Yesterday's Enemy

Star Review

Another fine piece of work from Val Guest, who brings polished cinematic clout to this low-key, World War II drama, scripted by Peter R. Newman from his TV play.

Enemy gets straight into the action, as Captain Stanley Baker and his men, separated from the rest of their unit and unsure of whether or not they are behind enemy lines, take a well-earned rest from snaking through the Burmese jungle. But the village they stumble upon houses a puzzle that they must solve or pay for with their lives.

Far from confining the action, Enemy’s studio setting actually helps to emphasise the claustrophobia and stifling oppression of jungle combat. And the film is worth seeing for Baker’s performance alone. A kind of proto Peckinpah anti-hero, he’ll commit war crime for the greater good of the operation and make pragmatic decisions that are unpopular and unpleasant. But he’ll risk his life to save men that he is never civil to. The antithesis of the typical stiff-upper-lipped British officer, this is one of Baker’s best screen roles.

Julian Upton on 1st September 2009
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Film Description

BAFTA-nominated Hammer film, in which, cut off by the Japanese advance into Burma, Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) and his exhausted British troops take over an enemy-held jungle village. Despite protestations from a padre and a war correspondent (Leo McKern), Langford orders that two innocent villagers should be shot to extract vital information - but his tactics return to haunt him when the Japanese retake the village.

I was looking forward to seeing this film. I love Hammer Horror and have done since I was a kid, but this is serious and true to life movie. Hammer horror was all abou... more >

I was looking forward to seeing this film. I love Hammer Horror and have done since I was a kid, but this is serious and true to life movie. Hammer horror was all about fantasy, but this is no fairy tail. The horror's of war are shown in such a way as only British films can. The film is very realistic, thrilling, touching and at times disturbing! A must-have film for any DVD collection! Stanley Baker gives a superb performance, pre-Zulu! < less

View all 2 of Kevin W Wardle’s reviews

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DVD Extras

• 24 page illustrated booklet with film notes by Hammer Films' historian Marcus Hearn.

Film Details

Cast

Gordon Jackson, Leo McKern, Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe

Technical Details