Hammer's fourth and final war film, this is a very entertaining POW drama. The film takes place in September 1944 and, like the studio's previous war film "The Camp on Blood Island", it concerns a small Malayan island which is being used as a prison camp by the occupying Japanese forces. I have often seen this film referred to as being a sequel in spite of the fact that the aforementioned film takes place in August 1945. However, it is not really a prequel either as it merely reuses the central idea from "The Camp on Blood Island", which it contradicts to the point that the two films are incompatible. In any event, it is not on the same level as the first "Blood Island" film. That said, it has a rather strong script by John Gilling and the director Quentin Lawrence, who previously helmed one of Hammer's best films "Cash on Demand", is able to maintain a tense atmosphere.
The film stars Barbara Shelley in an excellent performance as a British spy named Elaine, who crash-lands on Blood Island while on her way to Kuala Lumpur 200 miles away. She is charged with a vitally important mission of sabotage which, if carried out successfully, will ensure that the occupying Japanese Army is distracted while its British counterpart attempts to liberate Malaya. After the Japanese learn of her presence from two of the natives, the inmates of the POW camp help her to hide among them by pretending to be a man named Bill. In contrast to the first film, there is no camp for women so she will stick out like a sore thumb as the only white woman on Blood Island. Given that they are risking serious reprisals if she is caught, many of the inmates are not too happy with the situation. Elaine is a strong, determined woman who is dedicated to her mission and has been trained to think of nothing else as its success will save hundreds of lives, potentially even thousands in the long run. However, her training cannot overwhelm her humanity as she feels enormous guilt about putting the lives of every man in the camp at risk. These feelings intensify after one of them, George Bludgin, is whipped to death when an English cigarette that she gave him is found in his possession and lies to his captors about it. Elaine knows that she must complete the sabotage within days if the invasion plan has any serious chance but she clearly did not anticipate that there would be so many complications. Bludgin's death upsets her greatly but she manages to keep a cool head throughout the film.
Jack Hedley is no André Morell but he is quite a good leading man as Sgt. John Crewe, the inmate who found Elaine and decided to shelter her in the camp in the first place. Charles Tingwell is very good as the senior officer Major Bryden, a man of great honour and integrity who is deeply concerned about his men's welfare but knows that they must help Elaine to escape for the good of Malaya and the war effort. Edwin Richfield gives a great performance as a disturbed Irish soldier named Tom O'Reilly, who resents Elaine because of the danger that she poses and resents all women as he thinks that none of them can stand to look at him due to the disfigurement that he suffered at Dunkirk. Bill Owen offers some good comic relief in the early parts of the film as the likable Bludgin, which makes his death more affecting than it would have been otherwise. On the other hand, the generally very reliable Patrick Wymark is very bad as the camp commander Major Jocomo, who comes across as a complete caricature in no small part because of the silly voice and accent that the actor adopts. I wish that the wonderful Korean-American actor Philip Ahn, who played Major Yamazuki in Hammer's best war film "Yesterday's Enemy", had been cast instead. David Saire manages to be even worse than Wymark as the head of the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police. In the atypically serious role of Lt. Tojoko, Hammer's most prolific actor Michael Ripper is certainly the best of three as he does not put on any silly voices, though the character could hardly be described as "nuanced." The film also features nice appearances from Philip Latham, Glyn Houston and Lee Montague who, like Shelley, Richfield and Ripper, appeared in "The Camp of Blood Island" as a different character.
Overall, this is great fun with some nice character work, particularly when it comes to Elaine and O'Reilly. However, the film ends so abruptly that it almost gave me whiplash. It could have benefited from another five minutes to tie up some loose ends.
The film stars Barbara Shelley in an excellent performance as a British spy named Elaine, who crash-lands on Blood Island while on her way to Kuala Lumpur 200 miles away. She is charged with a vitally important mission of sabotage which, if carried out successfully, will ensure that the occupying Japanese Army is distracted while its British counterpart attempts to liberate Malaya. After the Japanese learn of her presence from two of the natives, the inmates of the POW camp help her to hide among them by pretending to be a man named Bill. In contrast to the first film, there is no camp for women so she will stick out like a sore thumb as the only white woman on Blood Island. Given that they are risking serious reprisals if she is caught, many of the inmates are not too happy with the situation. Elaine is a strong, determined woman who is dedicated to her mission and has been trained to think of nothing else as its success will save hundreds of lives, potentially even thousands in the long run. However, her training cannot overwhelm her humanity as she feels enormous guilt about putting the lives of every man in the camp at risk. These feelings intensify after one of them, George Bludgin, is whipped to death when an English cigarette that she gave him is found in his possession and lies to his captors about it. Elaine knows that she must complete the sabotage within days if the invasion plan has any serious chance but she clearly did not anticipate that there would be so many complications. Bludgin's death upsets her greatly but she manages to keep a cool head throughout the film.
Jack Hedley is no André Morell but he is quite a good leading man as Sgt. John Crewe, the inmate who found Elaine and decided to shelter her in the camp in the first place. Charles Tingwell is very good as the senior officer Major Bryden, a man of great honour and integrity who is deeply concerned about his men's welfare but knows that they must help Elaine to escape for the good of Malaya and the war effort. Edwin Richfield gives a great performance as a disturbed Irish soldier named Tom O'Reilly, who resents Elaine because of the danger that she poses and resents all women as he thinks that none of them can stand to look at him due to the disfigurement that he suffered at Dunkirk. Bill Owen offers some good comic relief in the early parts of the film as the likable Bludgin, which makes his death more affecting than it would have been otherwise. On the other hand, the generally very reliable Patrick Wymark is very bad as the camp commander Major Jocomo, who comes across as a complete caricature in no small part because of the silly voice and accent that the actor adopts. I wish that the wonderful Korean-American actor Philip Ahn, who played Major Yamazuki in Hammer's best war film "Yesterday's Enemy", had been cast instead. David Saire manages to be even worse than Wymark as the head of the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police. In the atypically serious role of Lt. Tojoko, Hammer's most prolific actor Michael Ripper is certainly the best of three as he does not put on any silly voices, though the character could hardly be described as "nuanced." The film also features nice appearances from Philip Latham, Glyn Houston and Lee Montague who, like Shelley, Richfield and Ripper, appeared in "The Camp of Blood Island" as a different character.
Overall, this is great fun with some nice character work, particularly when it comes to Elaine and O'Reilly. However, the film ends so abruptly that it almost gave me whiplash. It could have benefited from another five minutes to tie up some loose ends.