{ "id": "epggsdt1qr", "slug": "yesterdays-enemy", "title": "Yesterday's Enemy", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "label": "War and historical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure", "label": "War action and adventure", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-through-1999", "label": "War action films released through 1999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-through-1999" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-through-1999.yr-1934-1962", "label": "Released 1934 to 1962", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-through-1999.yr-1934-1962" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: War and historical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "label": "War and historical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Yesterday's Enemy (昨日の敵) is a 1959 Hammer war film directed by Val Guest, starring Stanley Baker as Captain Langford, who executes hostages in Burma to extract intelligence, and was nominated for four BAFTAs.", "snippet": "Yesterday's Enemy (昨日の敵) is a 1959 Hammer war film directed by Val Guest, starring Stanley Baker as Captain Langford, who executes hostages in Burma to extract intelligence, and was nominated for four BAFTAs.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.war-action-and-adventure.war-action-films-released-through-1999.yr-1934-1962", "markdown": "# Yesterday's Enemy\n\n**Yesterday's Enemy** (昨日の敵) is a 1959 British black-and-white war film directed by [Val Guest](https://www.edgepedia.org/val-guest), written by Peter R. Newman, and produced by Michael Carreras for Hammer Film Productions, released by [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures). Set on the Burma front during the Second World War, it follows a lost British patrol whose captain extracts intelligence from a prisoner by having two innocent hostages executed, and it examines the line between acceptable military action and brutality.[1](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/cinema-releases-1950s/yesterdays-enemy/) • [2](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/yesterdays-enemy)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / writer / producer | Val Guest; Peter R. Newman; Michael Carreras[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53068) |\n| Production and distribution | Hammer Film Productions, Ltd.; distributed by Columbia Pictures Corp.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53068) |\n| Format | Black and white, MegaScope widescreen (2.35:1), 95 minutes, no musical score[1](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/cinema-releases-1950s/yesterdays-enemy/) • [4](https://www.theviewersguide.com/yesterday-s-enemy-94135) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/) |\n| Filming | 12 January to 19 February 1959, at Bray Studios, Berkshire, and Shepperton Studios, Surrey[1](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/cinema-releases-1950s/yesterdays-enemy/) |\n| Release | London opening 17 September 1959; UK release 19 October 1959; Japan 12 July 1959 as 昨日の敵[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53068-YESTERDAY%27S-ENEMY) • [1](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/cinema-releases-1950s/yesterdays-enemy/) • [7](https://eiga.com/movie/65576/) |\n| Lead cast | Stanley Baker (Captain Langford), Guy Rolfe (Padre), Leo McKern (Max), Gordon Jackson (Sgt. McKenzie), Philip Ahn (Maj. Yamazaki)[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/) |\n| Recognition | Nominated for 4 BAFTA Awards[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nIn 1942, during the [Japanese invasion of Burma](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-invasion-of-burma), an exhausted remnant of a [British Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-army) brigade headquarters trudges through jungle and swamp. Its radio has been disabled by water, cutting contact with headquarters, and the brigadier commanding the group has been mortally wounded. Captain Alan Langford ([Stanley Baker](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-baker)) drives the men on.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53068-YESTERDAY%27S-ENEMY) • [7](https://eiga.com/movie/65576/)\n\nThe patrol comes upon a small Burmese village held by Japanese soldiers hiding in the native huts. In the firefight the British kill eight Japanese soldiers and a full colonel, and they capture a Burmese man working as a paid informer for the Japanese. A map found on the colonel's body shows Japanese dispositions and movements. When the informer refuses to talk, Langford has two innocent hostages shot by firing squad to demonstrate his determination; the man then reveals the plans for a Japanese advance.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53068-YESTERDAY%27S-ENEMY) • [1](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/cinema-releases-1950s/yesterdays-enemy/)\n\n**The moral argument.** The executions provoke a bitter quarrel within the group. The padre (Guy Rolfe), the doctor (David Oxley), and the war correspondent Max ([Leo McKern](https://www.edgepedia.org/leo-mckern)) protest that Langford has disregarded the Geneva Convention and committed a war crime; Langford answers that such cruelty is necessary to save a greater number of lives, arguing that nobody objects when bomber pilots kill hundreds of civilians from a distance but objects when killing happens close up.[4](https://www.theviewersguide.com/yesterday-s-enemy-94135) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yesterdays_enemy)\n\nWhen a division of enemy soldiers is spotted nearby, Langford decides the unit must stay in the village so the Japanese will not suspect their plan has been discovered. He leaves wounded men behind and sends a small detachment back toward headquarters to raise the alarm; the rest remain to delay the enemy.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53068-YESTERDAY%27S-ENEMY) • [4](https://www.theviewersguide.com/yesterday-s-enemy-94135)\n\n**The reversal.** The film's second half reverses the positions: the Japanese recapture the camp, and Langford faces interrogation and treatment similar to what he inflicted. In the ending, Langford makes a dash for the radio and is shot dead by a sentry. Moved by his courage, Major Yamazaki (Philip Ahn) has his body buried with honor.[10](https://letterboxd.com/dancedancedance/film/yesterdays-enemy/) • [7](https://eiga.com/movie/65576/) The film ends without a \"The End\" title: the camera pans away from a memorial reading \"WHEN YOU GO HOME TELL THEM OF US AND SAY – FOR THEIR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY\", leaving only birdsong.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/)\n\n## Production\n\nYesterday's Enemy was part of a deal between [Hammer Film Productions](https://www.edgepedia.org/hammer-film-productions) and Columbia Pictures under which Hammer would co-produce five films per year for Columbia over five years. Columbia had previously acquired a 49 percent interest in Hammer's Bray Studios, and under the arrangement provided 50 percent of the financing for the co-productions.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53068)\n\nThe film was shot between 12 January and 19 February 1959 at Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, with additional studio work at [Shepperton Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/shepperton-studios), Surrey.[1](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/cinema-releases-1950s/yesterdays-enemy/) Despite the jungle setting, the production was shot entirely on indoor sets; the jungle sets were built on revolving sections, part of which was later reused for Hammer's *The Mummy* (1959).[4](https://www.theviewersguide.com/yesterday-s-enemy-94135) • [11](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2018/09/hammer-volume-three-blood-terror/) The film has no musical score; the soundtrack relies on jungle and water sounds, an effect reviewers have described as claustrophobic and authentic.[4](https://www.theviewersguide.com/yesterday-s-enemy-94135) • [10](https://letterboxd.com/dancedancedance/film/yesterdays-enemy/)\n\n**Source.** A Hollywood Reporter news item and the Variety review described the film as Peter R. Newman's adaptation of his own play for the screen, while other sources treat it as an original story and screenplay by Newman; Dennis Schwartz, the American critic, identifies it as based on Newman's television play. Gordon Jackson reprised his role as Sergeant MacKenzie from the original BBC teleplay.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53068) • [12](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/yesterdays-enemy/) • [4](https://www.theviewersguide.com/yesterday-s-enemy-94135)\n\n## Cast\n\n- Stanley Baker as Captain Alan Langford[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- Guy Rolfe as the Padre[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- Leo McKern as Max, the war correspondent[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- Gordon Jackson as Sgt. McKenzie[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- David Oxley as the Doctor[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- Richard Pasco as 2nd Lt. Hastings[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- Philip Ahn as Maj. Yamazaki[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- [Bryan Forbes](https://www.edgepedia.org/bryan-forbes) as Dawson[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- Wolfe Morris as the Informer[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n- David Lodge as Perkins, Percy Herbert as Wilson (Wilkins in some listings), Russell Waters as the [Brigadier](https://www.edgepedia.org/brigadier), and Barry Lowe as Turner[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/) • [13](https://kinoundco.de/film/feinde-von-gestern)\n- [Burt Kwouk](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-kwouk) appears as a Japanese soldier[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n\n## Reception and themes\n\nThe film was nominated for four BAFTA Awards.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/) Dennis Schwartz, the American film critic, rated it \"B\" and called it an \"intense but grim WWII drama\"; he notes that in England it was called the most controversial war film made there up to that time, because it said the British were not always honorable in combat.[12](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/yesterdays-enemy/) A 2018 Leicester PhD thesis on British Second World War films observes that the film has particular significance among them because it features a British officer committing a war crime by ordering two innocent Burmese civilians shot by firing squad, and that, like *The Bridge on the River Kwai*, it explores the ethics of war while containing conflicting messages.[14](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/pstorage-leicester-213265548798/18475460/2018MOULEAJPhD.pdf)\n\nThe film's stated theme, in Newman's writing, is that war is an uncivilized experience that can cause actions inhumane by civilian standards. Hammer prepared a special press release for the premiere, \"The Film and Its Challenge\", taking the form of a discussion to justify the film's treatment.[12](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/yesterdays-enemy/) • [15](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/19576241.pdf) For the American release, Columbia asked Hammer to edit out numerous uses of the word \"bastard\".[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/)\n\nLater assessments have kept the film in view. A 2018 Blu-ray release in Indicator's Hammer Volume Three: Blood & Terror box set included a 25-minute documentary, *Total War: Inside Yesterday's Enemy*, and appreciations by the horror author Stephen Laws and the British-film scholar Steve Chibnall, professor of film history.[11](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2018/09/hammer-volume-three-blood-terror/) • [16](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/rentals/yesterdays-enemy-88744.html) Reviewers of that release describe it as more balanced and less sensationalist than Hammer's earlier Burma film *The Camp on Blood Island* (1958).[11](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2018/09/hammer-volume-three-blood-terror/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Yesterday's Enemy – The Hammer Graveyard](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/cinema-releases-1950s/yesterdays-enemy/)\n2. [Yesterday's Enemy – JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/yesterdays-enemy)\n3. [Yesterday's Enemy (1959) – AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/53068)\n4. [Yesterday's Enemy – Val Guest Film: Cast, Plot & Guide (1959) – The Viewers Guide](https://www.theviewersguide.com/yesterday-s-enemy-94135)\n5. [Yesterday's Enemy (1959) – IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/)\n6. [Yesterday's Enemy – AFI Catalog full entry](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/53068-YESTERDAY%27S-ENEMY)\n7. [昨日の敵 : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ – 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/65576/)\n8. [Yesterday's Enemy (1959) – Full cast & crew – IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053458/fullcredits/)\n9. [Yesterday's Enemy | Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/yesterdays_enemy)\n10. [Yesterday's Enemy review by Wilson – Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/dancedancedance/film/yesterdays-enemy/)\n11. [Hammer Volume Three: Blood & Terror – Blueprint: Review](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2018/09/hammer-volume-three-blood-terror/)\n12. [Yesterday's Enemy – Dennis Schwartz Reviews](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/yesterdays-enemy/)\n13. [Feinde von gestern – kino&co](https://kinoundco.de/film/feinde-von-gestern)\n14. [Moule, A. J. (2018), PhD thesis, University of Leicester](https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/pstorage-leicester-213265548798/18475460/2018MOULEAJPhD.pdf)\n15. [O'Neill, E., British World War Two Films 1945–65](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/19576241.pdf)\n16. [Yesterday's Enemy (1959) – Cinema Paradiso](https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/rentals/yesterdays-enemy-88744.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › War action and adventure › War action films released through 1999 › Released 1934 to 1962*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/yesterdays-enemy", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/yesterdays-enemy.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Yesterday's Enemy\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/yesterdays-enemy. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Yesterday's Enemy](https://www.edgepedia.org/yesterdays-enemy)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/yesterdays-enemy](https://www.edgepedia.org/yesterdays-enemy). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Yesterday's Enemy\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/yesterdays-enemy. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Yesterday's Enemy is a 1959 Hammer war film directed by Val Guest, starring Stanley Baker as Captain Langford, who executes hostages in Burma to extract intelligence, and was nominated for four BAFTAs." }