In our archive we have the Michael Balcon Productions press release and a cinema press campaign book as a set of promotional materials relating to The Long and the Short and the Tall — produced at ABPC Elstree Studios and released in 1961 (released as “Jungle Fighters” in the US).

Adapted from Willis Hall’s hard-hitting stage play and directed by Leslie Norman, the film is a tense, psychologically driven war drama set in the Malayan jungle. Rather than focusing on combat, it traps seven British soldiers in the jungle and lets fear, authority, racism, and moral collapse do the damage from within.

The cast is fascinating in hindsight: Richard Todd (who starred in the hugely successful Elstree-made war film The Dam Busters a few years previously), Laurence Harvey, and a young Richard Harris, alongside David McCallum and Ronald Fraser. Notably absent, however, is Peter O’Toole, who had played a lead role in his West End debut in the original London stage production but was passed over for the film due to his perceived lack of fame at the time.

Despite its ambition, the production was not a happy experience for everyone involved. Richard Todd later spoke candidly about his dissatisfaction with the film, feeling uncomfortable with both the material and the final result. In his second volume of his autobiography, he said it “was the most unpleasant film I ever worked on”. Oh dear!

The press book and Balcon release in our archive reveal how the film was sold to exhibitors with its stark imagery and bold typography.

As ever, The Elstree Project is entirely unfunded. Acquiring, preserving, and digitising materials like this — press books, scripts, and studio paperwork — takes time and resources. If you value this work and would like to support it, please consider donating or sharing our posts. Every contribution helps keep Elstree’s film history alive.