THE LONG, THE SHORT AND THE TALL (aka JUNGLE FIGHTERS) 1961This 1961 UK production takes place during World War two in the Burmese jungle. The film stars, Richard Todd, Richard Harris, David McCallum, Laurence Harvey, Ronald Fraser, John Rees, John Meillon and Kenji Takaki.Richard Todd is in charge of a squad testing some "sonic" warfare gear in the Burmese Jungle. The equipment, loudspeakers etc is to be used to fool Japanese about troop movements etc. The tests are not going well and Todd orders the squad deeper into the jungle to try a diff location.The squad is made up of a group of men who all have a beef with each other, the jungle and the army in general. The biggest arse of the group is played by, Laurence Harvey. Harvey would much rather be home in London than rotting in the jungle. He makes sure everyone knows his views on everything. This in particular rubs the unit corporal, Richard Harris the wrong way.The squad holes up in an abandoned tin mine to get out of the daily rains. The close quarters, of course brings out the worst in the bunch. They are soon at each other over everything. (The stage origins of the film are evident as the scenes are quite heavy with dialogue) There is even a fight between Harvey and Ronald Fraser.David McCallum, the man in charge of the radio gear, picks up a Japanese signal. McCallum figures from the strength of said signal, that the Japanese are very close. Just then, a single Japanese scout wanders into the area of the mine. The man, Kenji Takaki, is captured when he enters the building the men are hiding in.Sgt Todd sends several of the men, Fraser and Meillon out to have a look further up the trail. Todd figures it is time for the squad to hightail it back to headquarters. The news about the Japanese being this close needs to be turned in. The squad radio is having trouble reaching to the British camp.Fraser and Meillon are soon back to report to Todd that there are indeed Japanese troops coming. They had a run in with two of the Japanese, killing one. Todd orders all to grab their stuff for a bug out. Todd had originally wanted to take the prisoner along, but now decides it will just slow them down. Of course there is an argument about who is to kill the Japanese soldier.They drag the man along planning to dump him up the trail a piece. Now they find that the escape route they planned on using is flooded from the afternoon rain. The squad will need to wait a few hours for the water level to drop before continuing. This of course leads to more bickering among the squad.By the time the squad gets a move on, the Japanese advance forces have closed in. Todd fights a rear guard action while he sends Harris and the rest forward. Harris and the others however run right into an ambush and are shot up. Harris, though wounded, staggers back to where Todd is firing on the Japanese. The Japanese though are far too many and the entire patrol is wiped out.

I haven't watched this film for a long time and, having just seen it on BBC2 TV, I felt that it hasn't aged well. Perhaps it was better as a stage play? Ubercommando in his review summed it up well: "I just don't believe in characters who, under such pressure to escape, would just bicker at each other when the enemy is just around the corner... Some characters don't want to shoot the Japanese prisoner because it will make too much noise and alert the enemy, but that doesn't stop them from yelling at the top of their voices!"The only characters I felt any sympathy for were Private Smith (who seemed the most sensible of the squad) and the Japanese prisoner. Sergeant Mitchem had an impossible task, with a hostile corporal and the intractable Pte Bamforth, but he didn't come over as a likable character. As for the others, I several times thought "what a bunch of losers".Of course, all this was what (probably) we were expected to feel, but other films portraying a small, disparate group of men up against it have done so far better.Enough has already been written about Laurence Harvey, who was mis-cast. OK, the character may have been a brash, street-wise London wide boy before he joined the army, but his sympathy for the prisoner did not convince.

It's difficult to believe that as late as the sixties they were still unable to 'mix' a soundtrack effectively. The way each line of dialogue is crystal clear and redolent of sound-stage 'atmos' verges on the amateur and this is compounded by the real 'jungle' noises which are kept right down to a minimum. And that's before the so-called acting kicks in and let's face it with two of the most 'wooden' actors who ever graduated from the Forestry Commission - Richard Todd and Laurence Harvey - in leading roles it has to be downhill from square one. I didn't see the play upon which the film is based but the fact that only one member, the Japanese prisoner, made it to the screen should tell us something. As if auditioning for the title Mr. Mahogany were not sufficient Laurence Harvey throws in an execrable accent that makes Dick Van Dyke seem polished. This is one of those films which feature a group of actors who contrive to give the impression that they are working in several different films. I'm really sorry I wasted my time on this merde.

Having read the Willis Hall play with the school. I watched this film and saw that it was like watching the actual characters arguing. This shows how the different characters react to a war situation and this makes the combat scene at the end deeply moving because we get to know the characters as individuals as well as stereotypes. First class drama