Frank Sinatra told the director to give the newcomer a break. John Sturges (The Great Escape) obliged, providing favorable camera angles for Sinatra's young costar. In his first big-budget film, Steve McQueen was ready to grab the movie world's attention.

McQueen plays Bill Ringa, one of the O.S.S. combatants harassing the enemy in World War II Burma. Sinatra is Capt. Tom Reynolds, leading the guerilla fighters and risking court martial while doing so. Also among Never So Few's many are Charles Bronson, Peter Lawford and, in her first Hollywood fi lm, Gina Lollobrigida. About McQueen, the New York Herald Tribune's reviewer wrote: "He possesses that combination of smooth-rough charm that suggests star possibilities." A star is born in Never So Few.