The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Never So Few (1959) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Set during WWII, Captain Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) is in the jungle of Burma where he must keep his men in order while making sure no sneak attacks happen. While on leave he strikes up a relationship with the beautiful Carla Vesari (Gina Lollobrigida) who might just be connected to a smuggler.NEVER SO FEW is an entertaining movie to watch but at the same time, when it's over, you can help but be somewhat upset that the film isn't much better. After all, you've got a fantastic director in John Sturges and you've got an all-star cast with a fairly interesting story. So, what went wrong? Well, it's hard to make two types of movies and smash them into one, which is what happened here.The problem with the movie is that the screenplay is incredibly uneven and I'd argue it's also out-of-focus. I say this because the film starts off on a very high note with the men in the jungle and all of this is entertaining. We then get some more entertaining stuff when we get back to civilian land and get to see Sinatra work his magic. The problem is that the love story is so forced and at times so silly that it really takes away from the war drama. A lot of war pictures are "male bonding movies" and Sturges would specialize this years later with THE GREAT ESCAPE. The problem with NEVER SO FEW is that the romance is pretty much in the center of the picture and really breaks any tension or drama in the war stuff.With that said, there's no doubt that the terrific cast helps keep the movie entertaining. Sinatra is in good form as the tough Captain who does things his own way and stands up for what he believes. There's no doubt that Lollobrigida is easy on the eyes and especially during her bath scene. The supporting cast is wonderful and a lot of fun. Bronson is very good in his role as a Navajo solder. Steve McQueen is a lot of fun and even at this stage of his career that essence of cool comes across even with his scenes with Sinatra. We also get Peter Lawford, Richard Johnson, Paul Henreid, Whit Bissell, Dean Jones and Brian Donlevy among others.NEVER SO FEW contains a lot of explosion and the action scenes are nicely directed. The court-like drama at the end isn't all that successful but the film still gives you plenty of entertaining but there's no doubt that it should have been better.

Burma World War 11.This war film showcases Frank Sinatra in a military role. The film soon comes to be one of corruption among the Chinese warlords, who raid and kill Americans. Upon discovering this, Sinatra abandons military protocol and executes many. It is only Brian Donlevy's character who eventually exonerates him while refusing to apologize to the Chinese.As in many war films, there is romance with Sinatra falling for Gina Lollobrigida who works for Paul Henreid, a business dealer. Later, it's determined that both work for American intelligence.Henried is completely wasted in the role, as is Charles Bronson as an American Indian soldier harboring plenty of prejudice of his own.Peter Lawford comes off as the doctor who is really anti-war and Steve McQueen shoots it up all the way.The picture really lacks depth of characters.

"Never So Few" fails in so many ways; as a treatment of the Burma campaign in World War II; as a tough-nosed action picture; as an involving melodrama; and most especially, as a vehicle for star Frank Sinatra.Sinatra was too busy playing soldier and practicing his cool look to bother constructing an interesting character; a strange bitter vibe hangs over his performance. Oddly, it was another actor who managed to take the little "Never So Few" had to offer in the way of career advancement: Steve McQueen. Up to this point, he had done "The Blob" and TV, but his comfortable natural bearing around Sinatra's star wattage shows he could hold his own with the big boys, even when the script gave him little to work with.McQueen is Sgt. Ringa, a jeep driver who finds himself drafted for more dangerous duty when commando leader Tom Reynolds (Sinatra) takes a shine to his street-smart ways. Reynolds leads a small band of Kachin fighters in the hilly jungles of Burma, continually harassing a Japanese force many times its size."A regular Abe Lincoln in North Burma" is what rich merchant Nikko Regas calls him. Regas is part of the other story in "Few", the man whose girl (Gina Lollabrigida) Reynolds wants. The exotic Lollabrigida and the world-weary chain-smoking Sinatra are clearly meant to invite comparisons to Rick and Ilsa, and Paul Henreid cements the impression by playing Nikko as much the same character he was in "Casablanca".None of this comes together, though. In fact, the two parts fail to co-exist at all. You get 20 minutes of war followed by 40 minutes of earnest love talk, then back to the war. The war scenes are about as competently directed as an episode of "The Rat Patrol", with idiotically sequenced insert shots (like soldiers shooting up at people we then see falling in a river) and noble, servile Kachin dying with meek apologies to "Dua" Reynolds. War is hell for Tom, who loses both his monkey and his favorite gun caddy, a faithful Kachin who hands him a new automatic every time Reynolds empties a magazine on the enemy.The romance is even worse. Sinatra and Lollabrigida have no chemistry, she can't act, and director John Sturges' idea of story advancement is to focus on her bustline and hope you don't notice the dialogue. And what dialogue!Him: "I hanker for you alone."Her: "Why don't you go back to the hills and play with your popguns!"Henreid warns Lollabrigida he won't let her go then disappears for the rest of the movie, leaving Lollabrigida and Sinatra to kiss like dead fish in front of bad process shots.The film generates a bit of interest an hour or so in, when Reynolds and his men discover the Japanese are not the only force they have to fight. But the resolution of this angle is both trite and ugly, involving the wholesale slaughter of captured prisoners while the camera focuses on Sinatra, looking so sad his previously disapproving medic (Peter Lawford, better than usual here) has to pat his shoulder to let him and the audience know it's alright.McQueen at least mines his on-screen time to showcase his talents as an action man, and occasional scene stealer with the aid of handy props, like a slice of watermelon or a mortar. Competing with Charles Bronson, Brian Donlevy, and Richard Johnson as Reynolds' monocle-wearing British pal, McQueen hardly has to break a sweat.The worst performance here is Sinatra's, who just drips with self-importance, whether wearing an ugly goatee (Mitch Miller must have really got to him) or trying to sound like Hemingway with stiff lines like: "You have tasted the pain of wound in combat." Sinatra was not just good but great in parts where he allowed himself to project insecurity. But too often, when permitted to coast, he gave performances like this one, showcasing the boor he could be in life from time to time."Never So Few" drags for more than two hours, long enough to listen to four of his Capitol albums. Guess which is a better investment of your time.

In and of itself, the idea of 97 lb. weakling Frank Sinatra playing an action hero is preposterous. I'm sorry but Mr. Sinatra might have struck a certain manly chord in a six hundred dollar suit, holding a highball glass and a smoldering Chesterfield but with his Hepburn neck and delicate shoulders he's miscast here. The plot, apparently based on some real life derry-do, is nonetheless implausible with Sinatra's ratpack jocularity trumping rank structure and cultural norms, as though he's holding forth at an after-hours Vegas smoker. The film further labors under sundry staging goofs and the otherworldly appearance of GinafrickingLollobrigida in a little black cocktail dress and stilettos. In the Burmese Theater of operations?? Oi! Suspiciously convenient for the Chairman of the Board, I must say. When Sinatra walks through a doorway and finds Gina in soft focus, heaving a throaty sigh and prancing around in those patent-leather pumps, I'm reminded of Billy Pilgrim rooting around on a chaise with Valerie Perrine in outer space. In one action shot, two trucks are running next to each other and the men in one truck are machine-gunning enemy troops by firing directly 'through' the other truck! No, I'm sorry Frank Sinatra is a little thin in the hips to be an action hero. Peter Lawford always looks like he's trying to keep up with Frank and Frank is delivering lines which would never fly except that he's Frank Sinatra. Basically a cartoon. What the heck were Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson doing in this movie?