CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

HotToastyRag There's a very long setup in The Way Ahead, and while I understand that it's necessary, I wish I had known about it beforehand. This is a pretty heavy war drama, and the first half of the film is spent getting to know the characters of the soldiers, establishing the relationship between the regiment and their commanding officer, and their training to prepare for battle. Those three elements are very important to the story, and perhaps given this warning you'll have more patience with the film than I did. I thought it was going to be a battlefield movie; I'm sure I'll appreciate the film much more the second time around.David Niven plays the commanding lieutenant, and for the first half of the film, he continually clashes with his troops. They badmouth him, refuse to cooperate, and begrudge his trying to get them into shape and ready for WW2. There's a very touching scene when they finally realize Niven is just as human as they are, and from that point on, they all get along. What conflict is left to further the second half of the film, if everyone likes each other? World War Two!This turns out to be a pretty tense war drama, and the very applicable title will make more sense to you after you watch it. My advice is to be prepared for an emotional investment that may or may not pay off in the long haul. It'll take a while, but you'll get immersed in the characters and their world, and when the movie's over you'll probably feel drained. WWII lovers are going to want to add this one to their lists.

robertguttman "The Way Ahead" is an interesting film produced in Britain during World War II to support the war effort by drawing on the talents of an outstanding group of noted British personalities, including Erik Ambler, Carol Reed, Peter Ustinov. The actors comprise and ensemble of some of the most recognizable British character actors of the 1940s and 1950s, not least among whom are David Niven and Peter Ustinov, who actually were serving in the British Army at the time. The plot follows a polyglot assortment of civilians who are drafted into the British Army at the Beginning of World War II, undergo basic training and eventually emerge as an efficient fighting unit. It is not a new story but it is done very well in this case, thanks to excellent writing and direction, and the equally expert ensemble cast.However, I must admit that I have only seen this film in the United States under it's alternative title, "the Immortal Battalion". I could not help coming away with the suspicion that the original film must have been somewhat cut and reedited before release in the U.S. I don't know for a fact if that was the case, but certain hints here and there in the story line, as well as certain odd gaps in continuity, suggest that may have been the case. I find it difficult to believe that Erik Amber, Peter Ustinov and Carol Reed would have been satisfied with such clumsiness of production, so I can only assume that the film must have been clumsily reedited later by somebody else. For that reason, I find it difficult to judge this film fairly without comparing it with the original UK version, which I strongly suspect differs somewhat from the version shown in the U.S. Nevertheless, I still recommended it highly.

ackstasis War films produced during WWII are very different to those released in the decades afterwards. Back then, it was an honour and a privilege to fight for one's country, and dying was often an essential part of a soldier's service. This idealistic cinematic patriotism apparently emerged in the late-1930s in response to the rise of Nazism, with Hollywood filmmakers swiftly abandoning the tragic, sobering view of war explored in earlier films such as Milestone's 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).' The primary motives of WWII war films can usually be whittled down to three simple phrases: we're good; they're evil; we're going to win. These works of propaganda have obviously long since lost their topicality, and most cease to be anything but historical curios. 'The Way Ahead (1944)' does nothing of the sort. Having started its life as an army education short called 'The New Lot (1943),' this film had every opportunity to wind up as nothing more than a propaganda piece, but director Carol Reed knew what he was doing. For fans of British cinema, this is an unexpected treat.Unlike most war films of the era, 'The Way Ahead' contains hardly an ounce of propaganda. With the exception of one very brief scene (in which a soldier verbosely extols the virtues and importance of the armed infantry), the film never speaks down to its audience, and rarely feels as though it is trying to communicate an underlying agenda. Above all else, Reed's film is about human relationships, and how a ramshackle selection of mismatched recruits can evolve into a close-knit squad of soldiers who respect each other and can work together towards a common goal. That this common goal is ultimately the eradication of the Nazis is addressed only indirectly, and, fortunately, we're spared a bravura closing monologue about an impending Allied victory. The film instead closes with its British heroes marching purposefully through the fog, facing the unknown but full of courage and hope (reminiscent of 'Casablanca (1942)' two years earlier). Reed emphatically replaces the customary "The End" with "The Beginning," signalling hope for the future without ramming optimism down our throats.'The Way Ahead' succeeds as superior war drama because its characters are real people, and not merely symbols who represent an ideal. David Niven's character, Lieutenant Jim Perry, is a kind and understanding leader, perhaps the sort of man whose authority one could flout without fear of reprimand. Rather than exploiting his higher rank, Perry instead appeals to his recruits' sense of pride and camaraderie, eventually winning their obedience, not through power, but through loyalty. His soldiers, each man an interesting and individual character, are played by James Donald, John Laurie, Leslie Dwyer, William Hartnell and man-about-British-cinema Stanley Holloway, among others. Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov's screenplay covers a lot of territory. Without ever feeling rushed, the film covers the pre-military lives of the soldiers, the patchy first weeks of training, their development into a cohesive group, their disastrous first attempt at entering the war, and their final heroic efforts in fighting the Germans – including an earth-shattering battle sequence that sees entire buildings crumbling to the ground.

bkoganbing The version of The Way Ahead that I have is one that was edited for the American market and has a narration by US war correspondent Quentin Reynolds. It was his narration that sets the stage for a wartime tribute to the civilians who volunteered for king and country at a time of their nation's greatest peril.When war in Europe was declared David Niven was one of the British stars in America that went back to serve. Since he had been in the army before taking up acting, he was able to secure a commission. For a good deal of the war he was a training officer and really was drilling the men as we see on Salisbury plain. Some of his time was spent in the commandos in missions to Europe. And he was released to make wartime films Spitfire and The Way Ahead.The script was written by a 21 year old actor/playwright named Peter Ustinov who has a small role in the film. According to a new biography of Niven in order to secure Ustinov's service, enlisted man Ustinov was attached to officer Niven as his orderly. A whole lot of faces familiar in the British cinema appeared in The Way Ahead, people like Stanley Holloway, Jimmy Hanley, James Donald, Leo Genn, and Trevor Howard. And it was directed in good style by Carol Reed, one of his earliest films.One big flaw in the film was that the men who trained with officer Niven and sergeant William Hartnell ended up serving with him in North Africa. Not possible in America and not possible in the UK either. But since the idea was to show camaraderie, I guess that Two Cities Films can be forgiven.The point of the film and of Quentin Reynolds narration is that in time of peril it is the democracies and not those totalitarian countries with a superman philosophy who have the real strength of character. May it ever be so.