{"product_id":"0886470516070","title":"Way Ahead","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Immortal Battalion\u003c\/i\u003e has a bit of a convoluted history. It started life as a training film, \u003ci\u003eThe New Lot\u003c\/i\u003e, which ran 44 minutes. When Winston Churchill approached David Niven about creating a film that would do for the British Army what \u003ci\u003eIn Which We Serve\u003c\/i\u003e had done for the Royal Navy, he contacted Carol Reed and suggested expanding \u003ci\u003eThe New Lot\u003c\/i\u003e. The result, written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov, was the acclaimed \u003ci\u003eThe Way Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e. For its U.S. release, \u003ci\u003eWay Ahead\u003c\/i\u003e was edited to a shorter length and retitled \u003ci\u003eThe Immortal Battalion\u003c\/i\u003e. In either of its feature length forms, the film is concerned with the training of a bunch of raw recruits into a capable and efficient fighting regiment. Niven stars as Jim Perry, a lieutenant and former ordinary guy who finds that he must learn to take a tough line in order to make his wildly diverse crew come together and understand the importance both of the war and of their place in it. Although it takes time and constant effort on the part of Perry and his sergeant, the eight men eventually overcome their different backgrounds and feelings, and transform themselves into a unit which performs its tasks with admirable skill and dexterity, preparing them for their battle against the Desert Fox in Africa. Told in a semi-documentary style, \u003ci\u003eBattalion\u003c\/i\u003e also features the screen debut of Trevor Howard.","brand":"Digicomtv","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47167447924976,"sku":"0886470516070","price":14.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/0886470516070_p0.jpg?v=1763533705","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/0886470516070","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}