Back to Explore
The Long and the Short and the Tall poster

The Long and the Short and the Tall

1961 · 1h 50m · Comedy, Drama, War · United Kingdom · Rated U (GB)

Raw emotions bared !

Based on a play by Willis Hall. A troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises in the jungle so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to their whereabouts. As they progress to what they think is closer to the base camp they find themselves farther and farther from radio range until the only channel they can get clearly is that of a Japanese broadcast. They now realize they are probably only 10 to 15 miles from a Japanese camp! The tension is added to by rowdy and openly admitted "non-hero" Private Bamforth who has nothing good to say about anyone and especially Corporal Johnstone (who holds an equal dislike for Bamforth). When a Japanese soldier is taken as their prisoner, the true colours of each man comes to the surface

Directed by
Leslie Norman
Written by
Wolf Mankowitz
Story by
Willis Hall
Starring
Laurence Harvey, Richard Todd, Richard Harris, David McCallum
6.2Smart score

The TMDB rating, pulled toward the movie average (6.03) as if it had 82 extra average votes. Few votes means more pull.

TMDB6.7

29 TMDB votes · IMDb page

Rate what worked

0 of 5 rated
Story
Writing
Acting
Pacing
Rewatch
Rate 10 titles to unlock picks matched to your taste0 / 10
Saved in this browser only.

Where to watch

Not available to stream, rent or buy in United States.

Where each service has it

Netflix: available in 23 countries
Subscription · 23Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Streaming data by JustWatch, via TMDB. Links open the JustWatch listing for United States.

Style & content

anti wararmybased on play or musicalbritish armyburmajunglemoral conflictsoldierworld war ii
RatingU (GB)

Keywords from TMDB.

Connected through the crew

Casino Royale1967 · Writer Wolf MankowitzThe Day the Earth Caught Fire1961 · Writer Wolf MankowitzThe Valley of Gwangi1969 · Cinematographer Erwin HillierI Know Where I'm Going!1945 · Cinematographer Erwin HillierThe Dam Busters1955 · Cinematographer Erwin HillierA Canterbury Tale1944 · Cinematographer Erwin HillierThe Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll1960 · Writer Wolf MankowitzBilly Liar1963 · Writer Willis HallOperation Crossbow1965 · Cinematographer Erwin HillierTrapeze1956 · Writer Wolf MankowitzThe Quiller Memorandum1966 · Cinematographer Erwin HillierThe Shoes of the Fisherman1968 · Cinematographer Erwin Hillier

Browse lists

Best Drama Movies of the 1960sBest Comedy Movies of the 1960sBest War Movies of the 1960sBest Drama Movies of All TimeBest Comedy Movies of All TimeBest War Movies of All Time