Outpost in Malaya
Pinnacle Productions / J. Arthur Rank
Distr. United Artists (1952) Dir. Ken Annakin
88 min. / B&W / 1.33:1 / DTS 2.0 SDH
Blu-ray: MGM $19.95
In the Balcony, we’ve given up trying to figure out how some well-known and beloved films are still in the vaults out of reach while obscure, all-but-forgotten productions get snazzy HD releases, but when a minor gem comes along it’s like watching a “new movie” made with long-gone stars and that brings us to Outpost in Malaya, a fascinating and very well-done picture that’s either about a couple with serious marital troubles or a violent Cold War political action movie, depending on which scene you’re watching.
Jack Hawkins and wife Claudette Colbert own a rubber plantation in Malaysia, a country torn by civil war and so be warned that politically, the film is going to be abhorrent to 2025 sensibilities, with the colonizers the good guys and the natives the villains (just call them Commies and you’ll feel better). Hawkins is sending his wife and young son back to England, ostensibly for his schooling, alternately because the countryside has become too dangerous for them, but honestly, Jack and Claudette just are sick of looking at each other. As the rebels inch closer and the planters fight for their lives, can our unhappy couple fall back in love? And is Peter Asher as their young son ever going to meet Gordon Waller and form a successful singing duo? (That part isn’t shown in the movie, but Spoiler Alert: Yes, and they can’t stay in a world without love, so Jack and Claudette better figure this out.)
The Rank Organization needed American distribution to help pay for this, which meant the male or female lead had to be a Yank for Rank, and because of the emotions and the strong part for the woman (in fact, the film’s title in England was The Planter’s Wife) it was decided that would appeal to an American actress, and they ended up with Colbert, who liked the script (and the money). She’s terrific in the movie, so much so that she makes Hawkins’ part look rather lackluster.
Mostly filmed in safe England, although secondary footage appears to have been shot overseas, the movie will make you wonder – again – how the U.S. blundered into a Southeast Asian war a few years later. Taut with suspense and action, the film caught the eye of Walt Disney, who hired director Annakin for his British-made films, including The Sword and the Rose, The Story of Robin Hood, Third Man on the Mountain and Swiss Family Robinson. Geoffrey Unsworth provides terrific cinematography; he’d go on to Don’t Bother to Knock, Becket, 2001, and Superman, among many other classics. Nobody who’s seen the picture could ever forget the fight-to-the-death between mongoose and cobra, which has nothing to do with anything in the movie but makes for a terrific scene.
No bonus material, but a terrific Blu-ray find from MGM, and one hopes they keep the pipeline busy with more obscure gems.
