Too Late the Hero

An attempt to break the stalemate between British and Japanese forces in the South Pacific in 1942 involves a U.S. Naval task force, led by Captain John G Nolan (HENRY FONDA).Nolan assigns survival obsessed, Japanese speaking Lt. Sam Lawson (CLIFF ROBERTSON) to a British Patrol led by brave but incompetent Capt. Hornsby (DENHOLM ELLIOTT). Their key task is to secretly seize the Japanese communications centre. Hornsby's incompetence, Lawson's desire to survive leads to conflict, fuelled by Tosh Hearne's (MICHAEL CAINE) contempt: the struggle against enormous odds grows harder - some win, some lose, some become heroes - but is it too late?