| The "Best of British" season, which will continue on both itv gold channels, now features "The Long and the Short and the Tall", a highly acclaimed war drama, directed by Leslie Norman and starring Laurence Harvey, Richard Todd, Richard Harris and David McCallum. In this movie, "a troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises, so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to their whereabouts. As they progress to what they think is closer to the base camp, they find themselves further and further from radio range, until the only channel they can get clearly is that of a Japanese broadcast. They then realise that they are probably only 10 to 15 miles from a Japanese camp! The tension is added to by rowdy and openly admitted "non-hero" Private Bamforth (Harvey) who has nothing good to say about anyone and especially not, Corporal Johnstone (Harris), who holds an equal dislike for Bamforth. When a Japanese soldier is taken as their prisoner, the true colours of each man comes to the surface..." Producer Michael Balcon had wanted to cast Peter O'Toole, who had played the part on stage version (by Willis Hall), in the role of Bamforth. Another actor considered was Albert Finney. However, the American backers required a "name", and Laurence Harvey was cast - and a good choice too as along with his role as Joe Lampton, this soon became one of his most acclaimed films. Over on itv gold 1, you'll be able to ... |
