Main Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Richard Johnson
Release Year: 1959
Country: US
Run Time: 124 minutes
Plot
Action director John Sturges had a few good films behind him (Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) and a few more to come (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven) when he put together this colorful story of wartime romance. In addition to his talents as a director, this saga of an American Captain stationed with his Allied command in Burma during World War II is helped by a stellar cast. Frank Sinatra is Captain Tom Reynolds who is supposed to be battling the Japanese in Burma but gets side-tracked when his unit and his Kachin allies are attacked by Chiang Kai-shek's forces. In supporting roles are Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen (about to make his mark on the big screen), Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Brian Donlevy, and several others. After General Chiang's attack, Captain Reynolds leads the remainder of his men into Nationalist Chinese territory for a fast retaliation -- basically a wholesale slaughter. He is called on the carpet for this action later, and his would-be love, Carla Vesari (Lollobrigida) is suddenly faced with a decision to stay with her current man (Paul Heinreid) or take off for the unknown USA with the American Captain. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
From all reports, the book from which Never So Few is adapted is a gripping read, and one that raises some interesting questions about appropriate behavior during times of war by men in dangerous and stressful situations. Unfortunately, the film of Few is at best only a moderately effective war movie, and one which pays only lip service to the ethical quandaries it raises. Part of the problem is that the film keeps working in fits and starts without ever really catching fire, and most of those fits and starts are due to the filmmakers' decision to let a ridiculous love story keep interrupting the action. Things are not helped by the fact that there is next to no chemistry between the purported lovers, Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida. Sinatra also seems a bit uncomfortable in the film, as if he didn't really "get" the role and so alternates between overdoing and shrugging his way through it. The rest of the men are good, including Peter Lawford and Richard Johnson. But it's some of the (then) "smaller" names that get the attention here, including a very young Dean Jones (far from his Disney self) and Charles Bronson. But the best performance by far is from Steve McQueen; it's only a supporting role (originally intended for Sammy Davis Jr.), but he grabs hold of the screen when he's on it and makes a very definite impression. Director John Sturges finds some moments that are memorable, but this is far from his best work. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Addison Hehr - Art Director, Hans Peters - Art Director, Helen Rose - Costume Designer, John Sturges - Director, Ferris Webster - Editor, Hugo W. Friedhofer - Composer (Music Score), Charles Wolcott - Musical Direction/Supervision, William J. Tuttle - Makeup, William H. Daniels - Cinematographer, Edmund Grainger - Producer, Henry W. Grace - Set Designer, Richard A. Pefferle - Set Designer, Lee Le Blanc - Special Effects, Robert R. Hoag - Special Effects, Millard Kaufman - Screenwriter, Tom T. Chamales - Book Author
Never So Few is a 1959 film directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen. The script was loosely based on an actual OSS Detachment 101 incident recorded in a 1957 novel by Tom T. Chamales. Sinatra's role as Captain Tom Reynolds is based on the real life of an OSS officer and, later, a Sangamon County, Illinois Sheriff, Meredith Rhule.
Shot on location in Burma, Thailand and Ceylon, the film follows Captain Tom Reynolds (Sinatra) and his fellow OSS operatives, Captain Grey Travis (Lawford) and Corporal Bill Ringa (McQueen), leading Kachin natives in fighting the Japanese in Burma in World War II despite a lack of support from their commanders. Reynolds spends his infrequent leaves pursuing lovely Carla Vesari (Lollobrigida).
Rat Pack cohort Sammy Davis, Jr. was originally slated to play McQueen's role, but Sinatra yanked it away after Davis mildly criticized Sinatra during a radio interview. McQueen was mainly noted at the time for the television series Wanted: Dead or Alive and the horror movie The Blob. Never So Few marked his introduction to working with director John Sturges, who went on to cast McQueen in his breakout role the following year, as second lead in The Magnificent Seven, and later in the classic The Great Escape (1963).
On the original US one-sheet poster, only Sinatra and Lollobrigida were top billed, but in the 1967 re-release, McQueen moved above the title.
Critical reception
Opening to middling reviews, Never So Few was praised for its action sequences, but criticized for a romantic sub-plot that bogged the film down. Newcomer McQueen garnered the bulk of the film's good notice. Variety commented that "Steve McQueen has a good part, and he delivers with impressive style."
