Paper Tiger
They saw him as a hero....but could he live up to it?
Synopsis
A somewhat prim and proper Englishman is hired as the tutor to the son of the Japanese ambassador. His life changes when he and the boy are kidnapped by terrorists for political purposes.
Main Cast
David Niven
'Major' Walter Bradbury
Toshirō Mifune
Ambassador Kagoyama
Hardy Krüger
Müller
Kazuhito Ando
Koichi Kagoyama
Irene Tsu
Talah
Ivan Desny
Foreign Minister
Miiko Taka
Mme. Kagoyama
Jeff Corey
Mr. King
Patricia Donahue
Mrs. King
Rainer Penkert
Army Colonel
User Reviews
CinemaSerf
David Niven is the epitome of the retired English soldier "Major Bradbury" in this gently comedic thriller. He is hired to tutor the young son of the Japanese Ambassador (Toshirô Mifune) to another, somewhat less democratic nation. When he and the young boy "Koichi" (Ando) are kidnapped and held to ransom by some local freedom fighters, it soon transpires that "Maj. Bradbury" may have been exaggerating his credentials somewhat and Mifune starts to seriously worry for the fate of his child. Luckily the kidnappers are pretty hopeless and our pair manage to escape - though only into the jungle and a chase ensues. It's not a complex story, nor a particularly good one - but David Niven is a class act and with all his engaging and charming bravado, he manages to carry this - alongside a decent performance from the young boy too. I reckon the first five minutes were sponsored by British Airways....
