User reviews

Obviously, TCM's recent showing of this film was an eye-opening experience for many people, as it was for me. The other reviews (with the exception of the one with the historical ax to grind, completely unsubstantiated by the film) express all my own reasons for appreciating the film. The excitement I want to share is this: After 63 years of movie-watching, chancing on a film entirely unknown to me... one that I have never even seen included in anyone's list of "Great War Movies"... that is so well-produced, -acted and -directed... just so damn GOOD. And to have that incredible feeling of DISCOVERY... another prize addition to my "collection" of film-going experiences.

And it was gratifying to see Phillip Ahn, so familiar from the 40's, play a key role so effectively.

This Hammer WWII b-movie was originally a stage-play, and with the contained setting and tons of dialog it's apparent..

But Stanley Baker turns in his greatest performance... a one-man show despite being surrounded by character-actors like faithful sergeant Gordon Jackson countered by idealistic reporter Leo McKern and priest Guy Rolfe, driving the central moral-quandary plot-line...

Beginning with their troop of disheveled British soldiers, lost and trudging through the Burmese jungle, happening upon a two-hut village where Baker's no-nonsense captain figures he MUST scare an informer by killing two elderly locals...

The best scenes occur during this first half when Baker's lethal, cold-blooded methods start becoming more clear and, because of the vital information gained, somewhat logical, and he never wavers to the ethical humanity in a village foreshadowing future Vietnam films (and their tropes) about murderous white soldiers...

These include Brian De Palma's CASUALTIES OF WAR and Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning PLATOON, still paling to this low budget, obscure gem mostly thanks to Stanley Baker...

Keeping up the same stubborn, determined intensity when the Japanese, led by an English-speaking, philosophizing Philip Ahn, turns the tables, and the adaptation becomes even more stagey and yet with tight, edgy suspense by Val Guest, one of Hammer's best directors, YESTERDAY'S ENEMY keeps the audience as locked-in as its unflappable leading man.

Yesterday's Enemy is a taut claustrophobic war film about a whittled down company of British soldiers caught behind the lines in Burma. It takes no sides other than to point out the absurd futility and dehumanization of individuals in war and the limited options they are faced with. It is a sober unromantic and highly provocative work that foreshadows the quagmire in Viet Nam and unapologetically addresses actions taken in the heat of battle far from the sideline moralizing out of harm's way.

Captain Langford leads his lost patrol with a firm hand cajoling and threatening members of the unit to remain disciplined and vigilant. When they stumble upon an austere Burmese jungle village they are surprised by a fierce Japanese resistance attempting to protect a senior officer. With the village under control Langford seeks answers through intimidation, torture and finally execution of innocent locals. Eventually they are overwhelmed by the Japanese who adopt the same methods to get answers about their missing general.

Despite it's sound stage jungle locale Yesterday's Enemy director Val Guest attains a very atmospheric feel of heat and pressure with the uncompromising downward thrust of the film as reality trumps morality. Stanley Baker's Langford and Gordon Jackson's Sgt. McKenzie remain stoically impressive throughout as they address the reality they are given while Guy Rolfe's Padre and Leo McKern's journalist Max ably bring balance and debate to the picture in arguing the other side.

Yesterday's Enemy (even the title points out the absurdity of war) unromantic and dark vision offers no solutions but raises dozens of questions about the ugliness of war without flinching remaining with you long after the firing has ceased. It is Britain's Steel Helmet.

Yesterday's Enemy was a BBC television play by Peter R Newman. It was inspired on a war crime perpetrated by a British army captain in Burma in 1942.

This is the Hammer remake. It retains Gordon Jackson who appeared in the original play. It is a low budget film. The jungle setting very much looks like a film studio and seems uninspired.

In fact I had little expectation of this film in the first few opening minutes. I just looked like a typical jungle war film with the angry young men of the late 1950s. Something a bit like The long and the short and the tall.

What it turns out to be is a stark morality play about ethics of warfare, The Geneva convention and fighting for the greater good.

It has sense of rawness which you felt would had been controversial at the time of its release.

Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) leads his lost patrol in the Burmese jungle as they retreat from the Japanese. They come upon a small village which they take from the Japanese. Langford is interested in man who attempts to flee who he thinks might know about a map with strange markings they have found on a high ranking dead officer.

Langford all sorts of threats and intimidation tactics which become more severe. The padre and the journalist attached with the patrol protest at his brutal methods. Langford has none of it, he even plans to move on with his patrol and leave the injured men behind as they would slow him down.

At the end he guns down two innocent villagers in order to make the detained man talk. He also has him killed in due course.

Eventually the group are later overwhelmed by the Japanese. They are now interrogated by Major Yamazaki who speaks good English. He is very courteous but his menace is more indirect compared to Langford but just as brutal. In short the Major adopt similar methods to get answers about their missing high ranking officer.

There is no doubt that this is a provocative film showing the cruelty of British officers. Yet Baker gives such a stoic performance, his Captain Langford despite his shortcomings and brutality is just the kind of man who could lead the able men in his patrol to safety.

This Hammer production broke away from the traditional horror movies for which they had become famous in the 1950's and like "The Camp on Blood Island" was a Second World War drama concentrating on the war with the Japanese. Set in the Burmese jungle, but filmed in the studio, it is a mostly all-male affair full of very familiar British faces. With Val Guest in the director's chair and Stanley Baker playing the officer in charge it is often highly effective (and surprisingly brutal). Indeed Baker is so good, (he was nominated for a BAFTA as indeed was the film itself), you might think you are watching a much better film than you actually are. It's certainly not free of clichés but it also poses some interesting ethical questions, (what constitutes a war crime, how far should an officer go in pursuit of his goals?). It may be no classic but it's no disgrace either and is worth seeing.

This 1959 black and white WWII movie is one of the most realistic depictions of jungle warfare I have ever seen. Wonderfully acted by all concerned, and the script strikes a clever balance between duty and anti-war opinions. It is about a lost group of soldiers from the "forgotten army" in Burma, trying to reach their own lines, and whilst doing so take over a Japanese held village.

The tension is almost unbearable, and the movie never relies on music to enhance that tension, for there is no music in it from start to finish. (And to be truthful in this movie it's not missed.) It's impossible to pick out a star performer. They all are, but I suppose the two that really stand out are Stanley Baker as the commanding officer and Leo McKern as the cynical war-correspondent attached to the group.

I have yet to see this movie screened on TV (although someone may set me right if it has), and considering the pap that is aired, I can't think of one reason why it hasn't. It's a terrific film and if you enjoy realistic gritty war movies, then this is the one for you.

An intense and moving warlike picture with a lot of shootouts , fights and violent incidents . Thrilling and stirring film about thorny decisions that can lead to grisly executions . The lost remnant of a British Army Brigade gets away across the jungle towards the British lines. Cut off by the Japanese advance into Burma, Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) and his exhausted British troops take over an enemy-held jungle hamlet . But jungle combat is more grueling than Langford had reckoned. There Langford abandons all notions of "military protocol" and seeks a vital information at whetever cost , and he'll stop at nothing , including the firing squad . As the tough commander weighting impulsive requital , attacking against the formalities of the Geneva International Convention , resulting in the protests of an elderly priest (Guy Rolfe) and of war correspondent Max Anderson (Leo McKern) . As Sergeant McKenzie (Gordon Jackson) is ordered by Langford to shoot two innocent villagers , thereby "persuading" and subsequently extracting a Japanese informer to surrender the urgent and extremely necessary information . When the Japanese recapture the village, their chief officer (Philip Ahn) uses Langford's own deadly war-born tactics in a similar effort to take information from the coerced British . Crimes of War! . Bloodiest Face of War Exposed! .The Most Outspoken Film of Our Time! .War Is Hell! .The Most Controversial War Drama Ever Filmed. The Burma war goes on .. but now the slaughter begins !. If they ever make a more meaningful picture they'll have to fire live ammo from the screen !.

A strong film about the Burma Warfare genre with usual ingredients as sadistic commandant , ominous Japanese military , heroic soldiers carrying out barbaric orders and innocent villagers suffering savage punishments . There's a lot of everything in this Val Guest's wartime drama about Burmese war , such as : noisy action , serious talk about thought-provoking issues , violent battles , lush jungle scenarios and anything else . A cruel film dealing with the ruthless , brutal truth about the most barbaric decision in the annals of Burmese warfare . The flick has a solid script by Peter R. Newman , and being interesting enough , resulting to be slow-moving , but very engaging . Being allegedly based on facts , authenticated by the very few who survived the massacre . Furthermore , the war battles , explosions and jungle shootouts make strong impression . The film boasts of a good plethora of Britsh actors , many of them Hammer's regular , giving decent acting , such as : Stanley Baker , Guy Rolfe , Leo McKern , Gordon Jackson , Richard Pasco, David Oxley , Bryan Forbes, David Lodge , Percy Herbert , Philip Ahn as a Japanese commandant , and Burt Kwouk's brief appearance , among others.

The motion picture was professional and competently directed by Val Guest . He was a prolific and uneven craftsman , and outstanding in Science Fiction and Fantasy films as "The Quatermass Experiment" , "Quatermass II" , "The Abominable Snowman", "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" and "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" , Hammer's failure follow up to "One Million Years B. C.". Rating : 6.5/10 Notable . Worthwhile seeing. The flick will appeal to WWII enthusiasts.

Well, I was astonished by how good this film is. Made by Hammer Films in 1959 and despite being shot entirely on set in England it has a deep sense of the grime, heat and fear of the Borneo jungle during WWII.

What really holds it together and creates the powerful generator for this film is a gritty, un-theatrical,un-sentimental performance by Sir Stanley Baker. He creates a 3 dimensional character and (Amazingly for a top ranked star) never tries to get the audience to "like him".

Other fine performances from Guy Rolfe and Leo McKern make this absorbing film seem way too short. The director Val Guest struggled to have the film released without any soundtrack music and this really helps the atmosphere and leaves it up the the actors to create tension without music bailing them out. There are quite a few unexpected twists and surprises too.

The subject matter in 1959 was rather brave and controversial so well done Hammer! It doesn't seem to be available on DVD or Blu-Ray so that goodness for Stagevu otherwise I might never have seen this little gem.

This movie is a terrific war piece of work, among the best ever, which Sam Fuller or Bob Aldrich could have done themselves. A pure men's tale, with no good vs evil silly scheme, as we usual see in war movies. Here British soldiers can behave like Japanese. I have always confounded this movie and Leslie Norman's THE LONG THE SHORT AND THE TALL. Another jungle patrol British film, very close to this one.

This is a watchable British war film, where everyone is appropriately sweaty and greasy, but there are several details that make the film highly unrealistic. The Japanese commander is obviously Chinese. I found that annoying. The entire film had the look of being done in all studio shots; no realism at all. Baker is fine; as is the entire supporting cast. The Asian actors give it their best shot, but only the Japanese assistant is believable. I did like the depiction that the British were no more clever, ethical, or braver than the Japanese; the British always did a much better job of that than Americans ever did (with the exception of Letters From Iwo JIma). All in all, the plot was rather mundane; but did the best it could.

Staley Baker does an great acting job on this homage to the pointlessness of war and the fact that after the war all is forgotten except by those who fought it. A sad film actually.

I've been a huge Stanley Baker/ Cy Endenfield fan since I saw him in Zulu & Sands of the Kalahri. This film really threw me off as old as it was. All the old school British actors and non Hollywood ending. This film is a classic that should be on blu Ray!

War for all those that do not glorify it is true hell. This movie is a document to the above statement; it feels like you are watching a play in a jungle the acting is superb the story tackles moral questions that nowadays dont seem to concern anybodyth about the hypocrisy and the utter futility of war, the fact that the action scenes are very old fashioned makes no difference to the superior quality of this production a must see for all those that want a first hand view into this hypocrisy and futility

An oldie but a goodie and well worth watching. A pity it wasn't in colour though, it would have been easier to follow what was happening in the jungle.

We're still in 1959, ploughing through the films produced by Hammer and watched along with the "House of Hammer" podcast. We've had a few war films recently, but none perhaps as controversial, and forward thinking as this one.

During a struggling campaign in Burma, Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) leads his bedraggled outfit in the taking of a small village from encamped Japanese soldiers. Amongst the Japanese dead is a Colonel, who has a complicated map of the area with him. A Burmese Man (Wolfe Morris) tries to escape with fleeing soldiers but is captured. Langford believes that this man knows what the map shows - though he insists that he doesn't. To get him to talk, Langford tells his Sergeant, Mackenzie (Gordon Jackson), to execute two civilians from the village.

So not just a "War was bad" film - but one where the British Forces are shown as being just as capable of inflicting atrocities as the enemy was. I don't know enough about the sorts of films that were being made at the time, but still today a film attempting to point out moral failings of the British Army in any conflict would be controversial. So, I can only imagine what it was like in 1959. Much of the film rests on whether or not the firing squad will take place, with the division's chaplain, played by Guy Rolfe and a War correspondent, played by Leo McKern as the main dissenting voices. The film does continue on after that though, with the Japanese returning and the British having to make some difficult decisions.

There are some really good performances, from all the actors I've previously mentioned. Representation is better than it has been, in say "The Camp on Blood Island" with both Philip Ahn and Burt Kwouk at least having familial history in the right part of the world to play Japanese soldiers.

Interesting and dramatic, certainly one of the better films I've discovered whilst watching along with this podcast.

"When You Go home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"

There's a school of thought in film world that all war films are anti-war films, some, however, are the definition of such and are cream of the crop. Yesterday's Enemy is one such picture.

Out of Hammer Films, it's directed by Val Guest and written by Peter R. Newman. It stars Stanley Baker, Gordon Jackson, Guy Rolfe, Leo McKern and Philip Ahn. Story has the surviving members of a British Army Brigade holing up in a Burmese jungle village, where Captain Langford (Baker) happens upon a map that could prove critical to operations involving the Japanese forces in the area. Unable to get clarity from a potential traitor, Langford must make decisions that will outrage those in his quarters, but could well be for the greater good of the war effort. All while the Japanese are advancing on the village.

There is no music here, this is purely a sweaty black and white piece that booms with literary class. These men caught in a claustrophobic crossfire of moral quandaries, faiths and life altering judgements. Complex issues are brilliantly handled by Guest and his superb cast, with ace cinematographer Arthur Grant (shooting in MegaScope) completely making a mockery of the stage bound production to make real a Burmese jungle village. Come the sobering finale the realisation dawns that this was a bold movie for its time, pushing the boundaries of 1950s war movies. It's a must see film for anyone interested in the real side of that famous saying, war is indeed hell. 9/10

A wonderfully hard bitten Stanley Baker performance (guy won the Bafta for it) is lessened in its impact by way too much anti war moralizing courtesy of Leo McKern's war correspondent, Guy Rolfe's chaplain and David Oxley's doctor. Should have known when I first spotted these three that this film would be heavy going. And I'm not talking about the ruddy jungle! Give it a C.