Rent A Town Like Alice (1956)

Great British War Film. - A Town Like Alice review by Steve

Jack Lee was one of the camera operators and directors who came through the documentary movement at the GPO before making feature films. While a Town Like Alice is beautifully photographed by Geoffrey Unsworth, it has that vérité quite common to British war film of the fifties and sixties, with its understated acting and location filming in Malaysia and Australia.

The story by Nevil Shute was inspired by the experiences of Dutch women in Indonesia. Here we have British women and children in Malaya, swept out of their colonial offices and homes by the rapid invasion of the Japanese army, and forced to march across country in the company of a monolingual guard until they begin to die from malaria and malnutrition.

The women are skilfully portrayed by a fantastic cast of character actors. We really feel like we get to know them. It leaves the impression of an epic, despite its average running time.

It is a tremendously moving film about their suffering.  The diverse, stoical ensemble is superbly led by a pragmatic Virginia McKenna, adapting to circumstances grotesquely alien from civilian life. Her alliance with Peter Finch is captivating and inspiring. And it is good to see that the adversity borne by the local people is featured far more than is typical in British war films.

Dated (50's) - A Town Like Alice review by Swambi

A good story, but movie making has moved on - just how far, you'll see if you watch this! It is not in colour. If you want to see a film about Malaya you could try "The Sleeping Dictionary" - a much more convincing film.