Reviewed by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Jack Lambert, Gordon Jackson, Frederick Piper, Bill Blewitt,
Grant Sutherland, Eric Micklewood, John Varley, Jack Horsman | Written by Harry Watt
UK cert PG | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 64 min | Directed by Harry Watt
This black and white filmic endeavour from 1943 is most definitely not one of Ealing Studios famous traditional transport pictures, but instead a good old fashioned morale-boosting action romp set, shot and released at the height of World War Two.
Starring The Great Escape's Gordon Jackson, Nine Men is a tense and well-made low-budget film set in a desert landscape during an African campaign, where a group of, you guessed it, nine British soldiers are walled inside a small hut and must defend it from outnumbering Axis forces.
The scenario of enemies being able to come from literally any direction is a great set up for tension, and the film does pick up on it, creating some genuinely suspenseful moments, but unfortunately a lot of them are hindered by a narration that just intrudes upon said moments of tension, and breaks the mood.
Of course, by today's standards, the combat looks like hell, but for 1943 it was pretty well done, as long as you can ignore the endless recycling of sound effects and dodgy miniatures. Nine Men is a worthwhile way to spend an hour.
EXTRAS None