Never So Few (1959)

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Millard Kaufman (screenplay)
Tom T. Chamales (novel)

Release Date:

7 December 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Kiss by kiss the time ran out and never so few were the moments left for love!

Plot:

Captain Tom Reynolds and his band of skilled O.S.S. operatives are in WWII Burma to train the Kachin natives in modern warfare...

Plot Keywords:

American Soldier | Military | Soldier | Jungle | WWII

Cast

Frank Sinatra	...	Capt. Tom Reynolds
Gina Lollobrigida	...	Carla Vesari
Peter Lawford	...	Capt. Grey Travis
Steve McQueen	...	Bill Ringa
Richard Johnson	...	Capt. Danny De Mortimer
Paul Henreid	...	Nikko Regas
Brian Donlevy	...	Gen. Sloan
Dean Jones	...	Sgt. Jim Norby
Charles Bronson	...	Sgt. John Danforth
Philip Ahn	...	Nautaung
Robert Bray	...	Col. Fred Parkson
Kipp Hamilton	...	Margaret Fitch
John Hoyt	...	Col. Reed
Whit Bissell	...	Capt. Alofson - Psychiatrist
Richard Lupino	...	Mike Island
Aki Aleong	...	Billingsly
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rayford Barnes	...	Soldier in Helicopter (uncredited)
Charles Bateman	...	Pilot (uncredited)
John Bryant	...	General Sloan's Aide (uncredited)
W.T. Chang	...	Elderly Chinese (uncredited)
Spencer Chan	...	Merchant (uncredited)
Isabel Cooley	...	Shan girl (uncredited)
Jim Cronin	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Noel De Souza	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Ross Elliott	...	Colonel Dr. Barry (uncredited)
Harold Fong	...	Chinese Peasant (uncredited)
James Hong	...	General Chao (uncredited)
Morgan Jones	...	Co-pilot (uncredited)
George Khoury	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Robert Kino	...	La-Bung La (uncredited)
Guy Lee	...	Bye Ya (uncredited)
Leon Lontoc	...	Laurel (uncredited)
Mako	...	Soldier in hospital (uncredited)
Paul Maxwell	...	Co-pilot (uncredited)
Rollin Moriyama	...	Scout (uncredited)
Leo Needham	...	Pilot (uncredited)
Maggie Pierce	...	Nurse (uncredited)
William Smith	...	MP officer #1 (uncredited)
George Takei	...	Soldier in hospital (uncredited)
Irene Tedrow	...	Head Nurse (uncredited)
Marie Tsien	...	Eurasian girl (uncredited)

Directed by
John Sturges

Writing credits
Millard Kaufman		(screenplay)
Tom T. Chamales		(novel)

Produced by
Edmund Grainger	....	producer

Original Music by
Hugo Friedhofer

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ferris Webster

Art Direction by
Addison Hehr
Hans Peters

Set Decoration by
Henry Grace
Richard Pefferle

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert E. Relyea	....	assistant director
Hank Moonjean	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Franklin Milton	....	recording supervisor

Special Effects by
Robert R. Hoag	....	special effects
Lee LeBlanc	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Cliff Shirpser	....	effects camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Helen Rose	....	gowns: Gina Lollobrigida

Editorial Department
Charles K. Hagedon	....	color consultant

Music Department
Charles Wolcott	....	conductor

Production Companies

• Canterbury Productions

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1960) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1964) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Campaign Burma (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1987) | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (PCA #19299) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Burma

Company:

Canterbury Productions

Trivia:

Steve McQueen's role was originally going to be played by Sammy Davis Jr.. A feud had broken out between Davis and Frank Sinatra after Davis had claimed in a radio interview that he was a greater singer than Sinatra. Sinatra demanded he be dropped from the cast, and McQueen got the part.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The film is at the beginning said to take place in the "?first years of WWII". But look at the costumes of Ms. Lollobrigida - petticoats, high heels, make-up - everything looks straight from the late '50s.

Quotes:

Capt. Tom Reynolds: [explaining a kiss from a nurse] Just a good old American salutation. You'd be surprised at some of the customs of my people.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Steve McQueen: The King of Cool (1998) (TV)

Something Stupid

"Never So Few" fails in so many ways; as a treatment of the Burma campaign in World War II; as a tough-nosed action picture; as an involving melodrama; and most especially, as a vehicle for star Frank Sinatra.

Sinatra was too busy playing soldier and practicing his cool look to bother constructing an interesting character; a strange bitter vibe hangs over his performance. Oddly, it was another actor who managed to take the little "Never So Few" had to offer in the way of career advancement: Steve McQueen. Up to this point, he had done "The Blob" and TV, but his comfortable natural bearing around Sinatra's star wattage shows he could hold his own with the big boys, even when the script gave him little to work with.

McQueen is Sgt. Ringa, a jeep driver who finds himself drafted for more dangerous duty when commando leader Tom Reynolds (Sinatra) takes a shine to his street-smart ways. Reynolds leads a small band of Kachin fighters in the hilly jungles of Burma, continually harassing a Japanese force many times its size.

"A regular Abe Lincoln in North Burma" is what rich merchant Nikko Regas calls him. Regas is part of the other story in "Few", the man whose girl (Gina Lollabrigida) Reynolds wants. The exotic Lollabrigida and the world-weary chain-smoking Sinatra are clearly meant to invite comparisons to Rick and Ilsa, and Paul Henreid cements the impression by playing Nikko as much the same character he was in "Casablanca".

None of this comes together, though. In fact, the two parts fail to co-exist at all. You get 20 minutes of war followed by 40 minutes of earnest love talk, then back to the war. The war scenes are about as competently directed as an episode of "The Rat Patrol", with idiotically sequenced insert shots (like soldiers shooting up at people we then see falling in a river) and noble, servile Kachin dying with meek apologies to "Dua" Reynolds. War is hell for Tom, who loses both his monkey and his favorite gun caddy, a faithful Kachin who hands him a new automatic every time Reynolds empties a magazine on the enemy.

The romance is even worse. Sinatra and Lollabrigida have no chemistry, she can't act, and director John Sturges' idea of story advancement is to focus on her bustline and hope you don't notice the dialogue. And what dialogue!

Him: "I hanker for you alone."

Her: "Why don't you go back to the hills and play with your popguns!"

Henreid warns Lollabrigida he won't let her go then disappears for the rest of the movie, leaving Lollabrigida and Sinatra to kiss like dead fish in front of bad process shots.

The film generates a bit of interest an hour or so in, when Reynolds and his men discover the Japanese are not the only force they have to fight. But the resolution of this angle is both trite and ugly, involving the wholesale slaughter of captured prisoners while the camera focuses on Sinatra, looking so sad his previously disapproving medic (Peter Lawford, better than usual here) has to pat his shoulder to let him and the audience know it's alright.

McQueen at least mines his on-screen time to showcase his talents as an action man, and occasional scene stealer with the aid of handy props, like a slice of watermelon or a mortar. Competing with Charles Bronson, Brian Donlevy, and Richard Johnson as Reynolds' monocle-wearing British pal, McQueen hardly has to break a sweat.

The worst performance here is Sinatra's, who just drips with self-importance, whether wearing an ugly goatee (Mitch Miller must have really got to him) or trying to sound like Hemingway with stiff lines like: "You have tasted the pain of wound in combat." Sinatra was not just good but great in parts where he allowed himself to project insecurity. But too often, when permitted to coast, he gave performances like this one, showcasing the boor he could be in life from time to time.

"Never So Few" drags for more than two hours, long enough to listen to four of his Capitol albums. Guess which is a better investment of your time.