Tonight's Movie: Outpost in Malaya (1952) - An MGM Blu-ray Review

The post-World War II action film OUTPOST IN MALAYA (1952) was just released on Blu-ray by MGM.

Jim and Liz Frazer (Jack Hawkins and Claudette Colbert) and their young son Mike (Peter Asher) live on a rubber plantation in Malaya in the early '50s.

The Frazer marriage has survived wartime imprisonment in Japanese camps, including the death of one of their children, but their relationship has now been pushed to the breaking point.

Jim is under pressure to protect their estate from local bandits who are terrorizing the community; things are bad enough that planters get check calls from the military every few hours. Meanwhile he's paying scant attention to Liz, partly because he's so concerned about providing for her safety.

Liz is on the verge of taking Mike to boarding school in England and is considering staying there unless Jim can show some interest in the future of their marriage. Before she can leave, things go from bad to worse and the Frazers' home is under attack; Jim's careful preparations for such an eventuality may not be enough. Ironically, the attack may also reset the Frazers' fading relationship.

OUTPOST IN MALAYA is a fairly engrossing 91 minutes, alternating suspenseful action with marital melodrama; it has a bit of a split personality in this regard, with Jim romancing Liz in the middle of an assault on their home, but it remains engaging. Director Ken Annakin (SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON) keeps things moving along nicely.

While Jim has made considerable plans to repel an attack on his estate, at times the Frazers don't seem to recognize the depth of the threats they're facing. Or perhaps they do, but are inured to the danger to some extent, having survived the worst life has to offer during the war. One would think that at least they would show more concern for the safety of their little boy, however, having already lost his sibling.

Hawkins and Colbert are well matched and enjoyable to watch, with Anthony Steel engaging as Hugh, their friend in the local military. There are hints Hugh may be interested in Liz himself, given the very personal nature of his conversations with Liz, but in the end he seems to be genuinely invested in helping his friends save their marriage.

The film's supporting cast includes Ram Gopal, Tom Macauley, Jeremy Spenser, Helen Guss, and Bill Travers.

The screenplay was by Guy Elmes and Peter Proud, based on the novel THE PLANTER'S WIFE by S.C. George. The movie was shown under the novel's title in the UK.

OUTPOST IN MALAYA was filmed in black and white by Geoffrey Unsworth, and MGM's Blu-ray print shows off his cinematography nicely. The movie was filmed in England, with lots of second unit photography which required some obvious use of process shots, but the work is pretty good as these things go.

In the end, while the script could have used some polishing, I enjoyed OUTPOST IN MALAYA and was particularly glad to see a new-to-me film starring one of my favorite actresses, Claudette Colbert. This is a nice-looking disc and a worthwhile pickup for fans of the lead actors.

MGM's disc has an option for English-language subtitles but no extras.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and MGM for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. OUTPOST IN MALAYA may be purchased from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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