americans and Kachins harassing the Japanese. Gina Lollobrigida is decent as Carla, but as I said I think the love story was not needed. Reynolds' men include Richard Johnson as right-hand man Lt. Demortimer, Steve McQueen in an excellent supporting role as Cpl. Bill Ringa, Peter Lawford as doctor Captain Travis, Dean Jones as radioman Sergeant Norby, Charles Bronson as Navajo Indian Sergeant Danforth, and Philip Ahn as Nautang, the leader of the Kachins. The film also stars Brian Donlevy in a great supporting role, Paul Henreid, and Robert Bray. The recently released DVD includes a great-looking widescreen presentation, a theatrical trailer, and a trailer for the Season 1 DVD of Wanted: Dead or Alive, McQueen's western tv show. Love story aside, if you like Sinatra and WWII action movies then you'll love Never So Few.

It never fails to amuse me why someone talks the producer into making war movies into romances. The vast majority that have romance in them have done poorly. In fact "From Here To Eternity", "Casablanca", and "To Have and Have Not" are the only ones I recall that did not fail. I say the producer because they pay the bills so everyone else just listens to what they want. I didn't read the book so I suppose the writer may have put it in the book. Whatever the case it should have been cut from the movie. This movie along with many others would have been stand out movies if not for romance with poor acting females. Perhaps that is why the term bombshell was used. Because they made the movie bomb. The movie is still worth seeing, just get yourself a snack during romance scenes or fast forward.

"Never So Few" is a film with kind of a split personality. When it concerns itself with battle sequences and the waging of the war it is interesting. Unfortunately, the film devotes too much time to a romantic subplot involving star Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida that is not only a distraction but goes nowhere. Lollobrigida is a stunner, but let's face it, her acting ability is the consistency of wood. What redeems the film is the main story involving the soldiers who fought on the Burmese front. The film also poses the question as to the nature of honor in the time of conflict. Is it more honorable to follow the book or when you take the law in your own hands when it is morally justified? Sinatra is solid as maverick Captain Tom Reynolds. Steve McQueen, in his first major motion picture(well, maybe "The Blob"), nearly steals the show as streetwise Cpl. Bill Ringa. Good supporting turns are on display here by Richard Johnson as Reynold's British subordinate, Charles Bronson as a Navajo code talker, and old hand Brian Donlevy as the General.

This is much more than a war movie. Made years before Viet Nam became a quagmire, it examines how politics plays a dirty hand in war. When Sinatra & Co. fight the "wrong" bad guys it leads to a confrontation with the brass that is so topical it should be required viewing for any politician considering sending our troops into conflict. On another level it entertains as a great action movie and the romance between Sinatra and Lollabrigida really rocks. This movie also has one of the deepest casts of sixties star power ever assembled. Check it out!

1959 WWII movie. Steve McQueen's first big-budget film. An MGM film. War in Burma, and something of a love-story during war-time. Also known as "Campaign Burma."

DVD Features: The DVD is very basic, containing just the film (can be heard in English or French, or read in English, French or Spanish), a film trailer (makes a big point of Sinatra and Lollobrigida meeting for the first time on film), and a "Wanted: Dead or Alive Season One" trailer (a Steve McQueen starring Western TV series, with McQueen a bounty hunter).

Credits: The stars are Frank Sinatra (Capt. Tom Reynolds; "From Here to Eternity"), and Gina Lollobrigida (Carla Vesari; her first Hollywood film; "Miss Italia"). The co-stars are Peter Lawford (Capt. Grey Travis; "Rosebud"), Steve McQueen (Corporal Bill Ringa; "The Thomas Crown Affair"), Richard Johnson (Capt. Danny DeMortimer; "Khartoum"), Paul Henreid (Nikko Regas; "Casablanca"), Brian Donlevy (Gen. Sloan; "The Virginian"), Dean Jones (Sgt. Jim Norby; "The Love Bug"), Philip Ahn (Nautaung; TV: "Kung Fu"), Robert Bray (Col. Fred Parkson; TV: "Lassie"), and Charles Bronson (Sgt. John Danforth - a racist American Navajo; "Death Wish"). The Director is John Sturges ("The Great Escape"), and the writer is Millard Kaufman ("The Klansman") based on the book by Tom T. Chamales ("Go Naked in the World").

Plot: Captain Tom Reynolds leads a group of O.S.S. combatants and native fighters in WWII Burma (and spends two weeks on holiday). As the opening writing notes: "less than a 1000 Kachin warriors, fighting under American and British leadership . . . held back 40,000 Japanese" in Northern Burma. Meanwhile, US ally China has issued its warlord's with warrants that, in effect, allow them to attack US troops. This creates an international incident.

Review: The movie opens with the credits, and shows a long line of soldiers walking through a river, with good music by Hugo Friedhofer in the background. Then impressive air shots of an Asian landscape (the film locations, apparently, were Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand). The movie starts off slowly, before some Japanese attack the Allies camp. Then Capt. Reynolds returns to a city to search for a doctor, morphine, and the movie slows again.

Captain Reynolds, sporting odd chin hair, is a hard man that cares about his troops and doesn't want them to suffer (and has been a soldier for three years). I believe that Capt. DeMortimer is British co-leader of the Reynolds group (and he has cerebral malaria). Captain Travis is a doctor that treats DeMortimer while the Capt. is on vacation, and ends up rounded up by Reynolds to be his group's doctor. Col. Bray is Reynolds direct commander. Sgt. Danforth dislikes having to work with the native Kachins and has some personality issues with Sgt. Norby (who he calls "rich boy"; Danforth is also the "native-talker" the one who knows the special code). Norby is the radio man and wears glasses (vaguely Radar-like, of M*A*S*H). Corporal Ringa is a young looking corporal that is the driver for Col. Parkson at the beginning of the movie (until Reynolds requests him), and a man that knows how to handle nosy MPs. Nikko Regas is the old man Carla Vesari is attached to at the beginning of the movie, and is a business man, believed to be into the opium trade. Vesari is the "love interest" for Sinatra/Reynolds in the movie, and a woman that does not mind bathing in front of a man she is not involved with (Vesari doesn't want anything to do with Reynolds until he forces himself onto her; of course she wants him after that; Reynolds is very aggressive in pressing the relationship). A bit player looks like Sulu from Star Trek (George Takei's work went uncredited).

An interesting look into a part of the war that I've been less aware. I could have lived without the whole Carla Vesari-Captain Reynolds affair, though I suppose that was supposed to humanize Reynolds. For the most part, the acting, plot, scenery, everything seems to be solid, but there's just some vital spark that is missing in this film. For the most of the movie, there's little tension, and the relationship between Carla and Reynolds just seems forced. A certain amount of interest and tension picks up when they decide to chase some renegade Chinese into China, but it takes a long time for this particular part of the movie to come about. Overall, I would not recommend this movie unless you particularly like one or more of the actors, or really want to see all of McQueen's films (McQueen is particularly good in the movie in his small role). Despite that statement, I would give the movie 3.96 stars.

A good shoot-em-up loosely based on the exploits of OSS Detachment 101 who organized the Kachin Tribesmen in Burma to fight the Japanese in WW2. Not an Academy Award winner but a good story and plot with Gina along to provide a distraction. Steve McQueen is good in his role as a young "hot-shot" and Sinatra does OK as the "leader" of the group. Good action/war movie. Worth buying.

This review is for the 2005 Warner Brothers DVD.

Frank Sinatra stars as Tom Reynolds, an American Army Captain who leads a group of allied forces combined with the native tribesmen in Burma to fight the Japanese in WWII. The movie is mix of war situations in the Burmese jungles coupled with a romance involving a foreign woman (Gina Lollobrigida) he meets while on leave in India. There are some good things about this movie and some bad things. By far the best thing is some nice color footage of remote areas in Southeast Asia. There are only a few battle scenes but they work effectively in this story. There are also some notable (and young) actors in this film including Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Dean Jones and Peter Lawford.

Unfortunately, the film is marred by a number of problems. First, the Sinatra character, Tom Reynolds, is a renegade leader and does things like shoot his own wounded soldier to put him out of his misery and later does a multitude things worthy for court marshal. In addition, Reynolds consistently shows blatant disrespect with every superior officer he comes in contact with. But in a very heavy-handed way near the end of the movie, Reynold's actions along with his arrogant and condescending attitude are dealt with in a way that wasn't at all believable and at the same time very disturbing. If you are someone like me who respects the military and appreciates and understands the reason for rules and protocol, and know that rebellious people have no place in the armed forces, then you will certainly be bothered with the outcome of the movie. The other problem is this romance between Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida. Without a doubt it, there was clearly too much time devoted to this relationship which was positively boring. The final problem was the dialogue among the soldiers. Most of it seemed to be just poor attempts at witty conversations. Overall, if you are a WWII film buff, you may find some redeeming qualities in this movie, but other than that, there just isn't that much there.

As for the DVD, the widescreen color presentation is very good but there are some tiny spots of film deterioration throughout the film. The audio is very good. The only DVD bonus is a trailer.


Movie: C-

DVD Quality: B