La femme du planteur

By the time of this 1952 film, "Outpost in Malaya," Claudette Colbert's film career was on the inevitable downward trend that befell older female stars from Hollywood's golden days. If these actresses didn't want to go for the character roles, as Bette Davis did, they were for the most part out. Colbert was asked at some point why she wasn't making films anymore, and she said, "There haven't been any offers." And here's an offer she should have turned down. In this film, she's 49 years old, the mother of a small son and married to 42-year-old Jack Hawkins. The couple lives in Malaya, where Hawkins runs a rubber plantation. At the time, post WW II, Malaya was involved in a civil war. Some Malaysians didn't like the plantation owners, so they were subject to attack. A great deal of the film has scenes of gunfighting, bombings, etc.

Hawkins works nonstop to harvest the rubber crop and fight insurgents, and his wife feels separated from him and decides to leave when she takes her son back to England for school. Can they salvage their marriage? Okay movie though the beautiful Colbert, who looks great and is well dressed despite the heat and dirt, is miscast, though very good. The rugged Hawkins is very good as well. It's just not much of a movie - the subplot of marriage on the rocks was an attempt to give the film a little depth, but that doesn't really happen. Baby boomers will enjoy watching Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon as the little boy. Remember when his sister dated Paul McCartney? If you're my age, you do.

This film is set on a Malaysian rubber plantation. And, you can't help but wonder why Claudette Colbert was cast in this film. After all, having an Englishman there made sense--the British were heavily investigated in the country because of the need for rubber. But what's an American lady doing there? Also, my wife felt Ms. Colbert just looked a bit old to have such a young child in the film (she was 49 at the time). I assume they put an American in this role to supposedly improve the marketability of the film.

The film is set a few years after WWII--during the time when Malaysia was in the midst of a very long civil war. In fact, this is one of the only films I've ever seen that even mentions this period in Malaysian history. While I am no expert on this, I know that some of the Malaysians (particularly those of Chinese descent) resented their treatment and vented much of this on the rubber plantation owners--massacring some families. This film is about a family caught up in this. The husband (Jack Hawkins) is working desperately to hold on to his plantation--and spends just about ever waking minute fighting insurgents and trying to bring in his rubber crop. As for the wife (Colbert), she can't stand that he's so obsessed and he has no time for her or their son. In fact, he doesn't know it but she's contemplating leaving him. Fortunately for Hawkins, he does finally come to his senses and tells Colbert that he loves her and wants her to stay. Unfortunately, it comes only when the insurgents are about to stage a massive attack! And, in the process, the entire family and their workers have to fight for their very lies.

The film is very tense and interesting. Sadly, however, it really has nothing to say about the uprising. Why the natives are revolting (nice choice of words) is really uncertain to the viewer as they watch the film. As a result, you don't have a lot of insight into the situation but like films like "Zulu", it still is tense and satisfying. For the most part, it's well made and worth a look--even if it's not one of Colbert's better films and lacks depth.

Sweet, docile little Claudette Colbert - firing a machine gun? Anything's possible in the movies!

Colbert and her husband live on their rubber plantation in Malaysia (back when it was Malaya) with their small son. Her husband is too absorbed in the plantation to notice her very much, and she decides that when it's time to take their son to school in England, she will go with him and never return. But then she is unable to leave when bandits kill one of their neighbours, then tries to kill Colbert, and the whole plantation is set up in a murderous game of cat and mouse.

You'd like this if you liked Red Dust with Gable and Harlow, the setting is very similar. For an added bonus, some people may remember the cartoon Riki Tiki Tavi, about a mongoose who takes care of a household and keeps the cobras at bay - this is wonderfully reproduced with a real mongoose and cobra in a thrilling scene, very reminiscent of the cartoon, even down to the same room!

"The Planter's Wife" (1952) is the last of an unintended rubber tree plantations' trilogy taking place over twenty years and set in Malaysia. And, if you can see these films in their appropriate order, it is a worthwhile experience.

"Red Dust" (1932), the first (and best) film, is set in 1932. It stars Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. Noted for its torrid romance, it also contains much information about rubber production. And, as you might suspect, while conditions were primitive, colonial planters ruled the roost. Noblesse oblige.

"Malaya" (1949), the second film, is set in 1942. It stars Spencer Tracy and James Stewart as American agents attempting to smuggle rubber out of the occupied peninsula. Now the Japanese are in control, and planters must comply, or die.

"The Planter's Wife" (1952), the last of the unintended trilogy, is set in 1952. It stars Jack Hawkins and Claudette Colbert as husband and wife planters in colonialism's waning days. It features an extremely well done action climax in which they struggle to defend their home against a sustained assault by indigenous communist insurgents (inexplicably called bandits). While Anthony Steel and Hawkins are both excellent, Colbert is the weak link. Prone to hysterical outbursts, for someone in her supposed position, she lacks the toughness one would expect. Also, the film has been weakened by the insertion of too many stock shots. However, the cobra/mongoose footage, while not matching, is, at least, quite exciting. Finally, despite this film's aforementioned drawbacks, it's still well worth watching and deserves a far better rating (I'd say about a 6.5) than it has currently received.

One of the grimmest films ever. Here's a story about a place most people might not be able to conceive: where things are dying, where people survive off liquor, where those who are supposed to love us shove knives into our backs. It will bring you to tears and make you laugh. All characters are unhappy souls, surviving in a grim world. It's an amazing work and everything I had hoped for. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. Final rating: 7/10.