Never So Few

Never So Few has a good cast, great cinematography, and a terrific Hugo Friedhofer score. It also has Gina Lollobrigida at her most beautiful. I can't understand why there are so many complaints about her in these reviews. She does what she needs to do most admirably. Seems she has always been under appreciated. I thought the romantic scenes were a good contrast with the war sequences.

ONE OF FRANK SINATRA'S BEST WAR MOVIE'S, IT GAVE STEVE McQUEEN HIS FIRST BIG BREAK AS A LEAD IN A MOVIE, SHARING THE BILL WITH SEVERAL OTHERS INCLUDING PETER LAWFORD. IT WAS A BREATHOUGH ROLE FOR HIM, AND A THOUGHLY ENJOYABLE MOVIE FOR ONE AND ALL.

I never received my DVD. After waiting the time frame given for delivery, I had to contact the seller for status. It was never mailed out to me. As they say "You pay for what you get". This included service.

Sorry to say this as I like most movies, but the only reason to purchase this movie (wish I had read my own review before I bought it) would be to make sure you have every second of Steve McQueen's screen work. As another reviewer wrote, the romance truly messes with the plot, despite the obvious charms of the leading lady. The only two bright spots are the McQueen bits where he is his usual flip and resourceful self and the scene where Frank soaks his dirty and perhaps cruddy feet in whiskey. Battle scenes on sets, poorly developed personalities of the local hero warriors, and so many plot lines left hanging, like what happened to Gina's man Nick who states that he is not a good loser? Maybe they were planning a sequel where Nick takes Frank down? And Gina is in Intelligence? Hell Is For Heroes is SO much better.

NEVER SO FEW was Gina Lollobrigida's first film shot in Hollywood (BEAT THE DEVIL,TRAPEZE and SOLOMON & SHEBA were all shot in Europe), and her arrival to star with Frank Sinatra in this picture was a very exciting event. She should have been given more screen time, but this is an action film intended for a male audience that cares little for romance. So her appearances are always somewhat episodic and her character remains undeveloped. Sturges stages the action sequences very well, the male cast is splendid (especially Richard Johnson and Steve MacQueen), the South East Asian locations are wonderful and atmospheric. Sinatra is always interesting on screen but he does not seem to be very involved in the project. Gina does what she is asked to do, and she does it well. We warm up to her character as the film progresses. At any rate, Lollobrigida was gorgeous-looking in 1959. What a woman!