This was obviously written as a morality play about man's inhumanity to man, and it works on that level. However, as an example of military discipline, it is pretty appalling.
The characters are members of a British Army patrol sent into in the jungle in Burma during WW-II. It consists of a Sergeant, a Corporal, a Lance-Corporal, and four Privates. More to the point, it includes one of each of the obligatory British ethnic stereotypes: a professional-soldier Sergeant, an Irishman, a Scotsman, a Welshman, a Geordie, an Australian and a Cockney.
However, what dooms this patrol is not its' ethnic diversity, but the fact that they are all totally incompetent. The Cockney, played by a miscast Lawrence Harvey, is a loud-mouthed wise-guy who constantly antagonizes everybody around him, provoking them into constant arguing. Beyond that, however, is the fact that the two senior noncoms continuously permit him to get away with it. One cannot help wondering why, if they already knew what this character was like, why he should ever have been permitted to accompany a patrol such as this in the first place? Furthermore, one cannot help wondering what the officer was thinking who assembled these particular misfits together, and ordered them into the bush without an officer in charge?
Although they are deep in the Burmese jungle, surrounded by the enemy, these men seem to spend all of their time arguing at the tops of their voices. They literally make more noise than a busted chainsaw. Any Japanese within five miles should have had no trouble finding them. However, to make things easier for the enemy, despite the fact that he is aware that the Japanese are in the vicinity, the Sergeant insists that their radio operator constantly attempt to contact their base by radio. Not surprisingly, the enemy quickly pinpoint their position.
While the Japanese are depicted as quiet, stealthy, well-disciplined and professional, the British are depicted as clumsy, noisy, ill-disciplined and completely incompetent. As I said, I realize that this story is intended to serve as an allegory on man's inhumanity to man, but I simply cannot believe that any British troops could ever possibly be as bad as this lot. If they were, how could they ever have won a war?
The characters are members of a British Army patrol sent into in the jungle in Burma during WW-II. It consists of a Sergeant, a Corporal, a Lance-Corporal, and four Privates. More to the point, it includes one of each of the obligatory British ethnic stereotypes: a professional-soldier Sergeant, an Irishman, a Scotsman, a Welshman, a Geordie, an Australian and a Cockney.
However, what dooms this patrol is not its' ethnic diversity, but the fact that they are all totally incompetent. The Cockney, played by a miscast Lawrence Harvey, is a loud-mouthed wise-guy who constantly antagonizes everybody around him, provoking them into constant arguing. Beyond that, however, is the fact that the two senior noncoms continuously permit him to get away with it. One cannot help wondering why, if they already knew what this character was like, why he should ever have been permitted to accompany a patrol such as this in the first place? Furthermore, one cannot help wondering what the officer was thinking who assembled these particular misfits together, and ordered them into the bush without an officer in charge?
Although they are deep in the Burmese jungle, surrounded by the enemy, these men seem to spend all of their time arguing at the tops of their voices. They literally make more noise than a busted chainsaw. Any Japanese within five miles should have had no trouble finding them. However, to make things easier for the enemy, despite the fact that he is aware that the Japanese are in the vicinity, the Sergeant insists that their radio operator constantly attempt to contact their base by radio. Not surprisingly, the enemy quickly pinpoint their position.
While the Japanese are depicted as quiet, stealthy, well-disciplined and professional, the British are depicted as clumsy, noisy, ill-disciplined and completely incompetent. As I said, I realize that this story is intended to serve as an allegory on man's inhumanity to man, but I simply cannot believe that any British troops could ever possibly be as bad as this lot. If they were, how could they ever have won a war?