Alerte en extrême orient

"The Nun's Story", in which he played a Belgian doctor working in the Congo, provided Peter Finch with one of his best-known roles. Two years earlier, however, Finch had also starred in a much less well-known film in which he also played a European doctor working in a Third World country, in this case Malaya (as it then was), shortly after independence.

There are two main strands to the plot. One concerns the efforts of Finch's character, Dr Alec Windom, to mediate in the dispute between the local Malay rubber-tappers and their employers, a British company. The dispute has arisen out of the tappers' wish to grow their own rice, something which the company (who regard rice as their own monopoly) object to. Windom's instincts are to sympathise with the tappers, especially as the local company manager, Patterson refuses to entertain any idea of compromise and has no compunction about calling in the local police, whose methods of upholding law and order can be brutal, to deal with any unrest. Things become more complicated, however, when some of the workers defect to a local guerrilla group who are in revolt against the government. An additional complication arises from the fact that one of the guerrillas is the brother of Windom's chief nurse.

The guerrillas are clearly based upon the Malayan communists who fought both the British colonial regime and then the independent Malayan government. The word "communist", however, is never used- they are simply referred to as "rebels"- possibly because the real Malayan communists were dominated by ethnic Chinese and attracted little support from ethnic Malays.

The other strand deals with relations between Windom and his wife Lee. The two are estranged, but at the beginning of the film she has unexpectedly turned up in Malaya hoping for a reconciliation. We do not see anything of their life together in Britain, but from what we hear it would appear that one of the causes of their estrangement was Lee's attempts to interfere with her husband's career and her insistence that he should apply for what she was as socially prestigious positions. There is an implication that Windom moved to Malaya after the breakdown of his marriage precisely because he believed- obviously incorrectly- that Lee would not attempt to follow him there.

"Windom's Way" was made by the well-known director Ronald Neame, later to be responsible for films like "The Chalk Garden" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie". I would not rank it quite as highly as either of those films, and in terms of quality it is in nothing like the same class as "The Nun's Story", but then that would perhaps be an unfair comparison as, despite the presence of Finch in similar roles, they are quite different in style and purpose. Here, Windom is the main character whereas Finch's character in "The Nun's Story", although important, is a supporting role who only appears in the second of the film's three acts. The main concentration in that film is on the spiritual development of Audrey Hepburn's character Gabrielle.

In this film, by contrast, the concentration is on Malayan politics- a subject of perhaps less import to a British audience today than it would have been in 1957- and on the relationship between Windom and Lee. This does not hold any real surprises- we know they will end up back together- and the film as a whole, while well-made, is not very involving. 6/10

A downbeat and joyless drama, the film's politics are dull, but there some strong themes running throughout, and there is also a strong central drama concerning a marriage between persons with opposite views of life and the world. It is a shame that there is not more time dedicated to Finch and Ure's interactions, because the side of the film dealing with politics and the lives of locals just is not handled too well. The lack of background and setting detail is no help, but this side of the film simply fails to do more than what merely is adequate, and it is done in a manner so dreary that it is hard to swallow. Overall the film is okay viewing, but it had the potential to be more. Finch and Ure have some strong moments together but definitely not enough.

If you're a fan of the Painted Veil movies (I've seen three versions, and there might be other "knock-offs" I don't know about), you might want to check out Windom's Way. It's not exactly a remake, but it has the same basic idea. Peter Finch plays a dedicated doctor in a foreign land rife with revolution, disease, and terrible living conditions. He's been having severe marital problems, and in order to show she wants another chance, his wife Mary Ure follows him to a God-forsaken village and tries to be a dutiful doctor's wife.

The major difference between Windom's Way and the traditional story is that instead of Mary being tempted by another man, Peter is tempted by another woman. Why not; it's Peter Finch, right? His nurse, Natasha Parry, has stood by his side for years (unlike Mary) and they work well in tandem. As far as love triangles go, it's not the most suspenseful or interesting. Peter hasn't really shown any interest in Natasha, but she's hoping he'll choose someone steady. He bickers all the time with Mary, but when he sees her in a swimsuit, he forgets all about their problems. So, you might be more interested in the local rebellion side plot - but then again, as far as those types of movies go, it's not the most suspenseful or interesting. It's really just for die-hard Peter Finch fans who don't mind seeing him in a mediocre movie. I do like him, but I prefer The Nun's Story, where he also plays a doctor but a bit feistier.

This is an intelligent film about an innocent -- perhaps naive -- man and village community caught up on the edge of national turmoil, and it avoids both obvious political cliché and easy answers. Into its widening canvas, from individual to village to province to ultimate future of a nation, it also weaves a tentative attempt at reconciliation between the eponymous English doctor and his ambitious ex-social butterfly of a wife: both have an alternative romance mutely on offer, although nothing is ever explicitly stated, and the broken marriage is on shaky ground at best.

So far so good -- personal and political combine, as they have done since 'Gone with the Wind', though with the political for once taking the leading role. There are beautiful location shots, some very effective action sequences, especially in the crowd scenes, good use of background music, skilfully understated dialogue that avoids the need for open exposition, and an unexpected humanity and depth in the treatment of all the characters. Ultimately, however, I found it curiously unsatisfying as a drama: I have a depressing suspicion that for all their merits, the equivocal realism and avoidance of the emotional broad brush seen here perhaps deprive the film of some of the force of pure entertainment.

We are enlisted in the conflict, drawn to take sides, tossed pawn-like in unsuspected undercurrents and then cast out, bruised and numb, to effectively wash our hands of the whole affair. It reflects the genuine messiness of real life, but it's not catharsis; this has more of a documentary feel. It's a well-made film, and held me riveted while it ran, but after the end credits I was somehow left feeling 'Is that it?'

Windom (Finch) is a doctor who is passionate about the welfare of people, saving lives and much less interested in social climbing. This may be the reason he left his estranged socialite wife Lee (Ure) back in the UK and went to Malaya. However she comes to Malaya for one last chance at reconciliation with him; their personal drama is played out at the same time as Malaya is in the midst of an 'emergency', teetering on the brink of revolt and civil war.

Finch's combination of an impassioned nature and a stiff upper lip is put to good use here; he and luminous beauty Ure do look like a mismatched couple in many respects. Their troubled and mismatched relationship is perhaps paralleled by the troubled and mismatched relationship between the government, the rubber business, and the people in that part of the world.

Much of the film was shot in Pinewood, with location filming done on Corsica; look in the background and you can see the hills are arid and practically barren, even if there are palm trees and verdant undergrowth placed in the foreground.

Every time I see Ure onscreen, I can't help but be reminded of her untimely death; she was only 42 when she passed away. Here she could have been little more than going through the motions but she does more than that. The rest of the cast is well chosen too; from Michael Hornden's uncaring plantation manager to Aslan's official.

Arguably this isn't an action film, it isn't a drama, and it isn't a political sounding board. However it does contain elements of all three. Today it perhaps serves best as a period piece; a snapshot of how goings on in the colonies were portrayed at the time.

If you see this film today the chances are that you are looking at a video transfer of mediocre quality, taken from a second or third generation print that has itself been well-used. It doesn't really do the camerawork, locations etc justice and a better restoration/transfer would be most welcome.

This is also Burt Kwouk's first (uncredited) appearance on celluloid.

This film is well worth watching and as period piece it gets 7/10 from me.