The Way Ahead

The Way Ahead
Film poster
Directed byCarol Reed
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyGuy Green
Edited byFergus McDonell
Music byWilliam Alwyn
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release dates
  • 9 June 1944 (1944-06-09) (UK)
  • 3 June 1945 (1945-06-03) (U.S.)
Running time
115 min. / 91 min. (US)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£252,500[1]
Box office£183,700[2]

The Way Ahead (also known as Immortal Battalion) (1944) is a British Second World War drama film directed by Carol Reed. The screenplay was written by Eric Ambler and Peter Ustinov. The film stars David Niven, Stanley Holloway and William Hartnell along with an ensemble cast of other British actors, including Ustinov in one of his earliest roles. The Way Ahead follows a group of civilians who are conscripted into the British Army and, after training, are shipped to North Africa where they are involved in a battle against the Afrika Korps.

  1. ^ James Chapman ‘The Billings verdict’: Kine Weekly and the British Box Office, 1936–62' Journal of British Cinema and Television, Volume 20 Issue 2, Page 200-238, p 210
  2. ^ Chapman p 210