Outpost in Malaya

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.