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 Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Ast. Director	John Peverall	28	1 Jan 1931		3 Oct 2009	78	21		21
Camera Operator	Len Harris	43	19 May 1916		21 Feb 1995	78	52	1	53
Continuity	Beryl Booth	35	1 Jan 1924	01.01.1924		99	2		2
Director	Val Guest	47	11 Dec 1911		10 May 2006	94	29		29
Director of Photog.	Arthur Grant BSc	44	1915		1972	56	30		30
Editor	Alfred Cox	34	1925		2005	80	21	4	25
Hair Stylist	Henry Montsash	54	17 Sep 1905		29 Sep 1974	69	16		16
Make-up Artist	Roy Ashton	50	16 Apr 1909		10 Jan 1995	85	36	4	40
Producer	Michael Carreras	31	21 Dec 1927		19 Apr 1994	66	82	3	85
Production Designer	Bernard Robinson	47	28 Jul 1912		2 Mar 1970	57	46	3	49
Production Supervisor	T.S. Lyndon-Haynes	47	17 Oct 1912		1972	59	3		3
Sound Editor	Roy Hyde	39	15 Feb 1920		28 Jun 1985	65	30	1	31
Sound Recordist	Buster Ambler	54	7 Jul 1905		Jan 1979	73	1		1
Sound Recordist	Red Law						1		1
Sound Supervisor	John Cox	51	7 May 1908		Sep 1972	64	1		1
Supervising Editor	James Needs	40	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	110	1	111
Wardrobe Mistress	Molly Arbuthnot	50	19 Dec 1908		31 Oct 2001	92	48	4	52
Writer	Peter Newman	33	4 Jun 1926		22 Feb 1975	48	1	1	2
Uncredited
Art Director	Don Mingaye	30	1 Jan 1929		8 Nov 2017	88	26	14	40
Boom Operator	Peter Dukelow	32	1927		1998	71		1	1
Casting	Dorothy Holloway	61	7 Mar 1898		1972	73	1	5	6
Clapper Loader	Alan McDonald	21	1938	01.01.1938		85		14	14
Construction Manager	Jack Bolam							1	1
Electrician	S.F. Hyllier							1	1
Floor Props	Tom Frewer							1	1
Focus Puller	Harry Oakes	38	16 Jan 1921		11 Dec 2012	91		53	53
Grip	Albert Cowlard	36	1923	01.01.1923		100		10	10
Master Carpenter	E.D. Wheatley							1	1
Master Painter	S. Taylor							1	1
Master Plasterer	S. Rodwell							1	1
Production Buyer	Eric Hillier	39	1920		1975	55		16	16
Production Secretary	Doreen Jones	33	1926	01.01.1926		97		2	2
Property Master	F. Burden							1	1
Props	Peter Allchorne	34	1925	01.01.1925		97		9	9
Publicist	Colin Reid							6	6
Second Ast. Director	Tom Walls	47	31 May 1912		28 Nov 1992	80	1	9	10
Sound Camera Operator	Jimmy Dooley	31	1928	01.01.1928		95		1	1
Sound Maintenance	Eric Vincent							1	1
Sound Recordist	John Aldred	38	1 Aug 1921		15 Dec 2020	99		1	1
Special Effects	Bill Warrington	49	1 Jan 1910		11 Sep 1981	71	2	2	4
Special Effects	Charles Willoughby							1	1
Still Photog.	Tom Edwards				1999			26	26
Technical Adviser	Peter Newman	33	4 Jun 1926		22 Feb 1975	48	1	1	2
Third Ast. Director	Hugh Harlow	20	17 Jun 1939	17.06.1939		83	3	28	31

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
2nd Lt. Hastings	Richard Pasco	33	18 Jul 1926		12 Nov 2014	88	4		4
Brigadier	Russell Waters	51	10 Jun 1908		19 Aug 1982	74	4		4
Captain Langford	Stanley Baker	31	28 Feb 1928		28 Jun 1976	48	5		5
Dawson	Bryan Forbes	33	22 Jul 1926		8 May 2013	86	2		2
Doctor	David Oxley	38	7 Nov 1920		30 Oct 1985	64	2		2
Informer	Wolfe Morris	34	5 Jan 1925		21 Jul 1996	71	5		5
Japanese Soldier	Burt Kwouk	29	18 Jul 1930		24 May 2016	85	3		3
Max	Leo McKern	39	16 Mar 1920		23 Jul 2002	82	2		2
Padre	Guy Rolfe	47	27 Dec 1911		19 Oct 2003	91	2		2
Perkins	David Lodge	38	19 Aug 1921		18 Oct 2003	82	10		10
Sergeant MacKenzie	Gordon Jackson	35	19 Dec 1923		15 Jan 1990	66	3		3
Turner	Barry Lowe	34	1 Jan 1925		12 Dec 2011	86	6	2	8
Wilson	Percy Herbert	39	31 Jul 1920		6 Dec 1992	72	6		6
Yamazaki	Philip Ahn	54	29 Mar 1905		28 Feb 1978	72	1		1
Uncredited
Bendish	Alan Keith	51	19 Oct 1908		17 Mar 2003	94		1	1
Brown	Barry Steele	38	3 Mar 1921		30 Sep 1982	61		2	2
Davies	Howard Williams	27	10 May 1932	10.05.1932		90	3	2	5
Elliott	Donald Churchill	28	6 Nov 1930		29 Oct 1991	60		1	1
Japanese Soldier	Vincent Wong	31	4 Feb 1928		13 Mar 2015	87		4	4
Orderly	Brandon Brady	28	7 Oct 1931		1 Jun 1999	67		1	1
Patrick	Arthur Lovegrove	46	15 Jul 1913		7 Nov 1981	68	3	6	9
Simpson	Timothy Bateson	33	3 Apr 1926		15 Sep 2009	83	3	1	4
Soldier who dies	Geoffrey Bayldon	35	7 Jan 1924		10 May 2017	93	3	2	5
Suni	Edwina Carroll							1	1

Production


FILMING BEGAN	12 January 1959
UK RELEASE	19 October 1959
STUDIO	Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England
	Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England

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