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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|1943 film}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}<br />
{{Infobox film<br />
| name = Nine Men<br />
| image = Ninemen1943.jpg<br />
| caption = UK release poster<br />
| director = [[Harry Watt (director)|Harry Watt]]<br />
| producer = [[Michael Balcon]]<br />
| writer = Harry Watt<br />
| based_on = {{based on|''Umpity Poo'' (short story)|[[Gerald Kersh]]}}<br />
| starring = {{ubl|[[Jack Lambert (British actor)|Jack Lambert]]|[[Gordon Jackson (actor)|Gordon Jackson]]|[[Frederick Piper]]}}<br />
| music = [[John D. H. Greenwood|John Greenwood]]<br />
| cinematography = [[Roy Kellino]]<br />
| editing = [[Charles Crichton]]<br />
| distributor = [[Ealing Studios]]<br />
| released = {{Film date|1943|2|22|df=y}}<br />
| runtime = 68 min.<br />
| country = United Kingdom<br />
| language = English<br />
| budget =<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''''Nine Men''''' is a 1943 [[United Kingdom|British]] [[war film]], set in the [[Western Desert Campaign]] during the [[Second World War]].<br />
<br />
==Production==<br />
The film is an [[Ealing Studios]] production and marked the first fiction film assignment for celebrated documentary film director [[Harry Watt (director)|Harry Watt]], who had worked at the [[Crown Film Unit]].<ref name ="Havardi">{{cite book | last = Havardi | first = Jeremy | year = 2014 | title = Projecting Britain at War: The National Character in British World War II Films | publisher = McFarland | location = Jefferson, NC | isbn = 978-0-7864-7483-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BFHmAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 | page = 78 }}</ref> With only a £20,000 budget, the film's exterior desert sequences were shot at [[Margam|Margam Sands]], [[Glamorgan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/511590/ |title=Nine Men (1943) |website=www.screenonline.org.uk |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=4 July 2016 }}</ref><br />
<br />
==Plot==<br />
In a barrack room at a Battle Training Ground in England, a [[platoon]] of [[conscripts]] are complaining about blisters and are impatient to get into action with the enemy. Sergeant Jack Watson tells them that they need a little bit extra to be successful in combat, which he illustrates with a story from his experience in the Western Desert Campaign.<ref name ="Havardi"/><br />
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His story is then shown in [[flashback (narrative)|flashback]]. Lieutenant Crawford, Sergeant Watson and the seven men under their command are travelling through the [[Libyan desert]] in an Allied convoy, when their lorry becomes stuck in the sand and the convoy moves on without them. As they work to free themselves, they are attacked by German aircraft, injuring Crawford and Johnson and setting fire to the lorry. Setting off on foot and carrying the wounded, they struggle through a [[sandstorm]] until they come across a derelict hut. Lieutenant Crawford orders them to hold out there until help arrives but then dies. With only a limited supply of ammunition and their own wits to help them survive, they are then besieged by [[Royal Italian Army during World War II|Italian troops]]. By various ruses and skilful use of their weapons, they are able to hold out until the Italians make a final assault; as the British soldiers use the last of their bullets and finally resort to a [[bayonet charge]], reinforcements arrive supported by tanks, whereupon the Italians surrender.<br />
<br />
Back at the barrack room, Watson concludes his story as the bugle sounds for dinner.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/511590/synopsis.html |title=Nine Men (1943) - Synopsis |website=www.screenonline.org.uk |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=4 July 2016 }}</ref><br />
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==Cast==<br />
In common with many Ealing productions of the time, the film used a largely unknown cast, only a few of whom were full-time professional actors. The film is known to be actor [[Grant Sutherland]]'s last performance before retiring from acting to pursue a career in business. Sutherland had featured in such films as Michael Powell's ''[[The Edge of the World]]'' and ''[[The Spy in Black]]''.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}<br />
<br />
{{cast listing|<br />
* [[Jack Lambert (British actor)|Jack Lambert]] as Sergeant Jack Watson<br />
* [[Gordon Jackson (actor)|Gordon Jackson]] as The Young'un<br />
* [[Frederick Piper]] as 'Banger' Hill<br />
* Grant Sutherland as Jock Scott<br />
* [[Bill Blewitt]] as Bill Parker<br />
* Eric Micklewood as 'Bookie' Lee<br />
* John Varley as 'Dusty' Johnstone<br />
* Jack Horsman as Joe Harvey<br />
* Richard Wilkinson as 2nd Lieutenant Crawford<br />
* Giulio Finzi as Italian mechanic<br />
* [[Fred Griffiths (actor)|Fred Griffiths]] as Base sergeant <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/511590/credits.html<br />
|title=Nine Men (1943) as Cast and Credits |website=www.screenonline.org.uk |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=4 July 2016 }}</ref><br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Reception==<br />
Although the battle scenes were considered to be effective and particularly graphic at the time, the portrayal of the Italian soldiers was described by the ''[[Manchester Guardian]]'' as "impossibly instead of credibly cowardly".<ref>{{cite book | author-link = James Chapman (media historian) | last = Chapman | first = James | title = War and Film | publisher = Reaktion Books | year = 2008 | location = London | isbn = 978-1-86189-347-5 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jIDgWXZpBYkC&pg=PA65 | pages = 65–66 }}</ref><ref name ="Havardi"/><br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
* {{IMDb title|0036204}}<br />
* {{amg movie|104063}}<br />
<br />
{{Harry Watt}}<br />
{{Michael Balcon}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nine Men}}<br />
[[Category:1943 films]]<br />
[[Category:1943 war films]]<br />
[[Category:Ealing Studios films]]<br />
[[Category:British World War II films]]<br />
[[Category:World War II films made in wartime]]<br />
[[Category:North African campaign films]]<br />
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]<br />
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]<br />
[[Category:Films directed by Harry Watt]]<br />
[[Category:Films produced by Michael Balcon]]<br />
[[Category:Films set in Libya]]<br />
[[Category:1940s British films]]</div>Bot