Never So Few (1959) User Reviews (46)

Nothing in this war makes sense. Why you expect it to make sense now?

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 30 August 2015]

An allied guerrilla unit led by Capt. Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) deals with the Japanese army and warlord controlled Chinese troops out in the Burma jungle.

"In the hills of North Burma, gateway to the vast prize of Asia, less than a thousand Kachin warriors, fighting under American and British leadership of the O.S.S., held back 40,000 Japanese in the critical, early years of World War II. It has been said NEVER have free men everywhere owed so much to SO FEW".

Killer Warrants and The Unprecedented War.

Directed by John Sturges and featuring Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Peter Lawford, Brian Donlevy, Gina Lollobrigida, Richard Johnson and Paul Henreid. Never So Few it's fair to say has a iffy reputation, originally conceived as a rat pack war film, it has some great strengths and some annoying weaknesses. The story itself is great, a part of the war that deserves to have been portrayed on the big screen, but why the makers didn't exorcise the whole romantic thread remains not just a mystery, but nearly a film killer.

As lovely as Miss Lollobrigida is, her whole character arc, and the relationship with Sinatra's stoic Reynolds, is surplus to requirements. It serves absolutely no purpose to defining other characters or for narrative invention. This strand of the story carries the film to over two hours in length, without this strand it's a film of 90 minutes focusing on the brave souls who fought in the Burmese conflict. Which is what it should have been.

When dealing with the conflicts, both outer and inner, the film does excite. The wily Sturges knows his way around an action scene and all the efforts here are gripping. Cast are fine and dandy, with McQueen dominating his scenes, Johnson the class act on show, while Sinatra, once he gets rid of the fake beard, shows his knack for tortured emotion to the point you just can't help but root for him even when he's being pig-headed (not a stretch for old blue eyes of course).

Tech credits are mixed, the studio sets are easily spotted, but conversely so are the real and pleasing location sequences filmed in Ceylon. The Panavision photography (William H. Daniels) is beautiful, a Metrocolor treat, but Hugo Friedhofer unusually turns in a lifeless musical score. All told it's not hard to see why it's a film that divides opinions, it's very episodic and that romance drags it something terrible. But still strong merits exist and it at least gets the core of the real story out in the public domain. 6/10

Rout Step.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 20 December 2012]

I understand this was directed by John Sturges but it's Frank Sinatra's movie all the way. Steve McQueen, in a supporting role, was a rising star at the time and constituted competition for the Chairman of the Board. According to the Presenter on TCM, here's how Old Blue Eyes handled the potentially disturbing relationship: "Here's how it works. I show up and say my lines, and if there's any light left over, you get it." McQueen was savvy enough to keep out of Frank's way. McQueen's part was supposed to be given to Sammy Davis, Jr., but the two had had a falling out and Davis was temporarily in the dog house.

That's all okay. Sinatra was never noted for his reticence or his modesty. The problem is that he seemed at times to believe that his movie career could be carried along by the momentum provided simply by his presence. This is one of his lazier performances. (His better ones include "The Manchurian Candidate" and "From Here to Eternity.") The story has to do with Sinatra and his crew training Kachin tribesmen of the Burma highlands to wage war against the Japanese occupiers in World War II. The Kachin, for what it's worth, are well-known in anthropological circles. But this narrative, as simple as it seems, remains unfocused. There aren't any scenes of Sinatra's crew training the Kachin. You can't tell who is a Kachin and who is an ordinary Burmese.

We can be sure that Gina Lollobrigida is not a Burmese. She's a glamorously made-up Hollywood star who is the mistress of Paul Henreid. After a brief period of emotional turbulence, she decides to run off with Sinatra. She doesn't sweat. The climate is that of a tropical rainforest and she doesn't sweat. Nobody sweats. Everyone's uniforms are clean and dry. Sinatra is outfitted in a faux military corduroy uniform and one of those AnZac hats with the brim curled up on the side. The shoulders are extraordinarily broad and the rest of the uniform loose and baggy. Watching him walk is a painful experience.

There are some scenes of combat that are pedestrian but exciting anyway, even if they're just taken as a relief from the dreary love story between Sinatra and Lollobrigida.

Nice photography by William Daniels. The score by Hugo Friedhofer is lush and romantic and eminently forgettable. You want a good war movie about battle in the China-Burma-India theater? Watch "The Bridge on the River Kwai."

Dealing With Warlords With Warrants

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 7 September 2007]

Never So Few finds Frank Sinatra as co-commander with Britisher Richard Johnson of a behind the lines detachment of Kachin native tribesmen, conducting harassing actions against the Japanese in the China-Burma- India Theater of World War II. Sinatra is working out of the Office of Strategic Services which in this case is run by General Brian Donlevy playing William J. Donovan in all, but name.

Sinatra keeps the hipster persona down to a minimum and delivers a good performance as the rather unorthodox commander of native troops. Of course he's confronted with a rather unorthodox situation when warlords with warrants from the Chinese Nationalist government in Chungking massacre Americans and Kachins for their supplies. Purportedly these were our allies.

In all of this Sinatra finds time to romance Gina Lollabrigida the kept woman of Paul Henreid a most mysterious person of influence and nurse Kipp Hamilton. Gina is a most entertaining diversion, but the real story is about the Chinese actions in World War II.

During the Fifties Chiang Kai-Shek was a godlike creature, a noble exile from Communism on Taiwan running the government we still recognized. Never So Few was a daring film for its time, fresh from the McCarthy years for daring to suggest the Nationalist Chinese were less than noble.

Actually what is described in Never So Few, independent warlords making deals with both sides is old business in the Orient. It was something our culture couldn't grasp, still can't in many ways.

Never So Few boosted the careers of three men in Sinatra's and Johnson's command. Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, and Dean Jones all of whom went on to substantial careers. For McQueen it was his first role of substance in a major motion picture.

I recall reading years ago that Hedda Hopper who always boosted Steve McQueen's career when she could in her column, claiming that while this was a good career move, he should avoid dependence on Frank Sinatra for his employment. McQueen being an independent sort of fellow anyway, probably would have come to that same conclusion on his own. Nevertheless he certainly did carve his own legend out in film history.

Never So Few is a decent war film of a little known theater of war for Americans and should be seen.

Based on Real-life story of OSS Detachment 101

[ladybegood64 · 25 March 2004]

Although the profile mentions that Sinatra's character and his fellow agents are members of the OSS, this could use some elaboration. This movie is clearly an attempt to dramatize certain portions of OSS Detachment 101's exploits in the CBI during WWII. This is the only film I've ever seen that deals with a story involving the OSS that is based on any sort of factual series of events. Detachment 101, formed very early in WWII as an OSS Operations Group (OG), was responsible for hamstringing Japanese operations in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater along with the Kachin Rangers, native people whom they had trained and equipped and a host of other Allied special operations type units, many of which contributed to the lineages of later special ops units, especially in the US (Merrill's Marauders = 75th Ranger Regiment and Det. 101 being the root of lineages of both CIA covert operations units and Army Special Forces).

The story which most clearly sticks out here is the episode involving the discovery of warrants issued by the Chinese Nationalist government authorizing local bandit warlords to confiscate goods from anyone, including Allied forces. Although not quite right in the movie, these bandits attacked a group of Kachins, which brought the attention of US OSS agents. These agents, with their Kachin Rangers, attacked across the Chinese border, discovered the warrants and almost caused a major diplomatic incident between the US and Chinese governments, especially after the OSS agents turned a blind eye to the execution of the Chinese bandits by Kachin Rangers.

All in all, not a spectacular film and the love interest aspect a little odd in the middle of a war-zone, but still notable as the only film dealing with the subject of OSS OGs in a semi-factual way.

Frank's oddly disturbing goatee

[nerdomatic10-937-667230 · 6/10 · 21 March 2014]

This flick was in heavy rotation on TCM recently; I guess because it was Steve McQueen's big break. He does a fine job, as does Charles Bronson, but "NSF" is a perfect unintentionally funny, entertainingly bad movie. When Frank Sinatra was genuinely interested in playing a sympathetic and vulnerable character in a top-notch movie, he was most excellent. "The Manchurian Candidate" is one of the best films ever. But most of the time his ego was totally out of control, and that's definitely the case here. He looks like the 98-lb weakling "before" in Charles Atlas's body-building cartoon ads, and is laughably unconvincing as a jungle warfare commando. Frank weighs about 120 lbs here, and there's good reason why he never took his shirt off in his flicks. He's skinny, but not in shape. Don't get me wrong, he went through an entire telephone book of gorgeous women, so he clearly had what it takes in real life. But watching him play a Lee Marvin-type guy just doesn't work, not even for a second. He looks very scrawny in his fatigues and wears an immaculate bush hat with one brim turned up on the side, Australian-style, along with possibly the worst beard in movie history.

Frank's romance with Gina Lollobrigida is pretty comical, although it's not meant to be. Gina plays a kept woman being employed by a wealthy war profiteer, but he conveniently drops out of the picture whenever Frank's around. Gina is stunning, but is a terrible actress. Luckily, she knows how to breathe deeply while wearing low-cut bodices. Frank's romantic patter is no more convincing than his tough-guy banter: "I'll keep you barefoot and pregnant and living on the edge of town." Of course, a world-class beauty steeped in luxury would immediately fall head-over-heels for such a smooth line. Frank was one of Hollywood's greatest ladies' men, so he fully realized the silliness here, but he played it straight and never winked at the audience. Throughout the entire movie, Frank is able to frequently switch back and forth between the jungle and Gina's hotel suite. Not a bad deal.

"NSF" is based on a WWII novel written by Frank's character, and it's probably an interesting book, but the movie fails to do it justice. He's a U.S. military adviser training Burmese Kachin tribesmen to wage guerrilla warfare on the Japanese. There's a lot of great exterior shots of the Burmese countryside and cities and temples and monuments, but everything else was filmed on Hollywood sets, presumably so the Chairman of the Board could hit the LA bars immediately after completing his scenes for the day. So the combat scenes are excruciatingly and distractingly fake-looking. One big moment is when Frank and his men paddle silently downriver to a huge Chinese encampment in broad daylight. Hundreds of soldiers, and every last one of them is in a deep and restful sleep, including the sentries. They're all piled up on top of each other, even though they have plenty of room all around, and seem to enjoy napping in an enormous cluster. Frank's men surround them and they meekly surrender when Frank orders them to. Much to their regret, because Frank later orders them all shot as a demonstration of his ruthlessness.

The Kachin are appropriately servile and grateful to their Great White Saviors. They actually apologize to Frank when they get shot and have to die in his spindly arms. One of them gets badly wounded and the unit doesn't have any medicine or a doctor, so Frank shoots him to put him out of his misery; just like you'd do to a loyal dog. At least the poor guy doesn't say "Thanks, Frank" before the Chairman pulls the trigger. Even Mr. Sulu from "Star Trek" is there and plays pretty much the same part as he later does in "The Green Berets", another inadvertent howler.

Anyway, this flick is well worth the time, although not for the reasons its makers intended. I only gave it a 6, but for entertainment value it really rates much higher. Bad-movie fans are guaranteed to find every moment enjoyable in a perversely satisfying way.

Let yourself cash with the action, of which there is plenty, and I think you're in for a chuckling time...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 31 January 2002]

One striking point in 'Never So Few' flavor is the luxurious Gina Lollobrigida, cautious, conventional and very careful, who is something to look at from any angle or any side... She displays an array of revealing gowns, and a full and shapely figure... And don't think the lady doesn't know it... With her, temptation is an art, and a titillating bath is an aesthetic maneuver... The signorina racks up quite a score... She exudes real charm and, contrary to expectation, the exotic locations of Burma, Thailand and Ceylon (exquisitely photographed in Technicolor and CinemaScope) are tentatively explored...

'Never So Few' is an undistinguished war film... Its stars are much more important than the story, but there is plenty of action...

Sinatra is heroic, tender, and rebel... A hard-drinking, hard-bitten army captain swinging with the plot from mild-mannered soldier so brave in battle, to an officer and a gentleman so afraid of life... He leads his men against the Chinese although it means crossing the Chinese frontier... In a captured Chinese village he orders all prisoners shot, wiring his superiors to 'go to hell.' He finds American supplies, and licenses issued to warlords by Chungking to raid Allied troops and sell the booty to the Japanese, splitting the take with Chungking!

The supporting cast is filled with familiar faces and each reacts to the situation differently:

Peter Lawford is the surgeon pushed out over the hills who is treating Captain De Mortimer for malaria... He advises Sinatra not to cross the border...

Steve McQueen looks good as the reckless, casual GI corporal who overpowers two 'guardians of law & order' so neatly that Sinatra gets him transferred to his outfit... McQueen gives his best screen performance, and it led to his being chosen as one of 'The Magnificent Seven' as Yul Brynner's first recruit and second-in-command...

Richard Johnson is Captain Danny De Mortimer ordered with Tom Reynolds to take a two-week "holiday" in Calcutta to obtain a surgeon and medical supplies for their men...

Paul Henreid is a war profiteer who buys and sells things in seven languages, at all hours...

Charles Bronson is the tough and edgy Sergeant John Danforth...

Dean Jones is the sergeant who clearly delivers the message: 'Do not move any attack. Rearm and release any prisoners you may have taken.'

Robert Bray is Colonel Parkson who warns Reynolds not to attack the Chinese village...

Brian Donlevy is General Sloan who backs up Reynolds and puts off the Chungking representative...

It doesn't know what it wants to be

[HotToastyRag · 3/10 · 20 April 2020]

The opening credits of Never So Few promise to show an excellent movie. With a theme from Hugo Friedhofer, and a cast of Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Paul Henried, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Brian Donlevy, Dean Jones, and Philip Ahn, this WW2 battlefront drama has to be good, doesn't it? Unfortunately not. Despite the intriguing setting of a few American soldiers fighting off an ambush of Chinese troops in Burma, it was one unpleasant surprise after another.

If you can get past Frank Sinatra's Robin Hood style goatee and hat, and if you can get past Paul Henried's relegation to a tired, old man, and if you can get past Gina Lollobrigida's fickle attentions, and if you can get past Millard Kaufman's cheesy dialogue, then you'd better be prepared for a war movie where the main soldiers take a vacation in a posh hotel. I'm not kidding.

This movie didn't really know what it wanted to be, since so many of the scenes are disjointed and all the subplots don't tie in with each other. Is this a war movie, a love triangle with silly one-liners, a drama about disobeying orders, or a moralistic tale of a cynic who has to learn his lesson? If you want to put your bid in, rent it, but I'm voting for option E: none of the above.

3 out of 5 action rating

[scheelj · 6/10 · 22 July 2012]

Skip it – This was supposed to be a starring vehicle for Frank Sinatra. But this is romance, not war. There's some combat in the beginning and in the middle, but a lot of nothing the rest of the way. Sinatra's got a different rat pack in this one, made up of youngsters Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. McQueen steals the show in one of his earliest roles. But he's not in enough scenes, and the only action scenes are the one's he's in. The title of the film insinuates that never before has so much been owed to so few. That's funny, because never before have so few of my expectations for a good action movie been met. 3.5 out of 5 action rating

OK McQueen, but Sinatra bombs

[doug-balch · 4/10 · 24 March 2010]

The Good:

Great early look at a young Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. Lots of big names otherwise, with Sinatra, Gina Lolabrigida, Peter Lawford, Paul Henreid and Brian Donlevy.

Underlying story idea is a good one: a semi-factual recreation of OSS operations in Burma during WW2. Would be nice to see a modern remake of this movie due to the interesting subject matter.

McQueen's first big movie role. Acquits himself well and his performance certainly helped propel him to his future starring roles.

Gina Lolabrigida can't act worth a fig, but she sure is a whole lot of woman to look at.

The Bad:

I didn't buy Sinatra in the role for a minute. The casting of this pompous lounge lizard as a charismatic special forces officer is an insult to all veterans. Sinatra reportedly pressured the producers into kicking his good buddy Sammy Davis Jr. off the picture. This is ironic, because Davis actually served in WW2, while Ol' Blue Eyes was humping every starlet he could lay his hands on.

And what was up with that Aussie-style hat Sinatra wears? The guy is living in a tent in a steamy tropical jungle mowing down scores of Japs with a machine gun and there's not a single smudge, sweat stain or wrinkle on his hat. It looks like he just picked it up off the rack in the Flamingo's tourist shop. I can just imagine the director, John Sturges, begging Frank to beat the thing on a tree stump for half an hour to make it look realistic and Sinatra refusing because the wanted a slicker look.

The Sinatra role felt like it was written for Humphrey Bogart. This is especially apparent in what is supposed to be clever Bogie/Bacall style repartee between Sinatra and Lolabrigida. The casting of Paul Henreid, who starred with Bogie in Casablanca, seems no accident.

I can imagine that Sinatra bullied his way into a role that was way, way over his head. As much as I would like to blame Sinatra entirely for this movie's failure, it should be noted that the script is the main culprit, especially the excruciating attempt at "snappy patter" between Sinatra and Lolabrigida. I don't think even Bogart could have saved this movie, but these two acting cripples have absolutely no chance.

Sturges went on to direct a fantastic film, "The Great Escape" a couple of years later, so we'll have to cut him a break on this one.

Reminds me of another star studded stinker, "The Way West", an unwatchable 1965 western that starred Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark. That also had a director, Andrew McLaglen, who went on to do much better work.

Bottom line: this is a great example of how important a script is to a movie. Here you had a panoply of big time stars and talent, a solid director, but the movie stinks anyway. Also, if your leading man is an actor of very narrow ability, you better make sure you cast him in a role that suits him.

Wonderful For Steve McQueen Fans!

[Easygoer10 · 6/10 · 18 January 2020]

This is a flawed film. In real life, Frank Sinatra had (generously) taken Steve McQueen "under his wing". At the time, Steve was primarily known to fans as "Josh Randall" from his hit TV series, "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958-1961). Fortunately, director Frank Sturges took advantage of Sinatra's generosity to Steve, and cast him as the "lone wolf" type, "Bill Ringa". This is a character who despises authority. However, he will "give you the shirt off his back"; which he (both) says and does for Frank Sinatra! Also, simply by his using his own (extremely powerful) natural screen presence, Steve McQueen "steals the show". This is something McQueen did throughout his career. Unfortunately, the film suffers by the casting of Gina Lollobrigida. This was not her fault. Frank Sinatra was sleeping with her, so (naturally) she was cast in the film. She winds up being strictly "eye candy". Frank Sinatra and (fellow "Rat Pack" member) Peter Lawford look like anything but "OSS" soldiers. However, McQueen shines in this film. It was followed by John Sturges casting him in the now legendary film, "The Magnificent Seven" (1960). Shortly thereafter, McQueen made "The War Lover" (1962) and "Hell is for Heroes" (1962). The next year was the movie in which McQueen shot to worldwide superstardom: "The Great Escape" (1963). From then on, he became a screen legend.

So Few, so bad.

[st-shot · 3/10 · 25 March 2010]

Frank Sinatra looks like an outdoors department store mannequin most of the time and the usually reliable action director John Sturgis (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) is at a loss to get things moving in this World War Two drama that claims to have been shot in Burma and Thailand (exposition shots perhaps) but is dominated by exterior scenes shot on indoor stages.

Sinatra is Captain Tom Reynolds commander of an elite force sent to Burma to train and support locals against the Japanese. He's there to get a job done by any means possible and his methods causes rifts within the unit as he bends the rules. In between helping liberate the Burmese people and committing atrocities he spends his r&r in clinches with English challenged, futuristic looking Gina Lollibridgida.

Sturgis is hard pressed from the outset to build suspense and urgency into his film with Sinatra's casual acting style in the pivotal role. He's all Vegas cool and insolence and it's a bad fit to lead the likes of characters played by real rough and tumbles Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson who shine amid a lack lustre cast. It's a passionless performance (even in his clinches with Gina) as he downs a fair amount of scotch and sleepwalks through his role.

Sturgis for his part has a hard time trimming and putting scenes together to give the film any life or power. The dialog is cliché ridden and the acting flat most of the time which Sturgis attempts to remedy by punctuating with action and sneak attacks that are themselves poorly staged and edited.

Legendary B&W cinematographer William Daniels never did grasp color in the same way and he glaringly displays it here with distracting compositions that look artificial and lit like football stadiums. Hugo Friedhofer's score attempts to convey the gravity of the situation but instead heightens the overall mawkishness.

In similar more successful treatments you have Errol Flynn's inspirational leadership in Warner's suspenseful Objective Burma before and Lee Marvin's tough, no nonsense commander in The Dirty Dozen following raising the question is Never So Few worth a watch? The first word of the title says it all.

" You are a recipient of the Medal of Honor, General, I expected something more "

[thinker1691 · 8/10 · 12 January 2009]

This is a most unheralded Hollywood vehicle and yet it contain enough heavy weight stars to garner an entire shelf at the Academy Awards. The movie deals with that portion of World War II in and around what was then called Burma. (Today the world calls it Myanmar) Nevertheless, the small native Kachin tribe have been called upon to engage the Japanese army. Along with American forces they are a small, but formidable contingent who despite their numbers, become the banner of the film. "Never So Few" is the story of the Kachin and the American commander Capt. Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) and his able assistant Capt. Danny Mortimer. Combating the superb Japanese forces and their attempts to conquer Indochina, creates many losses among the allies and prompts a need for a medical officer. Capt Grey Travis (Peter Lawford) joins their group as does a spirited Hell's Kitchen warrior, named William Ringer (Steve McQueen). Betrayed by the Chineese Government after they massacre American forces, Reynolds defies his own government, kills captured prisoners and invited a court-martial. During this same period he falls for beautiful Gina Lollobrigida who plays Carla Vesari a protégé of Nikko Regas (Paul Henreid) a rich entrepreneur. Brian Donlevy as Gen. Sloan orders Reynolds to come to headquarters to explain his defiance of orders. Dean Jones is Sgt. Jim Norby and Charles Bronson as Sgt. John Danforth along with Philip Ahn (Kung Fu) as Nautaung are superior in this movie. Each adds excellence to their respective characters, creating the cornerstone of a true Classic. Well done! ****

Short and sweet.

[libertysanders · 6/10 · 31 May 2017]

This could have been a good, although not great flick IF its producers had resisted including the mandatory "love story" component.

Sinatra was a crooner, never an actor, who was able to get by and even be entertaining with a good supporting cast. He has one here with Steve McQueen as the standout.

Gina Lollobrigida was never anything more than a pair of boobs with legs.

These two could never have handled a GOOD script. Their personal chemistry was zero, and the painful, stilted meanderings that pass for their love scenes are downright painful to watch.

Fortunately we now have the technology to spare ourselves such things. I gleefully advance through every scene with Old Blue-Eyes and Boobs Walking.

Confine your viewing to Sinatra and his Kachins and you actually have a pretty good movie.

Something Stupid

[slokes · 3/10 · 9 September 2008]

"Never So Few" fails in so many ways; as a treatment of the Burma campaign in World War II; as a tough-nosed action picture; as an involving melodrama; and most especially, as a vehicle for star Frank Sinatra.

Sinatra was too busy playing soldier and practicing his cool look to bother constructing an interesting character; a strange bitter vibe hangs over his performance. Oddly, it was another actor who managed to take the little "Never So Few" had to offer in the way of career advancement: Steve McQueen. Up to this point, he had done "The Blob" and TV, but his comfortable natural bearing around Sinatra's star wattage shows he could hold his own with the big boys, even when the script gave him little to work with.

McQueen is Sgt. Ringa, a jeep driver who finds himself drafted for more dangerous duty when commando leader Tom Reynolds (Sinatra) takes a shine to his street-smart ways. Reynolds leads a small band of Kachin fighters in the hilly jungles of Burma, continually harassing a Japanese force many times its size.

"A regular Abe Lincoln in North Burma" is what rich merchant Nikko Regas calls him. Regas is part of the other story in "Few", the man whose girl (Gina Lollabrigida) Reynolds wants. The exotic Lollabrigida and the world-weary chain-smoking Sinatra are clearly meant to invite comparisons to Rick and Ilsa, and Paul Henreid cements the impression by playing Nikko as much the same character he was in "Casablanca".

None of this comes together, though. In fact, the two parts fail to co-exist at all. You get 20 minutes of war followed by 40 minutes of earnest love talk, then back to the war. The war scenes are about as competently directed as an episode of "The Rat Patrol", with idiotically sequenced insert shots (like soldiers shooting up at people we then see falling in a river) and noble, servile Kachin dying with meek apologies to "Dua" Reynolds. War is hell for Tom, who loses both his monkey and his favorite gun caddy, a faithful Kachin who hands him a new automatic every time Reynolds empties a magazine on the enemy.

The romance is even worse. Sinatra and Lollabrigida have no chemistry, she can't act, and director John Sturges' idea of story advancement is to focus on her bustline and hope you don't notice the dialogue. And what dialogue!

Him: "I hanker for you alone."

Her: "Why don't you go back to the hills and play with your popguns!"

Henreid warns Lollabrigida he won't let her go then disappears for the rest of the movie, leaving Lollabrigida and Sinatra to kiss like dead fish in front of bad process shots.

The film generates a bit of interest an hour or so in, when Reynolds and his men discover the Japanese are not the only force they have to fight. But the resolution of this angle is both trite and ugly, involving the wholesale slaughter of captured prisoners while the camera focuses on Sinatra, looking so sad his previously disapproving medic (Peter Lawford, better than usual here) has to pat his shoulder to let him and the audience know it's alright.

McQueen at least mines his on-screen time to showcase his talents as an action man, and occasional scene stealer with the aid of handy props, like a slice of watermelon or a mortar. Competing with Charles Bronson, Brian Donlevy, and Richard Johnson as Reynolds' monocle-wearing British pal, McQueen hardly has to break a sweat.

The worst performance here is Sinatra's, who just drips with self-importance, whether wearing an ugly goatee (Mitch Miller must have really got to him) or trying to sound like Hemingway with stiff lines like: "You have tasted the pain of wound in combat." Sinatra was not just good but great in parts where he allowed himself to project insecurity. But too often, when permitted to coast, he gave performances like this one, showcasing the boor he could be in life from time to time.

"Never So Few" drags for more than two hours, long enough to listen to four of his Capitol albums. Guess which is a better investment of your time.

Routine Rat Pack(-) flick spiced up by Steve McQueen

[eaglejet98 · 20 May 2004]

This is a typical "Rat Pack" (minus Deano, Joey and Sammy) theatrical romp; big on action and small on fact based substance, but entertaining nonetheless.

The big surprise is Steve McQueen, appearing in one of his first major films. Up to this point, he has come to prominence in the TV series Wanted, Dead or Alive, but has yet to make the jump to film star. "Never So Few" is his springboard. A spat between Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. gets McQueen the supporting role that launches his movie career under the direction of John Sturges (who later directs The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape).

McQueen plays Corporal Bill Ringa (Why'd they pick that name...a pseudonym for "Ringer" maybe?), a self promoting "SGT. Bilko" type con man making a few fast bucks "in the rear with the gear" of the CBI. When Ringa is assigned as OSS Capt. Tom Reynold's (Frank Sinatra) jeep driver, during the latter's visit to the rear area headquarters, he impresses the officer with his unorthodox approach to selling illegal whiskey and fighting with MPs (anyone that hates MPs has got my vote). Reynolds gets Ringa transferred to his outfit and the two go about smashing the Japanese and renegade Chinese warlords.

McQueen shows the strong almost overpowering "2d in command" role he perfects in The Magnificent Seven a year later. His on-screen presence in these two films propels McQueen to leading man status thereafter.

Not a very historically accurate film, and some of the acting is overplayed, but McQueen is strong throughout and the film is fast paced and entertaining.

Sinatra is great

[valleyjohn · 7/10 · 7 December 2021]

This a film set during WW2, and is about the American OSS mounts covert operations with the native Kachin against the Japanese army in the jungles of Burma and the atrocities that occurred.

The best thing about this film is Frank Sinatra . He is excellent as the no nonsense Captain Tom Reynolds who isn't afraid to break the rules if he feels it's the right thing to do .

The biggest problem with the film is it can't make its mind up if it's war film or a love story and I know which part of the film I could have done without.

Gina Lollobrigida was a big star back then and I'm sure why ? . She isn't exactly pretty and her acting is terrible. She chews up the scenery in this movie and is totally miscast.

It's good to see two members of The Magnificent Seven on show in Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson and of course this is directed by the great John Sturges who made both films .

On the whole I found the film a bit dull but I really liked the last fifteen minutes when Reynolds is being held account for his actions . The dialogue is snappy , almost courtroom like and it finishes of the film nicely.

some big names with some action

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 21 March 2024]

In North Burma, less than a thousand Kachin warriors working under American and British OSS hold back about 40k Japanese soldiers in the early years of WWII. Capt. Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) and Captain Grey Travis (Peter Lawford) lead the mixed forces. Reynolds falls for the exotic Carla Vesari (Gina Lollobrigida).

Some of the other notable names are Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, George Takei, and James Hong. McQueen's career is starting to gain momentum. Despite his lower status, his superstar qualities cannot be denied. Bronson is doing angry Bronson things. Sinatra's beard annoys me and he's just being Sinatra. The love story detracts a perfectly good war movie. The action is good for the era, but the movie tends to flatten otherwise.

Never So Few will watch 125 minutes of this!

[hayesreh · 1/10 · 24 June 2008]

I don't understand how a great director (The Great Escape), a great plot (OSS training the Kachin natives), and a great cast which included Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Brian Donlevy etc. could combine to create such a horrible movie. What a waste of talent.

Within the first 45 minutes of this movie, my wife gave up, and I only lasted for an hour and a half because the whole thing was so implausible.

You have Frank Sinatra looking very dapper with his starched uniform and coat complete with manicured goatee in the middle of the steaming jungle, albeit a very clean looking jungle like a Hollywood back set, personally annihilating hundreds of Japanese with his 30 shot Thompson.

This "remote" jungle, where air supplies must be dropped in (3 boxes for 100 odd troops) is somehow able to support a twin-Beech airlift to bring 'ol blue eyes back to an extremely lavish hotel/city where he woos the sultry Gina Lollobrigida, who dresses like someone from the Italian Riveira circa 1959. All this during the period when Japanese are overrunning most of SE Asia.

Bottom line is that this movie takes a theater of war previously portrayed in such classics as "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Operation Burma", and makes it downright silly.

Would have been a much better film sans the romantic interludes

[mts43 · 7/10 · 1 November 2022]

This could have been a considerably better film given all that it had going for it. The premise was based an an actual OSS outfit in Burma in WW2. The casting, aside from Lollobrigida, is good. The cinematography is excellent. Several members of the cast were relatively unknown at the time, but went on to have prominent careers. The most notable of these was Steve McQueen, who nearly steals the film in his relatively brief time on the screen. But the story continuity is severely disrupted by the inclusion of far too lengthy and completely unnecessary Sinatra-Lollobrigida romance, which slows the pace of the film to a crawl all too frequently.

OSS captain Sinatra finds himself leading brave American and Kachin troops across the Burmese jungle

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 12 September 2017]

During WW2, the American O.S.S. mounts covert operations , led by Captain Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) commanding a handful of skilled O.S.S. operatives against the Japanese army in the jungles of Burma . But jungle combat is more grueling than Reynolds had reckoned . As the military commander and his outnumbered troops overcome incredible odds against the Japanese . As sharp-witted soldiers accompany him , such as : Sergeant Jim Norby (Dean Jones) , Capt. Danny De Mortimer (Richard Johnson) , Sgt. John Danforth (Charles Bronson) , Bill Ringa (Steve McQueen) and Doctor Capt. Grey Travis (Peter Lawford). Some respite is found in the arms of gorgeous Carla (Gina Lollobrigida) , an Italian woman protected by a veteran war supplier (Paul Henreid) . But after Chinese rebels offering illegal cross-border support , as they pass the frontier to loot and kill American soldiers ,as Reynolds abandons all notions of "military protocol" and seeks vendetta ; weighting Tom's impulsive requital , attacking against the formalities of the international diplomacy .

There's a lot of everything in this Sturges' wartime drama about Burmese war , such as : noisy action , romance , serious political talk , spectacular battles , luxurious scenarios , and wonderful Gina . This movie is based on the real-life story of World War II's OSS Detachment 101 and adapted from the novel by Tom T. Chameles ; but including a lot of focus on a silly love story . This was an OSS Operations Group designed to specialize in activities in the China-Burma-India region in collaboration with the Kachin Rangers , guerrillas and other Allied special operations units and particularly against a Japanese army as familiar with the terrain as the Kachin . The flick has a stolid script by Millard Kaufman , but not uninteresting , and results to be slow-moving , overlong and a little bit dull . However , the war battles , explosions and shootouts make strong impression . Too much romance bogs down this warfare yarn , although the action and intrigue are nice . The film loses impetus when it lingers over the Sinatra's romance with Lollo . Elsewhere, it is indicative of Cold War tensions that attention turns in the hard confrontation between American and Chinese troops . The picture proved once and for all that Frank could be a fine actor . He plays as Captain Tom Reynolds who is in WWII Burma to train the Kachin natives in modern warfare . Regular acting by Gina as the mistress of oily profileer played by Paul Henreid . There are excellent acting from some Hollywood's best players , including prestigious secondaries . Very good support cast as Dean Jones , John Hoyt , Whit Bissell , Richard Johnson , Brian Donlevy . And a lot of oriental actors to have an acceptable future Hollywood career as James Hong , George Takei and Mako's brief role as a soldier in the hospital , it was the first film role for Mako . And Aki Aleong who still goes on playing and producing ; in fact , he has played/financed the last Jean Claude Van Damme : ¨Pound and Flesh¨. It helped advance the youngster Steve McQueen career who exudes star potential , even though he was the late replacement when Sinatra fell out with Sammy Davis Jr ; as a feud had broken out between them . The following year Steve was one of ¨the Magnificent seven¨ and also played ¨The great escape¨ by Sturges .

Colorful cinematography in Cinemascope and Technicolor by William H. Daniels , usual cameraman to Greta Garbo . Thrilling as well as atmospheric musical score by Hugo Friedhofer . The motion picture was regularly directed by John Sturges . This one , though , is pretty slack stuff by John Sturges' standards . Sturges was an expert on Western genre as proved in ¨ Escape from Fort Bravo , The law and Jake Wade , The last train of Gun Hill, The Magnificent seven , Backlash , Hour of gun , Bad Day at Black Rock , Joe Kidd , The Hallelujah trail , 3 Sergeants , Valdez or Chino¨ and many others . rating : passable , worthwhile watching .

Cast of Great Actors

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 9 September 2007]

This was definitely a Rat Pack film with a cast of great actors, namely: Frank Sinatra, (Capt. Tom Reynolds) who leads an O.S.S. operations in Burma during WW II in order to train Kachin natives in U.S. warfare. Capt. Reynolds takes some very controversial steps in killing a soldier in order to put him out of his pain and suffering and constantly disobeys military orders. Reynolds needs a doctor for his mission in Burma and manages to convince Capt. Grey Travis, (Peter Lawford) to accept his invitation with very short notice. There is plenty of action and also great romantic scenes with Gina Lollobrigida who is living with an older man named Paul Henreid, but just for his money. Charles Bronson and Brian Donlevy (Gen. Sloan) give great supporting roles to this film and also a great star named Steve McQueen (Bill Ringa) who gave this film plenty of vitality. Great 1959 film, worth watching and enjoying "Old Blue Eyes" at Work!

Hokey, but not campy enough.

[Gornzilla · 4/10 · 5 August 2007]

Plenty of spoilers so be warned. The main point is, Steve McQueen stole every scene he was in.

It's more hokey and not nearly enough camp. I reckon in this, The Age of Internet, every Tom, Dick, and Harry off-the-street can recognize sloppy casting (hey, all Asians look alike!) and bad sets (Burma jungles look just like California forest).

I was watching Sinatra, with a beatnik beard, an Aussie hat, and his pet monkey, hang out with his best pal, an English Gentleman officer. A best pal always gets it, especially when they're a Fine English Gentleman with a Monocle (tm).

Frankie kicks his beautiful red-headed girl to the curb for Gina Lollobrigida, and punishes Gina with his acting. I thought he was great in "The Man with a Golden Arm" but he's no Elvis in this one. Take the Elvis comment however you want to.

Speaking of back monkeys, Frankie has a monkey on his back in this movie. Not the same kind of monkey as "Golden Arm", but this time he gets the monkey off his back. Well, the Japanese (fighting with American rifles and machine guns and driving American jeeps), kill the monkey. As Black Flag nearly said, "I've got a monkey on my back and it's not my imagination".

The director, John Sturges best known for "The Great Escape", did us a favor and Peter Lawford wasn't Frankies best pal -- no hokey English accent. Oh, and word is, Sammy Davis, Jr was set to be in the movie. He had the gall to say he was a better singer than Sinatra. Sinatra kicked him to the curb, too.

Dean Jones, the Shaggy DA, fights Charles Bronson -- who's playing a Navajo. I ask, "How come George Takei isn't playing a Burmese soldier? Oh, maybe this was made when Star Trek was on the air".

Then Takei makes his appearance! This movie came out in 1959. Totally my mistake because Sinatra looked a little haggard.

Whenever any of the Japanese, Italian, Chinese actors playing the Kachin natives of Burma were shot, they'd apologize to Sinatra for dying in their "me so horny, me love you long time" dialect.

Eventually Frankie sneaks across the Burmese border, over to China. There were renegade Chinese soldiers, who slaughtered 34 American soldiers in Burma. This made Frankie mad. Very mad. So he takes the passed-out-drunk Chinese platoon hostage without firing a shot.

The only shots fired are Frankie killing officers. He realizes he's in trouble for doing this, plus crossing a border, so he sends Steve McQueen out to slaughter the still drunk unarmed prisoners. Steve's glad to do it. It's no Mai Lai Massacre but it still brings in a "tsk tsk" from American GI Management and Frankie and Gina run off to be married, or as he puts it, "keep you pregnant, barefoot and in the kitchen". Really.

Director Sturges underrated, so is this film

[hondo551 · 9/10 · 31 May 2007]

I bought the DVD the other day and found it associated with Warner Brothers. While I watched I wondered how I would describe this film when I came here and thought, "A Warner's movie with all the slick and polish of an MGM film of the 50s/60s". In that rare and confusing arrangement with Turner Entertainment, it was an MGM film distributed by Warner's! Somehow I'd missed the lion at the beginning.

This film may not rate up there with the likes of Twelve O'Clock High or They Were Expendable, but neither it or its director John Sturges should be as underrated as they are. Since seeing it for the first time in the mid 60s, I've come back to it like an old friend, year after year since then, and there has always been something about it I liked.

While I can't help but feel that this movie is more about Sinatra than his character Tom Reynolds, I find it easy to put that aside when I watch the likes of Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and Dean Jones, stars on their way up, working alongside the pros like Peter Lawford, Richard Johnson, Paul Henried, Philip Ahn, and Brian Donleavy. Hollywood sets blend well with all sorts of location shooting, and the story seems evenly broken up between the horrors/adventures of war and the romance with Lollobrigida. And when Sinatra's character has to break the rules, face insurmountable odds, and endanger his career in seeking justice for fallen friends, his personal smart ass attitude seems to fit the role. He even finds an ally in Brian Donleavy's General Sloan, who runs away with the film near the very end.

Everybody in this film seems to live up to the slick and polish of 50s/60s MGM, even Hugo Friehofer's melodic and haunting score, and if there are a few times Sinatra is more Sinatra than Tom Reynolds, the rest of the stellar cast makes up for it. Its not a great war drama, but it is great war entertainment with a conscience!

Sammy and Dean get mislaid,the Chairman soldiers on...........

[ianlouisiana · 1/10 · 28 September 2006]

This is really a Poverty Row movie,they must have spent the budget on Miss Lollobrigida's ludicrous outfits straight from Hardy Amies and Christian Dior and bearing absolutely no relationship to the period in which it was set.In her every scene I expected dear Cecil Beaton to pop up with his Rolleiflex.I suspect he would have made a more convincing soldier than Mr Sinatra who looks as if he had forgotten everything his acting coach had taught him.He doesn't know what to do with his hands, he keeps on touching his hair(perhaps to make sure it's staying on),appears to be looking down at his mark a lot of the time and has trouble avoiding the furniture in several interior shots.His wooing of the immaculately groomed ,elegantly coiffured and tightly sheathed Miss Lollobrigida is perfunctory to say the least.He seems to prefer the company of the adoring Steve Mcqueen who is clearly overwhelmed by the presence of the Chairman of the Board.Perhaps a place as a junior member of the Rat Pack was at stake. Peter Lawford whose early talent as a song and dance man was exceeded by his talent for pimping girls for the President of the United States who,conveniently happened to be his brother-in-law and another close chum of the Chairman(at least up until he got elected) is the other Clansman present in body if not in spirit. Richard Johnson is right up there with the top contenders for the title of best performance by an English actor with a moustache,a monocle and dyed black hair in an American war movie in 1959.His death scene only bettered by Olivier's in "Brideshead Revisited".His monocle is gently removed by a grieving Chairman - for me the highpoint of the movie. My one regret about the casting is that Sammy and Dean didn't get to make the gig.The Chairman doesn't get to call anyone "Clyde" - which is a pity really.... That nice Mr Sulu from "Star Trek" gets some early exposure and the Chairman rather insensitively tells some of his injured soldiers to get back in the jungle where they came from - but it's easy to be picky, generally speaking "Never so few" is a sheer delight for lovers of terrible movies. The battle scenes are hilarious.With Steve driving what looks suspiciously like a Land Rover through lines of Chinese warplanes whilst the Chairman throws endless cans of petrol overboard (about 30 kilos a can - he must be stronger than he looks) with unerring aim. They emerge from this cauldron of heat without so much as a smudge on their faces,the Chairman's hat staying resolutely in place throughout. The great Brian Donlevy tries hard to appear interested but eventually gives up the ghost and sits with a fixed grin and a glassy stare whilst the Chairman gives his big speech defending the American Way,which of course is His Way. Not until "Von Ryan's Express" six years later did he surpass this silliness.Sammy and Dean missed that one too but played the numbers game with "Ocean's Eleven","Sergeants Three","Four for Texas" and "Robin and the seven Hoods",reassuringly light - hearted stuff that nobody,least of all themselves took remotely seriously. There is nothing intentionally funny about "Never so few" but it made me laugh Morie than all the other Clan movies put together.

Entertaining But Certainly Flawed

[Michael_Elliott · 20 December 2015]

Never So Few (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Set during WWII, Captain Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) is in the jungle of Burma where he must keep his men in order while making sure no sneak attacks happen. While on leave he strikes up a relationship with the beautiful Carla Vesari (Gina Lollobrigida) who might just be connected to a smuggler.

NEVER SO FEW is an entertaining movie to watch but at the same time, when it's over, you can help but be somewhat upset that the film isn't much better. After all, you've got a fantastic director in John Sturges and you've got an all-star cast with a fairly interesting story. So, what went wrong? Well, it's hard to make two types of movies and smash them into one, which is what happened here.

The problem with the movie is that the screenplay is incredibly uneven and I'd argue it's also out-of-focus. I say this because the film starts off on a very high note with the men in the jungle and all of this is entertaining. We then get some more entertaining stuff when we get back to civilian land and get to see Sinatra work his magic. The problem is that the love story is so forced and at times so silly that it really takes away from the war drama. A lot of war pictures are "male bonding movies" and Sturges would specialize this years later with THE GREAT ESCAPE. The problem with NEVER SO FEW is that the romance is pretty much in the center of the picture and really breaks any tension or drama in the war stuff.

With that said, there's no doubt that the terrific cast helps keep the movie entertaining. Sinatra is in good form as the tough Captain who does things his own way and stands up for what he believes. There's no doubt that Lollobrigida is easy on the eyes and especially during her bath scene. The supporting cast is wonderful and a lot of fun. Bronson is very good in his role as a Navajo solder. Steve McQueen is a lot of fun and even at this stage of his career that essence of cool comes across even with his scenes with Sinatra. We also get Peter Lawford, Richard Johnson, Paul Henreid, Whit Bissell, Dean Jones and Brian Donlevy among others.

NEVER SO FEW contains a lot of explosion and the action scenes are nicely directed. The court-like drama at the end isn't all that successful but the film still gives you plenty of entertaining but there's no doubt that it should have been better.