319:
O'Rourke, still trying to talk him round. O'Rourke angrily accuses Evans of caring more about his own chances of becoming an officer than he does about the welfare of his own men. Evans admits that this is true, saying that becoming an officer represents his only chance of going home. O'Rourke threatens to attempt suicide again but Evans is too preoccupied with his own problems to really hear him. Walker orders the section to assemble for inspection and Evans goes back to the guard hut only to be ordered to fetch O'Rourke. He goes back to the Bofors gun only to discover that O'Rourke has stripped to the waist and fatally stabbed himself in the abdomen with a bayonet. Evans angrily kicks O'Rourke's corpse, knowing that his chances of going back to
England are ruined. Walker and Lt Pickering arrive and Evans, now destined to spend the rest of his service in the ranks, has to face the full force of military punishment.
315:
life, is at breaking point. Drunk and unstable, he tries to kill himself by jumping out of an upper-storey window but only suffers minor injuries. Evans refuses to report the incident but not out of any genuine concern for O'Rourke but rather out of fear that it might affect his chances of becoming an officer. Sgt Walker, a much stronger NCO, arrives on a visit only to find Evans has apparently lost control of his section. Walker, aware of Evans' lack of experience, is prepared to turn a blind eye to the mess provided Evans disciplines O'Rourke. Evans refuses, prompting Walker to warn him that when he returns, he will bring the duty officer with him and that Evans had better have his section back in order. An exasperated Flynn tries to convince Evans that he needs to exert some authority and that his attempts to win O'Rourke over by being lenient will not work.
427:
life about?" and does it with enough vehemence to disturb even the most complacently well-adjusted. The achievement is far from accidental. Study, for instance, the images of parallel despair in O'Rourke and Evans that lead up to O’Rourke’s first suicide attempt. They are images of birth rather than death, images that lead into life as well as out of it. With his first film Gold also reveals himself as an excellent director of actors: Nicol
Williamson gives a shattering performance as the manic, intransigent Irishman, and all the acting has a fine, astringent quality that compels attention."
307:(NCO). Evans' fumbling attempts to engage him in friendly conversation only make matters worse. The atmosphere grows more tense and O'Rourke strikes one of the other men, Rowe and then dares Evans to place him on a disciplinary charge but the NCO is too nervously intimidated to do so. O'Rourke and his sidekick Featherstone insist on being allowed to go to the
456:
wrote: "Nicol
Williamson's high-voltage performance is obviously plugged in to some private dynamo: he clears the ground around him, turns it into a kind of disaster area, persuades you that something ominous and intolerable is about to happen. But as he shouts and David Warner shivers, the splenetic
426:
is a film that appeals (or fails to appeal, for there are those who react to it with distaste) on the strength of its emotional textures rather than its argument. ...The feeling that hangs over the whole film is that nobody cares about anybody else. ...The film asks questions like "What is
314:
O'Rourke confides to
Featherstone that at midnight it will be his 30th birthday and the two decide to go the canteen and start drinking, knowing full well it is forbidden whilst on guard duty. O'Rourke, having endured a grim childhood and the harsh, unjust punishments of the army for all his adult
439:
wrote that it "played with such unaffected honesty ... I totally accepted its high-pitched, stylised reality." Canby also praised the performances of both Warner and
Williamson, describing the latter's performance as O'Rourke as "a man who has peered over the edge of his soul and seen a terrible
318:
O'Rourke and
Featherstone, drunk and dishevelled, finally return. Ignoring Flynn's advice to report them, Evans is still convinced he can retrieve the situation himself and he puts O'Rourke on guard duty. Walker and Lieutenant Pickering arrive for the nightly inspection when Evans is checking on
302:
at a
British military base. It soon becomes clear that, with the exception of Flynn, none of the section have any respect for Evans, guessing rightly that he has no enthusiasm and little ability in his role. Gunner O'Rourke in particular is troublesome and insubordinate, his contempt for Evans
38:
298:, is about to be sent back to England to undertake a second attempt at officer training. But first he has to get through one night of guard duty without incident. Evans is in charge of a section of six men detailed to guard an anti-aircraft
463:
said: "Keen, fascinating, but often crude and eventually rather silly expansion of a TV play chiefly notable for the excellent acting opportunities privided by its unattractive but recognisable characters."
440:
void. During this night, O'Rourke is preparing to jump into that void – and to take
Bombardier Evans with him. How he destroys Evans – using the man's own vanities – is the story of the film."
422:
wrote: "There are no tricks of style, no obvious directorial touches; control of his subject is so unobtrusive that an audience can get his points without noticing him make them. ...
491:
Chapman, L. (2021). “They wanted a bigger, more ambitious film”: Film
Finances and the American “Runaways” That Ran Away. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 18(2), 176–197 p 189.
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wrote: "It has all the gripping fascination of a tussle between two wily, desperate young animals. Taut, icy direction and acting flawlessly ... bring a faultless realism."
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Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of
British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 361
286:, it portrays the increasingly violent interaction between members of a squad of soldiers during a single night of guard duty.
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for his performance as O'Rourke. Ian Holm won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor.
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confrontation seems to be between actors rather than valid characters."
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West Germany, 1954. Lance Bombardier Evans, a sheltered middle-class
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spurring him to test the authority and patience of the weak-willed
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Nicol Williamson received a nomination for Best Actor at the 1969
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to buy cigarettes and Evans ill-advisedly lets them go.
409:The film's budget was an estimated $ 800,000.
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619:(408): 147. 1 January 1968 – via ProQuest.
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732:(7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 128.
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343:as Lance Bombardier Terry "Lance Bar" Evans
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274:Set in 1954, during the British peacetime
36:
727:
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518:British Film Institute Collections Search
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493:https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2021.0565
1035:
569:"Events while Guarding the Bofors Gun"
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629:
586:
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394:Lindsay Campbell as Captain Cheeseman
272:Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun.
1068:Films about the British Armed Forces
691:Houston, Penelope (23 August 1968).
630:Canby, Vincent (23 September 1968).
497:
70:Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun
16:1968 British drama film by Jack Gold
13:
14:
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391:John Herrington as German Pointer
231:$ 800,000 or ÂŁ160,442 or ÂŁ171,058
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709:from the original on 6 May 2019
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996:Ball Trap on the Cote Sauvage
596:, Stein and Day, 1974, p. 345
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1098:1960s English-language films
1058:British films based on plays
467:
376:Donald Gee as Gunner Crowley
7:
1073:Films directed by Jack Gold
844:My Father Knew Lloyd George
10:
1119:
1078:Films scored by Carl Davis
728:Halliwell, Leslie (1989).
18:
1088:Films set in West Germany
838:
612:The Monthly Film Bulletin
419:The Monthly Film Bulletin
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1093:Universal Pictures films
305:non-commissioned officer
1004:The Rose and the Jackal
900:The Naked Civil Servant
539:"The Bofors Gun (1968)"
388:as Private Samuel, cook
373:as Lieutenant Pickering
322:
289:
270:based on his 1966 play
159:Everglades Productions
1083:Films set in the 1950s
940:Little Lord Fauntleroy
730:Halliwell's Film Guide
400:as Sergeant-Major West
355:as Gunner Featherstone
948:Good and Bad at Games
1063:Bushey Studios films
1020:Goodnight Mister Tom
266:. It was written by
161:Avernus Productions
1103:1960s British films
1053:British drama films
988:Escape from Sobibor
924:The Sailor's Return
876:The National Health
365:Richard O'Callaghan
296:National Serviceman
84:Robert A. Goldston
830:Films directed by
672:. 31 December 1967
637:The New York Times
594:Hollywood, England
592:Alexander Walker,
549:on 14 January 2009
436:The New York Times
413:Critical reception
349:as Sergeant Walker
331:as Gunner O'Rourke
242:is a 1968 British
173:Universal Pictures
163:Universal Pictures
19:For the guns, see
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664:"The Bofors Gun"
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573:Oxford Reference
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545:. Archived from
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514:"The Bofors Gun"
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329:Nicol Williamson
284:Second World War
252:Nicol Williamson
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703:Press Holdings
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256:David Warner
246:directed by
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203:Running time
180:Release date
101:David Warner
75:John McGrath
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61:John McGrath
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956:Red Monarch
756:. bafta.org
676:10 February
648:10 February
553:10 February
207:105 minutes
157:Copelfilms
81:Produced by
48:Directed by
1043:1968 films
1037:Categories
892:Man Friday
760:6 November
739:0586088946
480:References
405:Production
300:Bofors gun
276:occupation
244:drama film
150:Production
143:Carl Davis
58:Written by
21:Bofors gun
972:The Chain
908:Aces High
832:Jack Gold
468:Accolades
353:John Thaw
264:John Thaw
248:Jack Gold
152:companies
129:Edited by
123:Alan Hume
113:John Thaw
52:Jack Gold
964:Sakharov
868:Conflict
795:AllMovie
713:14 April
707:Archived
578:11 March
523:11 March
335:Ian Holm
260:Ian Holm
220:Language
139:Music by
105:Ian Holm
93:Starring
66:Based on
669:Variety
445:Variety
223:English
212:Country
191:1968-04
189: (
1023:(1998)
1015:(1995)
1007:(1990)
999:(1989)
991:(1987)
983:(1986)
980:Murrow
975:(1984)
967:(1984)
959:(1983)
951:(1983)
943:(1980)
935:(1979)
927:(1978)
919:(1978)
911:(1976)
903:(1975)
895:(1975)
887:(1974)
879:(1973)
871:(1973)
863:(1970)
855:(1968)
847:(1965)
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474:BAFTAs
228:Budget
309:NAAFI
884:Who?
784:IMDb
762:2016
734:ISBN
715:2022
678:2015
650:2015
580:2024
555:2015
525:2024
323:Cast
290:Plot
262:and
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782:at
543:BFI
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278:of
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