''The Last Grenade'' is a 1970 British
war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...
directed by
Gordon Flemyng
Gordon William Flemyng (7 March 1934 – 12 July 1995) was a Scottish television and film director. He was also a writer and producer. He directed six theatrical features, several television films and numerous episodes of television series, some ...
and starring
Stanley Baker
Sir William Stanley Baker (28 February 192828 June 1976) was a Welsh actor and film producer. Known for his rugged appearance and intense, grounded screen persona, he was one of the top British male film stars of the late 1950s, and later a pro ...
and
Alex Cord
Alexander Viespi Jr. (May 3, 1933 – August 9, 2021), known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series ''A ...
as two
soldiers of fortune, formerly comrades, who now find themselves on opposite sides. The cast also includes
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...
,
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962 ...
,
Rafer Johnson
Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlon, decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan Amer ...
,
John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series ''Inspector Morse'' as title character Detective Chief Inspector ...
,
Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career t ...
, and
Julian Glover
Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles since commencing his career in the 1950s. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for th ...
. It was the final feature film directed by Flemyng.
Synopsis
Beginning in the
Congo, a group of
mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
led by British Major Harry Grigsby are due to be picked up by helicopters after completing a mission. As they board the choppers they are fired on from the helicopters by another group of mercenaries led by American Kip Thompson, who has been hired to change sides.
Recovering in the United Kingdom, Grigsby is recruited by the British government to take out Thompson, who has been hired by
Red China to stir up trouble in the
New Territories
The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...
between Hong Kong and Red China. As neither nation wants open warfare with the other, each side hires expendable mercenaries. Grigsby recruits his surviving old crew including Joe Jackson, Terry Mitchell, Gordon Mackenzie, and Andy Royal.
In addition to fighting Thompson, Grigsby finds time to seduce the wife, Katherine, of his liaison, a British General Charles Whiteley.
Cast
*
Stanley Baker
Sir William Stanley Baker (28 February 192828 June 1976) was a Welsh actor and film producer. Known for his rugged appearance and intense, grounded screen persona, he was one of the top British male film stars of the late 1950s, and later a pro ...
as Maj. Harry Grigsby
*
Alex Cord
Alexander Viespi Jr. (May 3, 1933 – August 9, 2021), known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series ''A ...
as Kip Thompson
*
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 58. (1962 ...
as Katherine Whiteley
*
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...
as Gen. Charles Whiteley
*
Rafer Johnson
Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlon, decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan Amer ...
as Joe Jackson
*
Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career t ...
as Gordon Mackenzie
*
Ray Brooks as Lt. David Coulson
*
Julian Glover
Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles since commencing his career in the 1950s. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for th ...
as Andy Royal
*
John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series ''Inspector Morse'' as title character Detective Chief Inspector ...
as Terry Mitchell
*
Gerald Sim
Gerald Grant Sim (4 June 1925 – 11 December 2014) was an English television and film actor who is perhaps best known for having played the Rector in ''To the Manor Born''.
Career
Sim was born in Liverpool, Lancashire and made over a hundred ...
as Dr. Griffiths
*
Philip Latham
Charles Philip Latham (17 January 1929 – 20 June 2020) was a British television actor.
He was educated at Felsted School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1951.
In the late 1960s/early 1970s he was well know ...
as Adams
*
A. J. Brown as Governor
*
Pamela Stanley
Pamela Margaret Stanley (6 September 1909 – 30 June 1991) was a British actress who appeared in a number of stage and film roles in Britain and the United States; the role with which she became most identified with was that of Queen Victoria. ...
as Governor's Lady
*
Paul Dawkins as Commissioner Doyle
*
Kenji Takaki
Kenji Takaki (10 March 1894 – 5 May 1984) was a merchant seaman and actor in both the theatre and cinema. He was of Japanese descent and played small roles in a number of mainly British films as well as being a character extra in others.
Li ...
as Te Ching
Production
It was one of a series of films produced by
Dimitri de Grunwald, who called ''The Last Grenades commercial prospects "safe-ish". The film was shot at
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...
and
on location in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. The sets were designed by the
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Anthony Pratt Anthony Pratt may refer to:
* Anthony Pratt (businessman) (born 1960), Australian billionaire, executive chairman of Pratt Industries and board member of Visy Industries
* Anthony D. G. Pratt (born 1937), British art director
* Anthony E. Pratt
...
.
The film only uses names of the characters from John Sherlock's 1964 novel ''The Ordeal of Major Grigsby'' that was set in the
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
in 1948. Sherlock co-wrote the original screenplay that was rewritten by
James Mitchell. The
working title
A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
of the film was ''Grigsby''.
References
External links
*
*
1970 films
British war films
Cold War films
Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
1970s war films
Films directed by Gordon Flemyng
Films shot in Spain
Films shot in Hong Kong
Films set in Hong Kong
Films about mercenaries
Films produced by Dimitri de Grunwald
Films shot at Shepperton Studios
Films scored by John Dankworth
1970s English-language films
1970s British films
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