ada the leading man is my tpye

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Jumbajookiba I have a big soft spot for movies like this, they have an authenticity that modern films about this era don't have. As someone who is from several generations who served in the Military it's nice to see something that is contemporary of WW2 that is not gritty, just realistic. Yes, it may have been made at the time as propaganda, but,it doesn't glamourise or glorify, it attempts to tell you as it is. It even hints at the barrack room language without being able to include it (it is the 1940's after all)David Niven is marvellous in the lead role, he was a serving officer at the time and it shows as you never feel he is acting, the same with the supporting cast of solid British character actors, Stanley Holloway, James Donald, John Laurie (how lovely to see him not playing the dour Scotsman for once) and Leslie Dwyer stand out in particular. And isn't Peter Ustinov terrific in his small role, a taste of things to come with him.Highly recommended.

writers_reign This was one of several freebies in a newspaper with the catch-all title 'War Films' (Tunes Of Glory takes place entirely in peacetime, A Matter Of Life And Death is only peripherally concerned with war) and I put off watching it based on a vague feeling it would turn out to be jingoistic crap. Having watched it at last I've been disabused of that prejudice; formulaic it may be (it follows the tried and true formula of introducing a group of conscripts at a train station and remaining with them through basic training until they wind up in North Africa pitted against Rommel's panzers. In other words it's our old friends the Hollywood bomber crew with English accents. Peter Ustinov had a hand in the script and also takes part as a sort of cut-rate Akim Tamiroff in Five Graves To Cairo and acquits himself as well as any in the fine cast. David Niven fails to steal it as the one 'name' on view and gives basically an unselfish performance allowing the likes of Stanley Holloway and Leslie Dwyer to polish their lovable cockney sparrer images. Carol Reed handles it well and it stands up remarkably well.

mowens1 Having lived in England at the time this movie depicts, I can attest to the absolute authenticity of its content. The characters were those I met every day during those awful years of turmoil. I am also advised by my husband, an ex-paratrooper, that this movie was used as a training film for all recruits, because of its strict adherence to actual army conditions in those days. The main joy for me in watching this film is the group of actors who were so familiar to all of us during those years. From Stanley Holloway (later so famous as Eliza Doolittle's father) to Jimmy Hanley, the handsome, easy-going boy-next door, and all the others in that wonderful ensemble cast - they all appeared in many different movies and were always welcomed as old friends whenever we saw them on the screen.

ubercommando I really can't understand some of the more negative comments from some reviewers from the USA about this movie. For me, it is far superior to equivalent American wartime propaganda movies (including enjoyable but hardly realistic efforts such as 7 Graves To Cairo and Sahara), and made and acted by a British cast who were serving servicemen as well (unlike a certain J. Wayne or H. Bogart). Carol Reed gives us on the surface a cliche ridden movie but his gritty visual style which would become his trademark plus a script that still gives depth to a by now familiar concept lift this way above other movies made at the time.The soldiers don't look pristine and for most of the time, don't act heroically until the last 5 minutes. They're not an elite unit (as in Sands of Iwo Jima), they grumble, complain and stagger their way to the front lines but nor are they goofballs, pranksters or loveable rogues. They are ordinary men in difficult times, which was what the film makers wanted to show. They are not all broad stereotypes either; some, like the characters Davenport or Brewer, may on the surface seem like the upper class toff and the cheeky cockney but again, the way they interplay with the rest of the cast, they become more than just representatives of their class. For an old war movie, I was impressed with the action. Early on, when the two old soldiers are talking about how much better it was in the army in their day, we get a juxtaposed montage of David Niven in training, showing how hard it is. A lot of the burning troop ship shots are done hand held, which adds to the tension. The Tunisia scenes look very authentic and see how Reed indulges in rapid cutting, disorienting explosions and run down and dirty art direction. The only film that comes close to achieving this kind of grittiness in the war years is "Guadalcanal Diary".