The Long and the Short and the Tall is a play written by British playwright Willis Hall.

Set in the Second World War, the play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in January 1959; it was directed by Lindsay Anderson and starred Peter O'Toole and Robert Shaw.

It was Anderson's first major production for the Royal Court, transferring to London's West End in April 1959.

The characters are a patrol of British Army soldiers; the play's events take place in an abandoned hut in the middle of the Malayan jungle.

Albert Finney was originally cast as the North Country Private Bamforth but due to appendicitis he was replaced by the then unknown O'Toole, who turned the character into a Cockney.