By the time THE WAY AHEAD was released Britain was sinking under American servicemen and hardware. This film excludes the allies to tell how a group of conscripts were moulded into a unit in 1940 and finally go into battle in the western desert a couple of years later.
It's easy to pick holes: yes, it was unlikely that National Servicemen would be trained by the same men who went into battle; and who was that incredibly generous woman offering baths (5 inches of water only) to servicemen? but on the whole it is a lot more realistic (and murky)than some of the US output of the same era.
Having said that, I shall add my own pick: it was unlikely that 1940 conscripts would have been as old as Stanley Holloway. The call up for older men did not happen until later in the war when we began to run out of men.
But this is forgiven by David Niven's performance. He manages to avoid John Wayne-type clichés especially at the end when they are faced with overwhelming odds and he just knuckles down to the job.
His soldiers are also portrayed as human types. Although they hold the usual film world clichéd roles- cockney, middle class shop worker, shouting sergeant and off, they cheat in exercises and whine about their lot.
The moment when their troopship loaded with supplies sinks might also be a first for wartime films. And a reminder to the audience such things happened and they had to replace it all by working harder.
The men then get R & R in Gibralter before ending up somewhere in the Western Desert. It is not a heroic war and the desert town with Peter Ustinov, as a less than happy bar owner, is less picturesque than 'Lawrence of Arabia' or 'Ice Cold in Alex'.
Give it a whirl. You could do a lot worse.
It's easy to pick holes: yes, it was unlikely that National Servicemen would be trained by the same men who went into battle; and who was that incredibly generous woman offering baths (5 inches of water only) to servicemen? but on the whole it is a lot more realistic (and murky)than some of the US output of the same era.
Having said that, I shall add my own pick: it was unlikely that 1940 conscripts would have been as old as Stanley Holloway. The call up for older men did not happen until later in the war when we began to run out of men.
But this is forgiven by David Niven's performance. He manages to avoid John Wayne-type clichés especially at the end when they are faced with overwhelming odds and he just knuckles down to the job.
His soldiers are also portrayed as human types. Although they hold the usual film world clichéd roles- cockney, middle class shop worker, shouting sergeant and off, they cheat in exercises and whine about their lot.
The moment when their troopship loaded with supplies sinks might also be a first for wartime films. And a reminder to the audience such things happened and they had to replace it all by working harder.
The men then get R & R in Gibralter before ending up somewhere in the Western Desert. It is not a heroic war and the desert town with Peter Ustinov, as a less than happy bar owner, is less picturesque than 'Lawrence of Arabia' or 'Ice Cold in Alex'.
Give it a whirl. You could do a lot worse.