Description

Carol Reed directs a host of British stars in this documentary-style WW2 adventure. Following the Dunkirk retreat, Lt. Jim Perry (David Niven) is assigned a bunch of raw recruits and sets about transforming them from bickering civilians into a proficient battle-ready fighting force. When training is finished, Perry and his men ship off to Africa and the battle of El Alamein…. Synopsis Boasting a script by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov, The Way Ahead [1944] is a rousing version of a familiar WWII genre: an officer must hammer a small group of disparate characters into an effective fighting unit as quickly as possible. David Niven stars as tough-minded Lieutenant Jim Perry, who has to put a reluctant and sometimes comically inept group of raw recruits through fantastically realistic basic training exercises. When the troops hit the beaches of North Africa, they finally begin to understand the purpose behind their training.