Yesterday's Enemy
| Yesterday's Enemy | |
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Original American release film poster
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| Directed by | Val Guest |
| Produced by | Michael Carreras |
| Written by | Peter R. Newman |
| Starring |
Stanley Baker Gordon Jackson |
| Music by | None |
| Cinematography | Arthur Grant |
| Edited by | Alfred Cox James Needs |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Columbia Pictures Hammer Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 min |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Yesterday's Enemy is a 1959 Hammer Films British war film in MegaScope directed by Val Guest and starring Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, Leo McKern and Gordon Jackson set in the Burma Campaign during World War II. It is based on a 1958 BBC teleplay by Peter R. Newman, who turned it into a three-act play in 1960. Gordon Jackson repeated his role from the BBC teleplay as Sgt. Ian Mackenzie.Columbia Pictures co-produced the film with Hammer Films in an agreement for five co-productions a year with Columbia providing half the finance. The film was shot on indoor sets in black and white and Megascope. The film has no musical score. Director Val Guest later said that Yesterday's Enemy was one of his films of which he was the most proud. In 2013, film magazine Total Film included Yesterday's Enemy in their list of 50 Amazing Films You've Probably Never Seen.
The TV play was reportedly based on a war crime perpetrated by a British army captain in Burma in 1942.
The lost remnants of a British Army Brigade headquarters make their way through the Burmese jungle, retreating from the Japanese. The group, numbering over thirty, is led by Captain Langford because the most senior officer, the Brigadier, is one of several who are wounded. The group arrives at a small village which is enemy-occupied. After a short but costly battle, the small group of Japanese in the village is wiped out.
Amongst the Japanese dead is a full Colonel, an unusually high-ranking officer to be with such a small group. The dead officer possesses a map with unknown markings. A Burmese man is caught trying to flee and he is revealed to be an informer employed by the Japanese. Langford interrogates the man about the dead Colonel and the map and when he refuses to talk, Langford selects two adult males from amongst the villagers, saying he will have them both executed if the informer does not co-operate. The villagers plead for mercy and the Doctor, a civilian correspondent named Max and the Padre angrily protest at Langford's decision but the Captain is un-moved. The two hostages are killed by Langford's men, prompting the informer to begin devulging what he knows. The map contains plans for a major Japanese flanking attack which aims to cut off the British army from its supply lines and leave it surrounded. Langford is anxious to send a warning back to British lines but the group's radio has been damaged.
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Wikipedia