A Town Like Alice (film)
Encyclopedia
A Town Like Alice is a 1956
British
drama
film, based on the novel
by Nevil Shute
and with Virginia McKenna
and Peter Finch
in the leading roles. The film does not follow the whole novel, concluding at the end of Part Two of the book, and many plot details are truncated or omitted. It was partially filmed in Malaya and Australia.
Noel Strachan that she has a large inheritance. Asked what she wants to do, Jean decides to travel to Malaya to build a well
in a small village.
Jean goes to the village and arranges for the well to be dug. The women will not now have to walk so far each day to collect water, as they have always done. She recalls her life in the village for three years of the war.
The film flashes back to when Jean was working in an office in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya
when the Japanese invaded
and she was taken prisoner. As part of a group of women and children (the men have been sent away), she is the only one to speak Malay fluently, and so takes a leading role in the group.
But the Japanese refuse to take any responsibility for the group, marching them from one village to another. Many of them, unused to physical labour, die. Jean is only able to survive because she understands local ways and is prepared to 'go native'.
The group meets a young Australia
n soldier, Sergeant Joe Harman, also a prisoner, who is driving a truck for the Japanese. He and Jean strike up a friendship and he tells her about the town of Alice Springs, where he grew up. Appalled at their treatment by the Japanese, he steals food
and medicine
s to help them. Jean does not correct his impression that she's married.
When the thefts are discovered and investigated, Harman takes the blame to save Jean and the rest of the group. He is crucified on a tree and left to die by the Japanese soldiers. The distraught women are marched away, believing that Joe is dead.
To further humiliate them, the Japanese assign only one guard to the group, an elderly sergeant
. They become friendly with him, although they can barely communicate. They even help to carry his pack and rifle
. When he dies of exhaustion, Jean asks the elders of a village if they may stay and work in the paddy fields, asking only food and a place to sleep. The elders agree and they live and work there for three years, until the war ends.
The film returns to the present, and Jean discovers from the well-diggers that Joe Harman survived his punishment and returned to Australia.
She decides to travel on to Australia to find him. On her travels, she visits the town of Alice Springs, where Joe lived before the war, and is much impressed with the quality of life there. She then travels to the (fictional) primitive town of Willstown in the Queensland
outback
, where Joe has become manager of a cattle station.
But meanwhile, Joe has learnt that Jean survived the war and that she wasn't married. He travels to London to find her, using money won in a lottery
. It's some time before they are reunited in Alice Springs and they fall in love immediately.
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
film, based on the novel
A Town Like Alice
A Town Like Alice is a novel by the British author Nevil Shute about a young Englishwoman in Malaya during World War II and in outback Australia post-war....
by Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...
and with Virginia McKenna
Virginia McKenna
Virginia A. McKenna OBE is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner.-Early career:McKenna trained as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama then worked on stage in London's West End theatres before making her motion picture debut in 1952...
and Peter Finch
Peter Finch
Peter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
in the leading roles. The film does not follow the whole novel, concluding at the end of Part Two of the book, and many plot details are truncated or omitted. It was partially filmed in Malaya and Australia.
Plot summary
In Post-WW2 London, a young woman, Jean Paget, is informed by solicitorSolicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
Noel Strachan that she has a large inheritance. Asked what she wants to do, Jean decides to travel to Malaya to build a well
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
in a small village.
Jean goes to the village and arranges for the well to be dug. The women will not now have to walk so far each day to collect water, as they have always done. She recalls her life in the village for three years of the war.
The film flashes back to when Jean was working in an office in Kuala Lumpur in Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
when the Japanese invaded
Battle of Malaya
The Malayan Campaign was a campaign fought by Allied and Japanese forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 31 January 1942 during the Second World War. The campaign was dominated by land battles between British Commonwealth army units, and the Imperial Japanese Army...
and she was taken prisoner. As part of a group of women and children (the men have been sent away), she is the only one to speak Malay fluently, and so takes a leading role in the group.
But the Japanese refuse to take any responsibility for the group, marching them from one village to another. Many of them, unused to physical labour, die. Jean is only able to survive because she understands local ways and is prepared to 'go native'.
The group meets a young Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n soldier, Sergeant Joe Harman, also a prisoner, who is driving a truck for the Japanese. He and Jean strike up a friendship and he tells her about the town of Alice Springs, where he grew up. Appalled at their treatment by the Japanese, he steals food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
s to help them. Jean does not correct his impression that she's married.
When the thefts are discovered and investigated, Harman takes the blame to save Jean and the rest of the group. He is crucified on a tree and left to die by the Japanese soldiers. The distraught women are marched away, believing that Joe is dead.
To further humiliate them, the Japanese assign only one guard to the group, an elderly sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
. They become friendly with him, although they can barely communicate. They even help to carry his pack and rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
. When he dies of exhaustion, Jean asks the elders of a village if they may stay and work in the paddy fields, asking only food and a place to sleep. The elders agree and they live and work there for three years, until the war ends.
The film returns to the present, and Jean discovers from the well-diggers that Joe Harman survived his punishment and returned to Australia.
She decides to travel on to Australia to find him. On her travels, she visits the town of Alice Springs, where Joe lived before the war, and is much impressed with the quality of life there. She then travels to the (fictional) primitive town of Willstown in the Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
outback
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
, where Joe has become manager of a cattle station.
But meanwhile, Joe has learnt that Jean survived the war and that she wasn't married. He travels to London to find her, using money won in a lottery
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
. It's some time before they are reunited in Alice Springs and they fall in love immediately.
Cast
- Virginia McKennaVirginia McKennaVirginia A. McKenna OBE is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner.-Early career:McKenna trained as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama then worked on stage in London's West End theatres before making her motion picture debut in 1952...
- Jean Paget - Peter FinchPeter FinchPeter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
- Joe Harman - Kenji Takaki - Japanese sergeant
- Tran Van Khe - Captain Sugaya
- Jean AndersonJean AndersonJean Anderson was an English actress born in Eastbourne, Sussex. She is best remembered for her television roles as hard-faced matriarch Mary Hammond in the 1970s BBC drama The Brothers and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn "Joss" Holbrook in the 1980s Second World War series Tenko .She is...
- Miss Horsefall - Marie LohrMarie LohrMarie Lohr was an Australian film and stage actress.-Biography:Marie Löhr was born in Sydney to Lewis J. Löhr, treasurer of the Melbourne opera house, and his wife, the English actress Kate Bishop...
- Mrs Frost - Maureen Swanson - Ellen
- Renee HoustonRenee HoustonRenée Houston was a Scottish comedy actor and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gibbin, she toured music halls and revue with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters.In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film,...
- Ebbey - Nora Nicholson - Mrs. Frith
- Eileen MooreEileen MooreEileen Moore is a British television and film actress. Between 1954 and 1962 she was married to the actor George Cole.-Selected filmography:* Mr...
- Mrs Holland - John Fabian - Mr. Holland
- Vincent BallVincent BallVincent Ball is an Australian actor who has worked both in Australia and in the United Kingdom....
- Ben - Tim TurnerTim TurnerNot to be confused with the TV character Timmy Turner of The Fairly OddParents.Tim Turner , was a British actor who performed in the 1950s and 1960s....
- British Sergeant - Geoffrey KeenGeoffrey KeenGeoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many famous films.-Early life:Keen was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom...
- Noel Strachan