Yesterday’s Enemy – 1959

A Hammer film production released by Columbia Pictures
Copyright MCMLIX by Hammer Film Productions Ltd. – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate No. 19316
All characters and incidents portrayed and the names used are fictitious
Westrex Recording System
Black & White 95 mins

Storyline

A squad of British soldiers, lost in the Burmese jungle during World War II, comes across a Japanese-occupied village. After a short battle, the British capture the village and also take prisoner a suspicious character, who Captain Langford is convinced is a paid informer for the Japanese. Initially, the man will not talk, but after Langford has had two innocent hostages shot to demonstrate his determination, he reveals the plans for a Japanese advance. Langford resolves that the information must at all costs be got to British headquarters, but the execution of the hostages provokes a bitter quarrel over the methods Langford is prepared to go to to attain his ends….

Watch the trailer on YouTube

Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth	Death	Age	Hammer Credits
Assistant Director	John Peverall	38	1921	3 Oct 2009	88	20
Camera Operator	Len Harris	42	19 May 1916	21 Feb 1995	78	52
Continuity	Beryl Booth					2
Directed by	Val Guest	47	11 Dec 1911	10 May 2006	94	29
Director of Photography	Arthur Grant, BSc	44	1915	1972	57	30
Editor	Alfred Cox		1925	2005	80	21
Hair Stylist	Henry Montsash	53	17 Sep 1905	29 Sep 1974	69	16
Make-up Artist	Roy Ashton	49	16 Apr 1909	10 Jan 1995	85	36
Produced by	Michael Carreras	31	21 Dec 1927	19 Apr 1994	66	83
Production Designer	Bernard Robinson	46	28 Jul 1912	2 Mar 1970	57	46
Production Supervisor	T.S. Lyndon-Haynes	46	17 Oct 1912	1 Jan 1972	59	3
Sound Editor	Roy Hyde	38	15 Feb 1920	28 Jun 1985	65	30
Sound Recordist	Buster Ambler	53	7 Jul 1905	1979	73	1
Sound Recordist	Red Law					1
Sound Supervisor	John Cox	50	7 May 1908	1 Sep 1972	64	1
Supervising Editor	James Needs	39	17 Oct 1919	2003	83	111
Wardrobe Mistress	Molly Arbuthnot	50	19 Dec 1908	1 Nov 2001	92	48
Written by	Peter R. Newman	32	4 Jun 1926	22 Feb 1975	48	1

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth	Death	Age	Hammer Appearances
2nd Lieutenant Hastings	Richard Pasco	32	18 Jul 1926	12 Nov 2014	88	4
Brigadier	Russell Waters	50	10 Jun 1908	19 Aug 1982	74	4
Captain Langford	Stanley Baker	30	28 Feb 1928	28 Jun 1976	48	5
Dawson	Bryan Forbes	32	22 Jul 1926	8 May 2013	86	2
Doctor	David Oxley	38	7 Nov 1920	30 Oct 1985	64	2
Informer	Wolfe Morris	33	5 Jan 1925	21 Jul 1996	71	5
Japanese Soldier	Burt Kwouk	28	18 Jul 1930	24 May 2016	85	3
Max	Leo McKern	38	16 Mar 1920	23 Jul 2002	82	2
Padre	Guy Rolfe	47	27 Dec 1911	19 Oct 2003	91	2
Perkins	David Lodge	37	19 Aug 1921	18 Oct 2003	82	10
Sergeant MacKenzie	Gordon Jackson	35	19 Dec 1923	15 Jan 1990	66	3
Turner	Barry Lowe	34	1925	12 Dec 2011	86	6
Wilson	Percy Herbert	38	31 Jul 1920	6 Dec 1992	72	6
Yamazaki	Philip Ahn	53	29 Mar 1905	28 Feb 1978	72	1

Footnotes

Hammer’s war films (cf. “The Steel Bayonet”, “The Camp on Blood Island”) tended to examine the more controversial aspects of warfare and in this film the unpopular idea is suggested that the British were just as capable of committing atrocities as anyone else!

Actor Guy Rolfe also worked for Hammer in “The Stranglers of Bombay” (1959). For outrageous director William Castle, he starred in “Mr Sardonicus” (1961).

Interestingly, this film is probably the only Hammer production to have no musical accompaniment whatsoever. (1967’s “The Anniversary”, whilst having none during the action, does have music to accompany the opening and closing titles).

Writer Peter R. Newman died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 48.

Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection