The Long and the Short and the Tall (play)

For the 1961 film, see The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961 film).

The Long and the Short and the Tall
Written by	Willis Hall
Characters	Sergeant R. 'Mitch' Mitchem Corporal Edward 'Johnno' Johnstone Lance-Corporal A. J. Macleish Private C. 'Bammo' Bamforth Private T. E. 'Taff' Evans Private P. 'Smudger' Smith Private Samuel 'Sammy' Whitaker
Mute	Japanese Soldier
Date premiered	7 January 1959 (1959-01-07)
Place premiered	Royal Court Theatre, London
Subject	Japanese Invasion of British Malaya during World War II.
Setting	January 1942 An abandoned tin mine in the Malayan jungle

The Long and the Short and the Tall is a play written by British playwright Willis Hall.

Set during the Second World War, the play was commissioned by the Oxford Theatre Group and first performed by that company at Cranston Street Hall, Edinburgh from 27 August to 13 September 1958, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Directed by Peter Dews, this original production used the title The Disciplines of War. ^[1] The play's English premiere happened almost simultaneously, with a run at Nottingham Playhouse from 1 to 13 September, this time under the title Boys, It's All Hell! and directed by Val May. ^[2]

Its title finally adjusted to The Long and the Short and the Tall (a quote from the 1917 song "Bless 'Em All"), the play was produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 7 January 1959; it was directed by Lindsay Anderson and starred Peter O'Toole and Robert Shaw. It was Anderson's first major production for the Royal Court, transferring to London's West End on 8 April and running until 4 July. ^[3]

A film adaptation was released in 1961. ^[4] Directed by Leslie Norman, it stars Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris, Richard Todd and David McCallum. ^[5] A television version followed in 1979, starring Michael Kitchen, Mark McManus and Richard Morant. ^[6]

Plot

The play is set in British Malaya in 1942, during the Battle of Malaya. The characters are a patrol of British Army soldiers; the play's events take place in an abandoned hut in the middle of the Malayan jungle. Tension rises as the patrol's radio malfunctions and a Japanese soldier stumbles upon them.

Characters / cast

• Sergeant R. 'Mitch' Mitchem - The leader of the patrol, tough and experienced (Robert Shaw)
• Corporal Edward (Ted) 'Johnno' Johnstone - The second-in-command, as tough and experienced as Mitchem, but far more callous (Edward Judd)
• Lance-Corporal A. J. 'Mac' Macleish - A Scotsman, recently made up to lance-corporal, but has no more experience than the privates (none of whom have seen action), intelligent, short-tempered and moral (Ronald Fraser)
• Private C. 'Bammo' Bamforth - A Londoner, witty, rebellious and hates authority, a classic barrack-room lawyer (Peter O'Toole)
• Private T. E. 'Taff' Evans - A Welshman, pleasant and easy-going (Alfred Lynch)
• Private P. 'Smudger' Smith - A Northerner, a quiet, family man (Bryan Pringle)
• Private Samuel 'Sammy' Whitaker - A Geordie, the youngest member of the patrol and its radio operator, very nervy (David Andrews)
• Japanese Soldier - Doesn't speak at any point during the play, but still plays a major role (Kenji Takaki)

Albert Finney was originally cast as the North Country Private Bamforth but due to appendicitis he was replaced by the then unknown O'Toole, who turned the character into a Cockney. O'Toole's understudy (who never went on) was Michael Caine. ^[7] Caine later played O'Toole's role on a Scottish tour of the play with Frank Finlay as Sergeant Mitchem and Terence Stamp as Whitaker. ^[8]

Television adaptation

A 30 minute excerpt of the play was filmed for British TV in 1959 with the play's original cast. ^{[9] [10]}

References

1. 'Chit Chat: Oxford Theatre Group' The Stage, 17 July 1958, p. 10.
2. 'Repertory: Premieres for Nottingham', The Stage, 21 August 1958, p. 7.
3. Roberts, Philip (1999). The Royal Court Theatre and the Modern Stage . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp.  68–75. ISBN   0-521-47438-8.
4. "The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961)". BFI. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
5. "BFI Screenonline: Long and the Short and the Tall, The (1960)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
6. "The Long and the Short and the Tall Part 1 (1979)". BFI. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021.
7. Barker, Dennis (March 12, 2005). "Obituary: Willis Hall" – via www.theguardian.com.
8. pp. 146-147 Caine, Michael What's It All About? Random House, 31 Mar. 2012
9. "A scene from The Long and the Short and the Tall". April 9, 1959. p. 21 – via BBC Genome.
10. TV Adaptation at IMDb