The title is from John Dryden's poem, "Alexander's Feast", stanza 1: "None but the brave/ deserve the fair" . Sinatra's directorial debut , it results to be an efficient effort , a straightforward and gripping movie , being the first Japanese/American co-production . During WWII , an American bomber aircraft is gunned down and crashes on an island (the plane flown that was shot down was R4D, C47 transport) . American and marooned Japanese soldiers (survivors from a Japanese battalion) are stranded on a tiny Pacific island , in the Salomons , during World War II . But in this uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean there is one Japanese military group and both of them stranded together . There takes place a physical and psychological battle between American/Japanese with anti-war allegory . After a skirmish , the two bunches initiate a fragile truce with the understanding that fighting will resume if one or the other sends for help . The Japanse detachment (who are mercifully allowed to speak Japanese) is commanded Lt. Kuroki (Tatsuya Mihashi) , as the film being told through the eyes of this Japanese unit commander . The American group is commanded by Capt. Dennis Bourke (Clint Walker) who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men . They confront each other in a violent mini-war but then come to terms with each other . . There , they must cease their hostility and unite themselves if they want to survive until a disappointing and unexpected ending . The Marines hold heavy weapons : M1 , Grease gun , carbine and 45 cal pistol against the Japanese rifle and hand grenade . Soonafter , the American attempt to capture a boat laboriously built by the Japanese . The American repair their radio unit ; then , things go wrong and they must decide on their next unsettling actions . This movie's closing end coda states: "Nobody Ever Wins" .
Nice and well executed film set during WWII , containing a brief anti-war declaration . The plot is plain as well as simple and prefigures ¨John Boorman's Hell in Pacific¨ , dealing with a platoon of Marines crash-lands on a tiny Pacific island occupied by a small Japanese unit and must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations . The film has a carefully constructed mood as the two groups warily circle each other and spasmodically clashing in battle , including an anti-war message ingeniously overplayed . However , being stupidly fractured by two inappropriate flashbacks , obviously designed to provide the ordinary love interest . The movie sometimes lapses into tedium and slowness , though contains striking images with moments of great power and adequate scenarios . Here Sinatra gives a very good acting as the sympathetic but drunk doctor . Known as "One-Take Charlie" for his approach to acting that strove for spontaneity and energy, rather than perfection , Sinatra was an instinctive actor who was best at playing parts that mirrored his own personality . The remaining cast is pretty good , such as : the tall Clint Walker who bears the main role , Brad Dexter from Magnificent seven , Tony Bill , Rafer Johnson as Pvt. Johnson , Tommy Sands who co-stars in the movie divorced Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's daughter , the same year this picture came out and Richard Sinatra , Frank Sinatra's cousin, appears as Private Roth . And special mention for Tatsuya Mihashi as Lt. Kuroki .
This is the first Japanese-American co-production, produced by Kikumaru Okuda for Toho Studios and by Frank Sinatra for Warner Brothers , being professionally directed by Frank who displays great competence as an action filmmaker with some scenes that are decently choreographed and memorable fight shots of both sides when they destroy their means of getaway . Frank Sinatra's only film as director and his 6th out of nine films as producer , though he also made 2 episodes ,¨The Frank Sinatra Show¨ TV Series . Sinatra's biggest hit was his role as Maggio in From Here to eternity (1953) . He won an Oscar for best supporting actor and followed this with a scintillating performance as a cold-blooded assassin hired to kill the US President in Suddenly (1954). Arguably a career-best performance , garnering him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor , was his role as a pathetic heroin addict in the powerful drama The man with the Golden arm (1955). He continued to give strong and memorable performances in such films as Guys and dolls (1955) and Some come running (1958). In the late 1950s and 1960s Sinatra became somewhat prolific as a producer, turning out such films as A hole in the head (1959) , Sergeant 3 (1962) and the very successful Robin and 7 Hoods (1964). Lighter roles alongside "Rat Pack" buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. were lucrative, especially the famed Ocean's eleven (1960). On the other hand, he alternated such projects with much more serious offerings, such as The Manchurian Candidate (1962), regarded by many critics as Sinatra's finest picture . That same year Von Ryan (1965) was a box office sensation . In 1967 Sinatra returned to familiar territory in Sidney J. Furie's The naked runner (1967) , once again playing masterfully in his only film to be shot in the U.K. and Germany . That same year he starred as a private investigator in Tony Rome (1967), a role he reprised in the sequel , Lady in cement (1968). He also starred with Lee Remick in The detective (1968), a film daring for its time with its engaging theme and it was a major box-office success.
