When British ex-army officer Robert Dapes arrives in Cuba to advise the Batista government on fighting the revolutionaries, he realises that the cause is already lost, with well organised rebels constantly gaining ground against poorly trained government troops. His difficulties are compounded when he runs into Alexandra, the love of his life who has settled for a comfortable marriage which is now threatened by the revolution and by the exploits of her philandering husband.

The role of Alexandra was offered to Diana Ross who turned it down.

Maj. Robert Dapes:
Why were those people shot?


Capt. Raphael Ramirez:
Perhaps they tried to escape.


Maj. Robert Dapes:
From what?


Capt. Raphael Ramirez:
From being shot.


Maj. Robert Dapes:
But how did they know they were rebels?


Capt. Raphael Ramirez:
Because they tried to escape.


Maj. Robert Dapes:
Well, wouldn't you?


Capt. Raphael Ramirez:
Of course.


Maj. Robert Dapes:
Are you a rebel?


Capt. Raphael Ramirez:
If I try to escape, I am. Wasn't it the same in Malaya? You didn't know them till they ran.


Maj. Robert Dapes:
No, it wasn't!


Capt. Raphael Ramirez:
Very well, you're here to teach us!

[Ramirez is shot dead.]

Factual errors: At the start of the film, a subtitle announces "1959", indicating the year in which the story takes place. However the actual date of the last event of the film - Fidel Castro riding into Havana, marking the completion of the Revolution - was 1 January 1959. All of the preceding events must have occurred in 1958.