Two World War II servicemen, one American and one Japanese, are stranded on an uninhabited Pacific island.

The Japanese takes him prisoner, binds his arms to a log and makes him walk back and forth in the sand.

Eventually, the American escapes, surprises the Japanese and then binds him to the log and makes him walk back and forth in the sand.

At one point, startled by running into his friend, the American exclaims in relief, "for a moment there, I thought you were a Jap".

Realizing that the base truly is abandoned, they rummage around for useful items and luxuries, eventually finding shaving supplies, a bottle of wine, cigarettes and an issue of Life magazine.

That night, each seeing the other clean shaven for the first time, they drink sake together, sing songs and tell each other stories, despite the language barrier.

When it opened in Britain, the producers changed it with an abrupt ending by a random bomb hitting them both.

Because of the high costs involved, by 1973 the movie had recorded a loss of $4,115,000, making it one of the biggest money losers in the short history of ABC films.

A.H. Weiler of The New York Times wrote, "[The film] grapples with the arresting relationships of character, communication and survival, but succeeds only fitfully in dramatically projecting these elemental qualities.