Review: Yesterday’s Enemy

Uncivilised actions in wartime in this WWII drama set in the Burmese jungle. Stanley Baker plays the unit captain who is now the senior officer since the real leader is currently badly wounded. In order to try and get an explanation for a top-secret document they find, Baker makes deadly threats towards the local civilians, which rubs members of the platoon the wrong way. These include resident religious figure Guy Rolfe and a liberal-minded war correspondent who is tagging along (Leo McKern). Phillip Ahn plays an equally uncompromising Japanese commander, whilst Baker’s men are played by the likes of Gordon Jackson, Richard Pasco, Geoffrey Bayldon (who is already dying when we meet him), and the usual crowd of Percy Herbert, Bryan Forbes (who also directed the excellent POW film “King Rat”), and David Lodge.

 

One of Hammer Films’ finest ever endeavours, this 1959 Val Guest war drama (“The Full Treatment”, “The Day the Earth Caught Fire”) is one of the famed studio’s non-horror efforts. Instead what we have is a rather thought-provoking, mature war film. Scripted by Peter R. Newman (derived from the teleplay he wrote), here’s a film about the supposed ‘good war’ that nonetheless touches on the notion of killing civilians and war crimes committed by the allies. The film features a great deal of killing, British, Japanese, and local Burmese civilians all end up in short supply by the conclusion. War is very clearly dangerous and maddening, and the film asks some really tough questions here. Stanley Baker’s character in particular orchestrates more than one violent event that he seemingly calmly, signs off on as a necessary act for the greater good. Perhaps his decisions are necessary, perhaps not. While the film ultimately doesn’t paint him as a villain, the fact that other characters call him into question at all is quite different from the usual WWII film from the 50s. That sort of thing is usually reserved for films about Vietnam or at least made after the Vietnam War. And to think, this was made by the studio that gave you “The Vampire Lovers” and “Twins of Evil” among many other wonderfully lurid entertainments. Here’s Hammer making a real movie and like a lot of their non-horror/sci-fi fare it turns out to be one of their best films. I was frankly a bit floored by this one, the body count in particular seems particularly high for the period it was made.

 

An excellent, uncompromising Stanley Baker leads the show here, he was a such a strong, underrated performer. There’s also top supporting performances by Guy Rolfe as the resident religious figure, Aussie Leo McKern as a war reporter who joins Rolfe in opposing Baker’s actions (yet knowing he’s also the one keeping them alive), and Richard Pasco as a lieutenant who is mentally fraying. Gordon Jackson is fine too but his high billing is not indicative of his screen time or the importance of his character if you ask me. Wolfe Morris (brother of Aubrey) is our resident Anglo actor playing the ‘other’, an informant of not entirely determined ethnicity and not very strong intestinal fortitude. It’s an interesting performance, putting aside the obviously inappropriate ethnic casting.

 

Guest was never much more than a journeyman director, but he’s at his peak here. There’s a particularly masterful shot of a firing squad about to carry out a very controversial, horrifying act and you can see on their faces that they don’t know if what they are doing is right or even necessary. Meanwhile, if you’re not moved by the ending in some way, check your pulse. Special mention must go to the excellent B&W cinematography by Hammer regular Arthur Grant (“The Reptile”, “The Damned”, “Quatermass and the Pit”), who makes the film look a bit more expensive than it likely was. You can still tell it’s low-budget but I was surprised that it was shot entirely in the studio.

 

If all you think when you hear the name Hammer Studios is horror and science-fiction, give this one a look. It’s a really bloody good film for any studio, and shows that there was a lot more to Hammer than Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster. Must-see. 

 

Rating: B+