[4]

Frank Sinatra stars as a US army captain in charge of helping Kachin natives in WWII Burma defend themselves against the Japanese. Never So Few divides its attention between the gun battles in the jungle and Sinatra’s makeout sessions with Italian beauty Gina Lollobrigida. As a result, it excels in neither area — I didn’t much care about the troops or the lady, and the narrative seems unfocused divvying attention between the two. Easily the best thing about the movie is Steve McQueen in his first big Hollywood production. He plays a rough-and-tumble New Yorker whose talents are wasted as a colonel’s personal driver until Sinatra drafts him to the frontlines. He’s only in a handful of scenes, but leaves more of an impression than anyone else in the movie. Also look for action star Charles Bronson as a member of Sinatra’s troop, and Casablanca‘s Paul Henreid as the third point in Sinatra’s and Lollobrigida’s love triangle.