The Think Defence Top 20 British War Film Countdown Chosen not on their artistic merit, historical accuracy or 100% Britishness but just because I think they are great and well worth a watch. Details - The Way Ahead
When Winston Churchill approached David Niven about creating a film that would do for the British Army what In Which We Serve had done for the Royal Navy, he contacted Carol Reed and suggested expanding The New Lot. The result, written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov, was the acclaimed The Way Ahead. For its U.S. release, Way Ahead was edited to a shorter length and retitled The Immortal Battalion. In either of its feature length forms, the film is concerned with the training of a bunch of raw recruits into a capable and efficient fighting regiment. Niven stars as Jim Perry, a lieutenant and former ordinary guy who finds that he must learn to take a tough line in order to make his wildly diverse crew come together and understand the importance both of the war and of their place in it. Although it takes time and constant effort on the part of Perry and his sergeant, the eight men eventually overcome their different backgrounds and feelings, and transform themselves into a unit which performs its tasks with admirable skill and dexterity, preparing them for their battle against the Desert Fox in Africa. Told in a semi-documentary style, Battalion also features the screen debut of Trevor Howard. …The Way Ahead ( The Immortal Battalion ) Watch it because…Filmed before the outcome of WWII was certain it is an excellent study in wartime film making At the end of the film, instead of closing with ‘The End’ it instead shows ‘The Beginning’ Ask Santa
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Top 20 British War Films – 11 The Way Ahead