Never So Few (1959) on Netflix
Burma, 1943. Captain Tom Reynolds leads OSS operatives arming Kachin fighters against the Japanese, and his unit lacks supplies and medicine. On leave he meets Carla, a businessman's mistress.
- Netflix2.5/5
- IMDb5.8/103,763 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes40%
Trailer
Plot summary
When the Japanese push into Burma in 1943, American and British forces work alongside the Kachin to hold them back, short of supplies and medicine. Captains Tom Reynolds and Danny De Mortimer fly to Calcutta to address both shortages, and there are told to pick an unattached army doctor for the unit. On furlough at a resort, Tom becomes involved with Carla, the mistress of a businessman. He and Danny also meet Captain Travis and, despite his protests, select him for transfer, along with Ringa, a resourceful young corporal. Back at the unit, a Christmas celebration heavy on drink is interrupted by a Japanese raid, and Tom is among the wounded carried to a Calcutta hospital.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Never So Few (1959)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Rat Pack cohort Sammy Davis Jr. was originally cast in the role that went to Steve McQueen in Never So Few, but Frank Sinatra replaced him after Davis criticized Sinatra during a radio interview.
- Frank Sinatra recast Rat Pack colleague Peter Lawford's role after Lawford failed to deliver his brother-in-law, President John F. Kennedy, for a stay at Sinatra's house; Lawford's part in Robin and the 7 Hoods went to Bing Crosby, and Sinatra never spoke to Lawford again.
- Never So Few was the first of several films Steve McQueen made with director John Sturges, who then cast him as second lead in The Magnificent Seven and as the motorcycle-jumping lead in The Great Escape.
- The script was loosely based on an actual OSS Detachment 101 incident recorded in a 1957 novel by Tom T. Chamales, and Sinatra's Captain Tom Reynolds is based on a real OSS officer, U.S. Navy Lt. Meredith Rhule, later sheriff of Sangamon County, Illinois.
