Le tigre de papier

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.

The story is admittedly very simple: elderly British "Major" Walter Bradbury (David Niven) is engaged by the Japanese ambassador to an unnamed Southeast Asian country, Kagoyama (Toshirô Mifune) as tutor to his enchanting 11-year-old son Koichi (Kazuhito Ando). "Mister Bladbelly" soon wins the reverence of the ever-trusting and perfectly-mannered Koichi by spinning yarns about his heroic wartime exploits that could hardly be further removed from his quiet nonentitous life, but is unexpectedly and severely put to the test when they are both kidnapped by guerrillas.

However simple though, the story is still a good one and it is fantastically well and charmingly acted by all three of the main characters. Anybody who has known a paper tiger, especially the more amiable types who, like Niven, have twinkles in their eyes gently hinting at their harmless fraud, will surely warm to his authentic depiction of one.

Paper Tiger is a gripping story, alternately funny, tense and moving, but above all it is a thoroughly warm-hearted and tenderly told tale of redemption.

Edmund Marlowe, author of Alexander's Choice, a novel of Eton, www.amazon.com/dp/1481222112

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.

Paper Tiger is a harmless adventure movie which tries to cater for juvenile and adult audiences. It is lifted slightly above its station by strong performances from David Niven and Toshiro Mifune. The central theme of what can go wrong if you live your life as one big lie is quite interesting too. It is neither a great movie nor a terrible one: merely a workmanlike, watchable time-filler.

Niven plays Major Bradbury, an English gentleman who has got a job in a troubled Far East country tutoring a young and impressionable Japanese boy about western history. He entertains the boy, Koichi (Ando), by spinning him tales of wartime heroism and derring-do. However, all of Bradbury's tales are fanciful lies in which he presents himself as some kind of all-action hero. Koichi and Bradbury are kidnapped by guerillas, and Bradbury soon realises that he must try to live up the heroic stature he has invented for himself in order to help the boy to survive.

Toshiro Mifune as the boy's father, a Japenese ambassador, gives a strong, moving and convincing performance. Niven also has his moments, especially when he looks into the mirror and is appalled by the "nothing" of a man he sees staring guiltily back at him near the film's climax. The story itself is interesting, but the handling isn't all that special. The film satisfies itself with being a straight-forward kidnap thriller fit for kids and adults alike, but the themes of real and imagined identity could actually have been explored much more closely and maturely if the target audience was just adults. Still, a family film is what the makers decided to make, and a family film is what they've given us. On that level, this will do quite nicely for a rainy Saturday afternoon - even if you'll have probably forgotten it by Sunday!

A formal , prim and somewhat serious English gentleman called Bradbury (David Niven) , an ex-army Major , has got a job in a troubled Far East country tutoring a young boy . As Niven is contacted as the tutor to the child of the Japanese Ambassador (Toshro Mifune) . He teaches the little boy, Koichi (Ando), and amuses him by spinning him tales of WWII battles , derring-do , feats and allegedly acts of heroism . Their lives change when he and the boy are abducted by terrorists for political objectives . They all saw him as a hero ... but could he live up to it?

In the film there is a feeling relationship between tutor and pupil , but also there are pursuits , fights , kidnapping , violence , crossfire ,terrorist bombings and assassination attempts . The events and characters depicted in this photoplay are fictitious , though the thunderous deeds can be happened in whatever far country from East World . The film relies heavily on the honeyed as well as sweet relationship betwen David Niven and his young cheeky Asian at charge . David Niven gives a sober but fine acting as an English gentleman with dark past , providing a certain bitterness and sadness to his role . His peculiar and colorful role just about saves this movie from oblivion and the complete disdain by critics . Support cast is pretty good , including nice appearances from familiar faces , such as : Hardy Kruger , Ivan Desny , Miiko Taka , Jeff Corey, Patricia Donahue , Ronald Fraser , Irene Tsu , Kurt Christain and the always great Toshiro Mifune .

It contains an atmospheric cinematography by John Cavacas . Shot on location in Bavaria, Germany , Malacca, Genting Highlands, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK And evocative musical score by Roy Budd in the seventies style , including the usual lyrics by Sammy Cahn . This some boring film produced in medium budget by Euan Lloyd was middlingly directed by Ken Annakin , though being sporadically fun and entertaining . In the 1960s he was one of several British directors along with Guy Green, John Guillermin who specialized in turning out all-star, splashy, big-budget European/American co-productions, shot on the Continent. He was one of the directors of the epic World War II spectacle The longest day (1962) and went solo on Battle of the Bulge (1965), both of which were financial--if not exactly critical--successes. Ken was an expert on Adventure genre as ¨The new adventures of Pippi Longstockings¨, ¨Pirate movie¨ , ¨Paper tiger¨, ¨The fifth Musketeer¨ , ¨Call of wild¨, ¨The Swiss family Robinson¨, ¨Land of fury¨, ¨The Sword and the Rose¨, ¨The story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men¨, ¨Third man on the mountain¨ and Wartime genre as ¨Battle of the Bulge¨, and ¨The Longest day¨. Rating . 5/10 . Average .