''A Town Like Alice'' is a 1956 British drama film produced by

Joseph Janni Joseph Janni (21 May 1916 – 29 May 1994) was a British film producer best known for his work with John Schlesinger. He was born into a Jewish family in Milan, Italy and became interested in filmmaking while at university. He emigrated to Engl ...

and starring

Virginia McKenna Dame Virginia Anne McKenna, (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films ''A Town Like Alice'' (1956), '' Carve Her Name with Pride'' (1958), ''Born Free'' (1966), and ...

and Peter Finch that is based on the 1950 novel of the same name by

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

. The film does not follow the whole novel, concluding at the end of part two and truncating or omitting much detail. It was partially filmed in Malaya and Australia. Alice Springs, 2015 (01)

Plot

In post-Second World War London, a young woman, Jean Paget, is informed by solicitor Noel Strachan that she has a large inheritance. Jean uses part of it to build a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

in a small village in Malaya. The village women will no longer have to walk so far each day to collect water. She lived and worked there for three years during the war. The film then goes in flashback to 1942. Jean is working in an office in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

in Malaya when the Japanese invade. When she stays to help the wife of her employer, Mr. Holland, with her three children, she is taken prisoner, along with other white men, women and children. The men are taken away to prison. The women and children, however, are made to walk from place to place, looking for a ship to transport them to Singapore, but at each place, there is no ship available, and the Japanese authorities have no wish to take responsibility for them. On their trek, the group meet a young Australian soldier, Sergeant Joe Harman, also a prisoner, who drives a truck for the Japanese. He steals petrol and barters it for medicines for them. He and Jean strike up a friendship in the little time they have together, and he tells her about Alice Springs, the town where he grew up. Jean does not correct his impression that she is married (she is carrying the youngest of Mrs. Holland's children, the mother having succumbed to the endless walking). One day, the eldest Holland child, a young boy, wanders off into the jungle and is fatally bitten by a snake. At one stop, a Japanese officer likes Jean's looks and offers to let her and the baby remain, while the rest travel another 200 miles to

Kuantan Kuantan ( Jawi: ) is a city and the state capital of Pahang, Malaysia. It is located near the mouth of the Kuantan River. Kuantan is the 18th largest city in Malaysia based on 2010 population, and the largest city in the East Coast of Peni ...

on the east coast. Jean turns away, but another young woman is not so choosy after four months of walking and the deaths of four women and the boy, and gets into the officer's car. More die, including four-year-old Jane Holland. They run into Joe twice more. The second time, he secretly drops them a package of food as he drives by in a truck. They stop at the same place that night, and Joe and Jean talk some more. She reveals she is not married. Joe steals chickens for them from the harsh Captain Sugaya. However, Sugaya has no trouble identifying the thief: the chickens are nowhere about, and Joe was the only one who left the depot. When the women are found eating chicken, Jean claims they bought the birds, but that is a transparent lie. When Joe sees Jean being relentlessly questioned, he confesses and attacks the interrogator. As punishment, Sugaya has him crucified, nailed to a large tree. The prisoners, both men and women, are forced to watch all day and night. Sugaya orders the women to continue marching; he leaves them only one guard, the kindly sergeant, so that the sergeant can bear his disgrace alone. When he dies of exhaustion, Jean asks the elders of a Malayan village if they may stay and work in the paddy fields, asking only for food and a place to sleep, telling them that over half of the marchers have died. The elders agree, and they stay there until the war ends. Afterward, Jean gives Mr. Holland back his only surviving child. The film returns to the present, and Jean is stunned to learn that Joe survived his ordeal. She travels to Alice Springs, then to the (fictional) town of Willstown in the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

outback, where Joe has resumed his job as manager of a cattle station. Joe, however, has gone to London to find her. Finally re-united at Alice Springs Airport, they embrace.

Cast

as Jean Paget * Peter Finch as Joe Harman * Kenji Takaki as Japanese Sergeant * Tran Van Khe as Captain Sugaya *

Jean Anderson Jean Anderson (12 December 1907 – 1 April 2001) was an English actress best remembered for her television roles as hard-faced matriarch Mary Hammond in the BBC drama '' The Brothers'' (1972–1976) and as rebellious aristocrat Lady Jocelyn " ...

as Miss Horsefall *

Marie Lohr Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...

as Mrs. Dudley Frost * Maureen Swanson as Ellen *

Renée Houston Renée Houston (born Katherina Rita Murphy Gribbin; 24 July 1902 – 9 February 1980) was a Scottish comedy actress and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles. Biography Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, into a theatrical family ...

as Ebbey *

Nora Nicholson Nora Nicholson (7 December 1887 – 18 September 1973) was an English actress. Known for her portrayal of character roles, she achieved her greatest success in the later years of her career. She played in classics by Shakespeare and Chekhov and ...

as Mrs. Frith * Eileen Moore as Mrs. Holland * John Fabian as Mr. Holland *

Vincent Ball Vincent Martin Ball OAM (born 4 December 1923) is an Australian retired character actor of radio, stage and screen, active in the industry for nearly 55 years (with a brief return) firstly in Britain and then his native Australia. He has also ...

as Ben *

Tim Turner Tim Turner (7 September 1924 – 1987) was an English actor who performed during the 1950s and 1960s. Life and career He was born John Freeman Turner in Bexley, Kent. Before becoming a film and television actor, Turner was a popular leading ...

as British Sergeant * Vu Ngoc Tuan as Captain Yanata * Yamada as Captain Takata * Nakanishi as Captain Nishi * Ikeda as Kempetei Sergeant *

Geoffrey Keen Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early lif ...

as Solicitor * June Shaw as Mrs. Graham *

Armine Sandford Armine Margaret Sandford (1928 – 4 January 2011) was an English actress and news presenter Born in St Germans, Cornwall, Sandford was the daughter of a physician who practised at Exeter.Patrick Robertson, ''The Book of Firsts'' (1975), p. 181 I ...

as Mrs. Carstairs * Mary Allen as Mrs. Anderson * Virginia Clay as Mrs. Knowles * Bay White as Mrs. Davies * Philippa Morgan as Mrs. Lindsay * Dorothy Moss as Mrs. O'Brien * Gwenda Ewen as Mrs. Rhodes * Josephine Miller as Daphne Adams * Edwina Carroll as Fatima * Sanny Bin Hussan as Mat Amin * Charles Marshall as Well Digger * Jane White as Brenda * Cameron Moore as Freddie * Margaret Eaden as Jane * Domenic Lieven as Michael Rhodes * Peter John as Timothy * Meg Buckenham as Mary Graham * Geoffrey Hawkins as Robin

Production

Leslie Norman expressed interest in making a film of the novel in 1952. At one stage it was announced that

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...

would play the lead. Anna Kashfi screen tested for a small role and was given it, but had to turn it down to do another film. Jack Lee had worked with Peter Finch on '' The Wooden Horse'', and cast him as the male lead. "I don't think we ever considered anyone else for the part." The script was written by

W. P. Lipscomb William Percy Lipscomb (born 1887 in Merton, Surrey, England, died 25 July 1958) was a British-born Hollywood playwright, screenwriter, producer and director. He died in London in 1958, aged 71. Career Lipscomb edited a brewery magazine and wrot ...

, who concentrated on the first half of the novel (the second half being set in Australia). Producer Joe Janni sent a copy of the script to director Jack Lee, who later recalled, "The script made me cry, and I knew it would make audiences cry too".Brian MacFarlane, ''An Autobiography of British Cinema'', Methueun 1997 p. 357 Janni and Lee took the script to Rank, who agreed to finance. Lee did further work on the script with Lipscombe and then with Richard Mason. Lee flew to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and Malaya, and "soon realised that if we cast the film in the UK, decided on their exact clothing, and filmed their characteristic way of walking, we could find a second cast in Malaya, and, if we were careful, we could work very close to them on location". Lee shot some footage in Malaya then went back to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, where the majority of the film was shot at Pinewood Studios in London.

Release

The film was withdrawn from the 1956

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

because of fears it would offend the Japanese. "The festivals are just a joke – a film-selling 'racket' which offers the chance for vulgar display and reckless extravagance", said Peter Finch. "They serve no cultural purpose, and the awards don't mean a thing." The film's Australian premiere was held at Alice Springs. It was the third most popular film at the British box office in 1956. The film's success saw Rank put Jack Lee and Joe Janni under contract for two years as a team. They went on to make ''

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes i ...

'' with Finch. The film was released in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and Hartford, Connecticut but was not successful and was pulled from release in other parts of the US.

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

See also

References

External links