Development

Aldrich later said he first wrote the story in 1959 with Robert Sherman.^[3] That year, when he was making films in Europe, he said he was going to scout locations in Burma and wanted Laurence Olivier and Trevor Howard to play the leads.^[4]

In 1963, Aldrich was going to make a $14 million slate of eight feature films and one TV series for his production company, The Associates and Aldrich Company, using the success of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Sodom and Gomorrah and 4 For Texas to raise finance. The film projects were Cross of Iron by Lukas Heller, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, The Tsar's Bride by Robert Sherman, Brouhaha by George Tabori, The Legend of Lylah Clare, Paper Eagle, There Really Was a Gold Mine (a sequel to Vera Cruz) and Genghis Khan's Bicycle, with the TV series being The Man by Heller. Screenplays had also been completed on Now We Know by John O'Hara and Halstead Welles, Vengeance is Mine, Potluck for Pomeroy and Too Late the Hero by Robert Sherman.^{[5][better source needed]}

Aldrich later said he did the original draft then had it rewritten by Lukas Heller, who "made it a much better script".^[3] However, the film was not made until after Aldrich had a big success with The Dirty Dozen.

Robert Aldrich recalled that the production company ABC Films wanted another version of his The Dirty Dozen, and that Too Late the Hero, a property that could use some of the same elements, had been languishing in studio drawers for over a decade.^[6] The idea of the film came from an unpublished novel called Don't Die Mad by Robert Sherman, who had worked on several films with Aldrich.^[7]

Aldrich later reflected, "When you've had a big, big success, people who should know better lose their perspective about your infallibility. Right away it's 'Let's make another one!' Let's go back and buy the first novel of some guy who, ten novels later, wrote a hit. That's ludicrous. You may have better projects, but you can't sell the better projects, you really can't."^[3] Aldrich said the only other "Dirty Dozen" he had in his drawer was Too Late the Hero. MGM wanted to make it but "they wanted a budget of nine million seven to make it, which was too high".^[3] He ended up selling The Legend of Lylah Clare to MGM and setting up Too Late the Hero at ABC, where it was made for $6 million.^{[8][better source needed]}

In October 1967, Aldrich announced he would make the film as part of a four-picture deal he had with Palomar ABC; the others being The Killing of Sister George, Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? and The Greatest Mother of 'em All. In November, Michael Caine signed to star.^{[9][10][better source needed]}

In October 1968, Cliff Robertson signed to co-star.^[11] Aldrich said he wanted "anyone but Cliff Robertson" for the lead role, but he was overruled by the studio.^[6]

Denholm Elliott joined the cast shortly after Robertson.^{[12][better source needed]}

Historical accuracy

The Japanese never were in the New Hebrides in World War II; the American forces arrived in May 1942.^[13]

The attitudes depicted in the World War II film, made during the Vietnam War era, reflected the 1960s, with one character talking about "long haired conscientious objectors". The poster advertising the film showed a fallen soldier dressed in a 1960s American uniform and holding an M16 rifle.

Shooting

Filming started in February 1969.

The bulk of the film was made on Boracay Island in the Philippines,^[14] by the same crew and using many of the same sets as Jack Starrett's The Losers.^[15] The opening and closing segments were filmed outside the Subic Bay Naval Base using sailors and American civilians as extras.^{[16][better source needed]}

During filming, Robertson found out he won the Best Actor Oscar for Charly.^[17] He had not insisted contractually that he could return for the Oscar ceremony, so Frank Sinatra accepted it for him. "There was no flap", he said later. "If the absence was anybody's fault it was my own."^{[18][better source needed]} He complained a year later that it would have taken only two days out of the production schedule, and that he had offered to pay production costs but was refused as "a matter of ego".^{[19][better source needed]}

It was requested that Aldrich film two separate endings for the American and British audiences, one with Robertson surviving.^[20]

Filming finished by April 1969. Relations between Aldrich and Robertson deteriorated so much that Aldrich reportedly left the film early, leaving Oscar Rudolph to finish it.^[21] However, in June 1969, Aldrich attended a presentation at Aldrich's studios in Los Angeles, where a plaque in Robertson's name was unveiled.^[22]

Aldrich later said if Robertson's character had been played "as I wanted it", his character "would have won, even though he is killed and Michael Caine lives".^[23]

Shortly after filming, Robertson optioned the rights to Death of a Legend, the story of Blanche Walker Jurika, executed for fighting the Japanese in World War II. He optioned them from Michael Parsons, who was in the cast.^[24] Parsons was arrested for possession of hashish in May 1969.^[25]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 62%, based on 13 retrospectively collected reviews with an average rating of 6/10.^[26]

Roger Greenspun of The New York Times wrote, "Although committed to the notion that war is an inclusive system of betrayals, the film subverts that notion and settles instead for some fashionable ironies and remarkably conventional jungle war displays."^[27][28] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "an okay World War II melodrama ... the net result is not very much at all, except for a pervading load of bland competence, under the overall supervision of auteur Aldrich."^[29][30] Gene Siskel gave the film one star out of four and wrote, "The essence of an action film is action, and that's precisely what's missing in Robert Aldrich's 'Too Late the Hero.' Oddly enough, Aldrich, who directed 'The Dirty Dozen,' substitutes boredom in the form of an annoyingly long prolog, repititious scenes, and combat in a closed space."^{[31][better source needed]} Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "a war movie at its most routine. Indeed, it's depressing to consider how much effort and expense were expended with so little to show for it."^{[32][better source needed]}

Box office

The film earned rentals of $615,000 in North America and $975,000 in other countries (it had admissions of 294,232 in France).^[33] The film was one of the most popular movies in 1971 at the British box office.^[34]

After all costs were deducted, the film had an overall loss of $6,765,000, making it one of the biggest money losers in the history of ABC Films.^[1]

Aldrich said in 1972 that because the film "was less than successful, so now all our properties are scrutinized at a whole other level. It can get terribly sad, but it's true that your opinion is only as good as your last picture."^[3]

Along with his other movies, The Flight of the Phoenix and The Grissom Gang, Aldrich "never understood" Too Late the Hero's lack of success. He thought they were "marvelous movies".^[35][36]