Visible crew/equipment: When Jim returns to the party with his father after he met the Japanese soldiers, you can see the microphone at the bottom of the screen. (More recent transfers address this and make sure it is not seen).
Visible crew/equipment: Lighting screens reflected on Jim's sunglasses when Basie grabs them, and when Basie is eating the chocolate.
Answer: I don't think anyone disliked Jim or was mean to him. Basically, he's a somewhat annoying, overly-active kid that the adults, who are in a very dire situation, simply didn't have much patience or the inclination to deal with. Also, the adults are mostly upper-class British, and in that era and before, they tended to be stricter with and more dismissive of children.
raywest ★