Columbia. Director Guy Hamilton; Producer Dino De Laurentiis; Screenplay Jack Pulman, Incrocci Agenore, Furio Scaroelli, Suso Cecchi D'Amico; Camera Giuseppe Rotunno; Editor Bert Bates; Music Nino Rota
David Niven
Alberto Sordi
Michael Wilding
Amedeo Nazzari
Harry Andrews
David Opatoshu
The Best of Enemies produced by Italy's Dino De Laurentiis for Columbia, is a splendidly warm, wryly witty and amusing hybrid. Written by one Englishman and two Italians, it is directed by an Englishman (Guy Hamilton), has an Anglo-Italian star cast, with a few exceptions (one being American David Opatoshu), and an Anglo-Italian crew. It was shot mainly in Israel, with some location and studio work in Italy. Israelites were used as extras. Some Abyssinians were imported to play Abyssinians, and two trained gazelles were recruited in Frankfurt, Germany.
It's a wartime comedy, with a gently serious undertone for those who seek it. Locale is the Ethiopian desert in 1941. David Niven, a British major, and his pilot RAF officer Michael Wilding, crash on a reconnaissance trip. They are captured by an Italian patrol, led by an Italian officer (Alberto Sordi). He releases them on condition that they let his patrol move freely to a nearby fort. Back in base, Niven is ordered to attack the fort and does so reluctantly. From then on it's an hilarious, cat-and-mouse game, with captor and captive alternating as the fortunes of war sway. The serious undertone? That war is crazy.
The screenplay is peppered with brisk jokes and unexpected offbeat situations which keep the proceedings light and easy. Hamilton has directed with a sure touch which brings out the characteristics of the two opposed nations admirably. Niven, debonair, nonchalant and skilfully underplaying, is matched excellently by Sordi, playing his first English-speaking role.
(Color) Widescreen. Extract of a review from 1961. Running time: 104 MIN.
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