WWII story set amongst clashing personalities in a Scottish military battalion, with the rigidly strict Commanding Officer shaking things up for the rowdy, hard-drinking Colonel. Ostensibly a great dramatic showcase for leads Alec Guinness and John Mills, however there's not much to this story beyond the battle of egos. Director Ronald Neame can't work up any interest in the side-plots concerning the Officer's daughter (Susannah York) and her flirtations with a Piper, nor the Colonel's drunken dependence on a local stage actress. It is very well-made, well-paced, yet the intricate succession of relationships between the disparate troupe of men might have been handled with more subtlety. Guinness has a long, rambling speech at the finale that shows off his range as a performer, but the sequence is too broad to work successfully in the context of the picture. ** from ****