The Best of Enemies (1962)
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In this military comedy, Maj. Richardson (David Niven) and Lt. Burke (Michael Wilding) are two British soldiers on a recognizance mission over Ethiopia in 1941 when their plane crashes in the desert. Capt. Blasi (Alberto Sordi), an Italian officer, finds the Englishmen and offers to help them: he'll let them go if they allow him and his men to take over an old fort nearby and stay there without being bothered. Richardson and Burke agree, and they return to their base of operations, only to discover that they've been ordered to attack the fort and capture Blasi and his men. Richardson considers himself a man of his word and doesn't care for this duty; in time, the two men become friends and exchange banter as they take turns capturing one another. Remarkably enough, Italian actor Alberto Sordi didn't speak English when he made this film, and he learned all his dialogue phonetically. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- David Niven - Major Richardson
- Michael Wilding, Sr. - Lt. Burke
- Harry Andrews - Capt. Rootes
- Aldo Giuffré - Sgt. Todini
- Kenneth Fortescue - Lt. Tomlinson
- Noel Harrison - Lieutenant Hilary
- Michael Trubshawe - Col. Brownlow
- Ronald Fraser - Cpl. Prefect
- Bruno Cattaneo - Pvt. Mattone
- Alberto Sordi - Capt. Blasi
- Amedeo Nazzari - Major Fornari
- David Opatoshu - Capt. Bernasconi
- Tiberio Mitri - Cpl. Moccia
- Duncan MacRae - Sgt. Trevethan
- Robert Desmond - Private Singer
- Bernard Cribbins - Pvt. Tanner
- Pietro Marascalchi - Cpl. Bortolini
- Charles "Buddy" Rogers
- Director(s):
- Guy Hamilton
- Writer(s):
- Furio Scarpelli, Age, Luciano Vincenzoni
- Producer(s):
- Dino de Laurentiis
- Closed Captioning:
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- Subtitles:
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