The Last Grenade ** (1970, Stanley Baker, Alex Cord, Honor Blackman, Richard Attenborough, Rafer Johnson, John Thaw, Andrew Keir, Julian Glover, Ray Brooks) – Classic Movie Review 8502

Director Gordon Flemyng’s 1970 British war film The Last Grenade is a one-dimensional, brutal movie about the fatal conflict between two ex-buddy soldiers of fortune, Major Harry Grigsby (Stanley Baker) and turncoat Kip Thompson (Alex Cord), now on opposite sides, first in the Congo and then in Hong Kong, where Baker seeks his revenge. In the main subplot, Grigsby (Baker) seduces British military man General Charles Whiteley (Richard Attenborough)’s wife Katherine (Honor Blackman).

A more-than-capable cast boosts a film graced with attractive settings, with filming in Hong Kong and Spain. But, thanks to script credibility problems, it is ultimately stolid and disappointing. The screenplay by Kenneth Ware, James Mitchell and John Sherlock is based on John Sherlock’s 1964 novel The Ordeal of Major Grigsby. The film uses only names of the characters from Sherlock’s novel set in the Malayan Emergency in 1948. Sherlock co-wrote the original screenplay, which was rewritten by Mitchell.

Also in the cast are Rafer Johnson, Andrew Keir, Ray Brooks, Julian Glover, John Thaw (as Terry Mitchell), Philip Latham, Neil Wilson, Gerald Sim (as Dr Griffiths), A J Brown and Pamela Stanley.

The Last Grenade is directed by Gordon Flemyng, runs 95 minutes, is produced by Lockmore, is released by Cinerama, is written by Kenneth Ware (screenplay), James Mitchell (adaptation) and John Sherlock (adaptation), based on John Sherlock’s novel The Ordeal of Major Grigsby, shot in Eastmancolor by Alan Hume, produced by Dimitri De Grunwald and Josef Shaftel, and scored by Johnny Dankworth.

It is the final feature film directed by Flemyng.

Attenborough and Gerald Sim were brothers-in-law.

Attenborough directed Thaw in Cry Freedom (1987) and Chaplin (1992).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8502

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