SYNOPSIS:
Sinatra is Captain Tom Reynolds, leader of a squad of American operatives send to train the natives in Burma to fight the Japanese during World War II. The Burmese guerillas do battle throughout the jungle, while Reynolds steals some time with a beauty played by Gina Lollobrigida. In the end, though, Reynolds finds himself also fighting Chinese rebels who’ve attacked American soldiers. The director, John Sturges, would go on to make The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape with two members of this film’s supporting cast, Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen—and he’d reunite with Sinatra as well on the Rat Pack movie Sergeants 3.
Directed by John Sturges
Produced by John Sturges
Written by Tom T. Chamales (book), Millard Kaufman (screenplay)
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Kipp Hamilton
Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editing: Ferris Webster
Music: Hugo Friedhofer
Released by MGM
Six years after winning the Oscar for From Here to Eternity, Sinatra returned to the Pacific Theater of World War II to play an army captain leading a guerilla force against the Japanese in Burma. It’s got plenty of action, a bit of romance, and a formidable supporting cast that included Charles Bronson, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford and a young unknown named Steve McQueen.