It is a harrowing story with many heartbreaking scenes.

Although much of the film was shot in the studio, there was enough location shooting in Malaya and Australia to give it a feeling of authenticity. Also at that time, Australians were rarely depicted on the screen, but Aussie, Joe Harman, has a key role, which accorded with the idealised national character of the day, unfortunately including his use of derogatory terms for native peoples, common at the time. The film resonated with Australians who did not feel great love for the Japanese at the time, mainly due to their treatment of prisoners of war. I was quite young, but there would no doubt have been many in the audience who had first-hand experience of war with the Japanese, including my father. I saw this film in a packed cinema in Sydney when it was first released in 1956. After the war, Jean travels back to Malaya and then to Australia to learn of Joe's fate. Finally, the survivors see out the rest of the war in a Malay village. They encounter an Australian, Joe Harman, played by Peter Finch, who finds them food and medicine. However, no Japanese will take responsibility for them - they walk hundreds of miles and many die. We learn that Jean was captured there by the Japanese along with a group of other British women and children. The film is told in flashback as Virginia McKenna's character, Jean Paget, goes back to Malaya after WW2 to help the villagers who saved her life. It also has Peter Finch in a portrayal of what must be the quintessential Australian character of the period.

This is a moving film with a stunning performance by Virginia McKenna.

Shute a town like alice