Never So Few

Never So Few is a World War II adventure drama set in Burma, where an American officer, Captain Tom Reynolds, leads a mixed force of American and local guerrilla fighters against the Japanese. His unit operates near the Chinese border, and a mission there brings him into conflict with Chinese forces whose involvement complicates the campaign. Away from the fighting, Reynolds becomes involved with Carla Vesari, the Italian mistress of a mysterious businessman, Nikko Regas. When Reynolds orders reprisals against prisoners, he faces a court martial that could end his career.

John Sturges directed the film, the seventh of the eighteen features he made, following Last Train from Gun Hill and preceding The Magnificent Seven. Millard Kaufman wrote the screenplay, and Edmund Grainger produced it for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with Canterbury Productions. Frank Sinatra stars as Reynolds, with Gina Lollobrigida as Carla, Peter Lawford, Paul Henreid and Charles Bronson in supporting roles, and Steve McQueen as Corporal Bill Ringa in a part that drew attention early in his career.

The film runs 125 minutes. Audience response has been modest: on IMDb it holds 5.8 out of 10 from around 3,700 votes, and on TMDB 5.5 out of 10 from a much smaller group of voters.