A Town Like Alice (1956) ( Rape of Malaya )

A Town Like Alice (1956) (Blu-Ray) (*)

$23.99

Alternate Title: Rape of Malaya
Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Subtitles )
Portuguese ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( Blu-Ray/Region A/B/C )

Running Time:
116 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.66:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1956 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Jack Lee

Written By:
W.P. Lipscomb
Richard Mason

Actors:
Virginia McKenna ..... Jean Paget
Peter Finch ..... Joe Harman
Kenji Takaki ..... Japanese Sergeant (as Takagi)
Tran Van Khe ..... Captain Sugaya
Jean Anderson ..... Miss Horsefall
Marie Lohr ..... Mrs. Dudley Frost
Maureen Swanson ..... Ellen
Renee Houston ..... Ebbey
Nora Nicholson ..... Mrs. Frith
Eileen Moore ..... Mrs. Holland
John Fabian ..... Mr. Holland
Vincent Ball ..... Ben
Tim Turner ..... British Sergeant
Vu Ngoc Tuan ..... Captain Yanata
Munesato Yamada ..... Captain Takata

Synopsis:

At the conclusion of World War II Jean Paget decides to return to Malaya and build a well for the people of the village that sheltered her and several other British expatriates after the Japanese invasion. When taken prisoner, the men were immediately transferred to a prison camp but the women and children go on a forced march, one that never seems to end as no camp commander will take them in. Along the way, many will die but Jean befriends an Australian soldier, Joe Harman, himself a prisoner who does his best to help the women by providing them with bits of food and medicine. Harman oversteps however and the cruel Japanese camp commander has him nailed to a tree. Jean never forgot the brave Australian who helped her and the others but she isn't prepared for the news she receives when she returns to the Malayan village.

A harrowing WWII drama that was a huge critical and commercial success in England, this British production was based on a novel by Nevil Shute. During the war, a group of prisoners, mostly women and children, are led by Japanese soldiers on a brutal march through Malaysia. Some die by the roadside and others are sadistically tortured. One of the women, Jean Paget (Virginia McKenna), is befriended by an Australian man who is also a prisoner of war, Joe Harman (Peter Finch). Joe tells Jean about his hometown of Alice Springs, an oasis in the Australian outback. When he steals a chicken to feed Jean and the others, Joe is caught and treated ruthlessly. The Japanese force Jean and the others to march on while Joe is put on a crucifix and left to die.

In 1941, The advancing Japanese army captures a lot of British territory very quickly. The men are sent off to labor camps, but they have no plan on what to do with the women and children of the British. A group is sent on a forced march from place to place searching for a Women's Camp. Told from the point of view of one of the women, she meets an Australian soldier who sneaks food for them from his labor camp. After the war, she goes to Australia to see the town he was from and settles there, finding a different problem there from being a woman.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 24 November, 2019.

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