Too Late the Hero

Too Late the Hero is a 1970 Anglo-American war film directed by Robert Aldrich, and starring Michael Caine, Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Ken Takakura, Denholm Elliott, Ian Bannen, Lance Percival, Ronald Fraser, Harry Andrews and Percy Herbert.

Plot

In the 1942 Pacific War theatre of World War II, Lieutenant Sam Lawson, U.S.N. (Robertson), is a Japanese language interpreter who — so far — has avoided combat. His commanding officer (Henry Fonda in a cameo role) unexpectedly cancels his leave and informs Lawson that he is to be assigned to a British infantry commando unit in the New Hebrides Islands for a combat mission.

The British base is in the middle of a large open field, several hundred yards from the edge of the jungle; on the other side of the jungle is a Japanese observation and communications post. Shortly after Lawson's arrival at the British base, a patrol of British soldiers sprint out of the jungle and across the open field, pursued by the Japanese. The base commander, Col. Thompson (Harry Andrews), instructs his men to keep well back, out of enemy range; they watch as the patrol are cut down by Japanese machine-gun fire.

Lawson's commando group is instructed to destroy the Japanese radio transmitter, to prevent them from sounding the alarm about an American naval convoy which is scheduled to appear on the horizon in three days. The post's radio operator transmits an "all's well" signal every night at midnight; it will be Lawson's job to transmit a fake signal (in Japanese) to buy the Allies another 24 hours before the attack is discovered.

The commando group is led by Captain Hornsby (Elliott), a very British officer from the upper classes who apparently has a history of foolhardiness. The other members of the squad are draftees from Singapore whose enthusiasm for fighting leaves something to be desired: Tosh (Caine), a cynical Cockney who is also the squad's medic; Jock (Bannen), a lean Scot whom Lawson at first considers slightly cracked for skipping on patrol and singing the "Teddy Bears' Picnic", Campbell (Ronald Fraser), a fat Glaswegian; grey-haired Sergeant Johnstone (Percy Herbert); Scott the radio operator (Harvey Jason); and the others — Griffiths, Rogers, Currie, Connolly, and Riddle.

By the time the squad reaches the Japanese post, Riddle, Connolly, and Currie have been fatally shot in a botched ambush of a Japanese patrol — which, Tosh mutters to Lawson, was botched entirely due to Hornsby's incompetence: the ambushers were positioned on both sides of the trail, and the dead men seem to have been the victims of friendly fire. Johnstone also is wounded in another encounter. Since the squad cannot afford to carry him, Hornsby leaves Johnstone behind; shortly thereafter, Johnstone is discovered by the Japanese and his throat slit.

As the men prepare to carry out their mission, Scott drops the radio Lawson was to use to send the fake transmissions, breaking several of the valves. Hornsby decides to take over the Japanese radio hut himself and use their radio to send the "all's well". Lawson flatly refuses to take part in any such scheme, giving the excuse that Hornsby is disobeying their orders with this extemporization. Nevertheless, Hornsby walks boldly into the Japanese camp and enters the radio hut without being spotted; he knocks out the Japanese radio operator and motions to Lawson and Scott. Scott goes to the hut, but despite Tosh's urgings, Lawson refuses to join him. The Japanese radio operator comes to, and in the ensuing fracas, both Scott and Hornsby are killed. Lawson finds himself in the mud under a hut, staring into the dead Hornsby's face.

With Hornsby dead, Lawson is now the ranking officer, with only himself, Tosh, Campbell, Jock, Griffiths, and Rogers left alive — and Jock has been wounded in the debacle at the Japanese base. Furthermore, Japanese Major Yamaguchi (Takakura) is determined to stop them from getting back and reporting the existence of the secret Japanese airfield and planes they have discovered. The Japanese set up loudspeakers in the trees, through which Yamaguchi exhorts the men to give themselves up. Lawson and Tosh agree that Yamaguchi is not to be trusted, but Campbell is positively in favour of surrender, and he works at Griffiths as Jock gets weaker from his wound. Finally, while Lawson and Tosh are asleep, Campbell tries to sneak off into the jungle; but Jock spots him and asks where he's going. Campbell strangles Jock, wakes Griffiths and Rogers, and the three of them run off.

Lawson and Tosh are on their own. Yamaguchi attempts to outwit them psychologically, using the lives of Griffiths and Rogers as bargaining chips. (Campbell, on the other hand, has been killed in gruesome fashion after the Japanese discovered on his person a ring belonging to one of the officers the patrol ambushed.) As Lawson and Tosh reach the edge of the open field separating the jungle from the British base, Yamaguchi announces that they have three minutes to surrender; Japanese soldiers have the field covered with machine guns. At this point, Lawson suggests that they give Yamaguchi a taste of his own medicine. They double back, locate the Japanese major, and shoot him from the cover of the bushes, leaving the Japanese forces leaderless and in disarray. They then sprint out across the field, zig-zagging to dodge enemy fire. Despite cover fire from the base, first one is hit and falls, then the other.

However, one of the men rises and staggers into the British base. A crowd gathers around him. It is Tosh. When Colonel Thompson asks who the other man was, Tosh replies, "A hero. He killed fifteen Japs single-handed — thirty, if you like." The film closes with a long shot of Tosh as he walks back out to collect Lawson's body.

Critical response

Critical response has been moderate. This includes praise for decent acting in a tense thriller, though feelings are inconclusive about the overall impact and significance.^[1]

Production

In actuality, the Japanese never were in the New Hebrides in World War II; the American forces arrived in May 1942.^[2] The film was made on Boracay Island in the Philippines^[3] by the same crew and using many of the same sets of Jack Starrett's The Losers.^[4] Robert Aldrich recalled that the production company ABC Films, wanted another version of his The Dirty Dozen and that Too Late the Hero, a property that could use the some of the same elements, had been languishing in studio drawers for over a decade.^[5] The idea of the film came from an unpublished novel called Don't Die Mad by Robert Sherman who had worked on several films with Aldrich.^[6]

The attitudes depicted in the World War II film made during the Vietnam War era reflected the 1960s, with one character talking about "long haired conscientious objectors". The poster advertising the film showed a fallen soldier dressed in a 1960's American uniform and holding an M16 rifle.

Aldrich was requested to film two separate endings for the American and English audiences, one with Robertson surviving.^[7]

ABC Pictures first release was Charly, for which Cliff Robertson won the Academy Award for Best Actor. However Aldrich would not let Robertson leave the Philippine set to attend the ceremony. Aldrich said he wanted "anyone but Cliff Robertson" for the lead role but he was overruled by the studio.^[8]

References

External links

• Too Late the Hero at the Internet Movie Database