If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Tom Courtenay plays Private Hamp, he is the lone survivor of his battalion having volunteered in 1914 – some three years prior, the rest whittled away by the arbitrary wantonness of war. He has been accused of desertion and is facing a court martial. Under martial law he is allocated an officer to represent him – this falls to Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde). What follows is the trial set amidst the rain and mud just behind the allied front line.Courtenay plays the gullible soldier to a tee, he is basically an innocent lad who is probably suffering from PTSD or shell shock as it was sometimes referred to back then. Bogarde who was always exceptional plays the officer class perfectly with palpable changes in his attitude as the case unfolds. There is also a magnificently pompous portrayal of a disinterested Medical Officer from Leo McKern who steals the scene.This was made in 1964 and was done for a shoe string budget – that apparently it never made back and that was despite winning awards and being critically acclaimed. However, recent renewed interests might just get this hidden treasure of British cinema some of the wider recognition it so richly deserves – massively recommended

Directed by Joseph Losey, "King and Country" (1964) stars Tom Courtenay as Arthur Hamp, a British soldier who deserts his unit during World War 1. Court-martialed for desertion, Arthur is defended by Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde).Well-meaning but overly melodramatic, Losey's film associates soldiering with muddy trenches, lost-causes and mean commanders. Here the British class-system treats working-class volunteers as cannon fodder, and military leaders are constantly demonstrating their class prejudices. Like the similarly themed "Paths of Glory" and "Breaker Morat", the film ends with an execution, pawns sacrificed so that others may think twice before betraying kings. The film was based on a play by John Wilson, who, as a lawyer, defended a similar client condemned to death.7.5/10 – Overly wordy, but powerful at times. Worth one viewing.

"King & Country" is a film about a man who deserted from his unit during WWI. After over three years of fighting, the naive young man had frankly had enough and began walking home from France. Considering he grew up in Britain, he seemed either a bit dumb or just so psychologically damaged that the impossibility of his task eluded him. In many ways, this film is reminiscent of the exceptional Stanley Kubrick film "Paths of Glory"--about an entire unit of French soldiers who simply refused to fight due to the utter stupidity and waste of life of this so-called 'Great War'. In fact, both would make an excellent double-feature.The film begins with an officer (Dirk Bogarde) being asked to defend a deserter. It's obvious that he assumes the man is guilty and deserves to be executed and is doing this only out of obligation. As for the deserter (Tom Courtenay), he is an odd fellow. While he obviously was brave for volunteering and fighting in so many god-awful battles, his reaction to all this is a bit odd--like he doesn't fully appreciate the horrible predicament he's in at this time. He seems guileless and naive.As far as the trial goes, you know that the court must find him guilty and execute him, lest they admit that the war was a horrible mistake--futile and an atrocity upon the people....and they certainly were not about to admit that. It is simply preordained and Bogarde seems to have little care about the doomed man--he is only doing it out of obligation--even after he gets to know the man and pleads his case. Only towards the very end of the story do we see Bogarde regard the man as anything other than a coward--and then the accumulated horror of the war and its stupidity is revealed. However, at the same time, the momentum of the film slows down to a crawl--and the film unfortunately ends with a bit of a fizzle. Overall, it's quite good in some ways but just barely misses the mark.

"King & Country," directed by Joseph Losey and released in 1964, is an unrelenting look at war. The World War I drama concerns a young soldier (Tom Courtenay) who is being tried for desertion. It's evident that, after his whole battalion was lost, that the boy was shell-shocked. A Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde) is brought in to defend him.The film has actual photos of dead bodies from the London War Museum throughout the movie. The setting is freezing cold, wet bunkers with lots of mud. The men have been jaded to death and suffering and at times act brutally.The end of the film is particularly awful, that's the only word I can think of. Not awful as in it's a bad movie, but awful in the situation.Tom Courtenay does an excellent job as a wide-eyed young man who really doesn't realize what he did or what may happen to him as a result; Leo McKern turns in an excellent performance as a no-nonsense officer. Dirk Bogarde is wonderful as the captain who goes to the mat for his client and comes up against a cruel system that seems to have no understanding of or compassion for human frailty.Lots of gross stuff in this movie - imagine actually having to endure it. Excellent directing job by Losey, and a thought-provoking film that you won't forget quickly, even though you want to.