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DVD Release Date
• R2: 17 May 2004
Running Time
1 hour, 55 minutes
Country UK
More info on IMDb.com
Other Titles
• The Way Ahead
• The Immortal Battalion (1945)
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Genre: War, Drama, World War II, Military
Plot: Carol Reed's typically meticulous research adds a sense of gritty realism to this vivid, stirring account of a WWII British combat unit undergoing basic training. David Niven stars as Lieutenant Jim Perry, a former pump jockey who realizes he needs to take a tough line with the ragged, widely divergent bunch of civilian conscripts under his command, as he and Sergeant Brewer (William Hartnell) try to prepare them for combat with Rommel's Afrika Korps. In the early, more humorous part of the film, one expects to see Bill Murray turn up among the out-of-shape, unmotivated, and generally inept recuits who grouse their way through the rigorous training exercises. At length, however, Perry whips the group into shape, and by the time they debark for North Africa, they realize they're finally ready to deal with the Desert Fox. Featuring a sharp, unsentimental script by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov and an excellent cast, including Ustinov, Trevor Howard, and James Donald, the film invests an archetypal story with the kind of realistic bite that can still grip an audience. This is the shortened version of the film also known as THE WAY AHEAD.
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| Directed by |
Carol Reed
The Third Man, Oliver!, Mutiny on the Bounty |
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| Written by |
Eric Ambler
A Night to Remember, Topkapi, The Cruel Sea | |
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| Cast |
David Niven
The Pink Panther, The Guns of Navarone, Casino Royale |
 | | James Donald
The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Great Escape, The Vikings | | Leslie Dwyer
Die, Monster, Die!, The 39 Steps, Perfect Strangers | Hugh Burden
The Ruling Class, Funeral in Berlin, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb | | |
[more] |
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| Music By |
William Alwyn
A Night to Remember, Swiss Family Robinson, The Crimson Pirate |
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