This film is part of Rentals
A Town Like Alice
An Englishwoman is captured by Japanese forces during WWII and befriends an Australian POW, in this gritty adaptation of Nevile Shute’s novel.
War 1956 116 mins
Director: Jack Lee
Overview
A rare British feature to cover the Pacific theatre of World War Two, this adaptation of Nevil Shute’s best-selling novel (in fact, just the book’s first half) relays the experiences of an Englishwoman who's captured by Japanese forces while building wells in Kuala Lumpur (Virginia McKenna). During her ordeal she falls for a fellow POW, an Australian soldier (Peter Finch), and the pair band together to help ease the suffering of their fellow prisoners.
Directed by Crown Film Unit veteran Jack Lee, A Town Like Alice works as both a touching love story and a gritty, tense war drama, notable for its strong ensemble of female actors (Marie Löhr, Renée Houston, Jean Anderson). Remarkably, it was almost entirely shot in and around Pinewood Studios, with the cold ponds of Burnham Beeches standing in for the humid swamps of Malaya. Both leads would be rewarded with Baftas for their committed performances, but the film itself was withdrawn from the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, lest it offend Japanese sensibilities.
Related
War
Journey's End
Drama 2017 108 mins Director: Saul Dibb
Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany and Asa Butterfield bring R C Sherriff’s acclaimed First World War play to the screen, in this new adaptation from director Saul Dibb.
The Angel with the Trumpet
Romance 1950 99 mins Director: Anthony Bushell
Anthony Bushell directs this 1950 British drama about the rise and fall of a family of Austrian piano-makers in Vienna.
Two Worlds
War 1931 89 mins Director: E.A. Dupont
An Austrian officer falls in love with a Jewish villager in this early sound epic set during WWI
Land of Mine
War 2015 101 mins Director: Martin Zandvliet
The brutal and morally complex story of young German POWs faced with the deadly task of landmine clearance in postwar Denmark.
Hacksaw Ridge
War 2016 139 mins Director: Mel Gibson
Andrew Garfield stars in Mel Gibson’s visceral war film, telling the extraordinary story of the soldier who saved 75 lives in one of WWII’s bloodiest battles.
Forgotten Men: The War As It Was
War 1934 79 mins Director: Norman Lee
Norman Lee’s 1934 documentary takes audiences through the harsh horrors and realities of war, showing everyone what soldiers truly go through within the armed forces.
Best of BAFTA
Romeo and Juliet
Drama 1954 145 mins Director: Renato Castellani
Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall are the star-crossed lovers in the ravishingly filmed 1954 adaptation.
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Drama 2010 112 mins Director: Lynne Ramsay
Tilda Swinton gives a BAFTA-nominated performance as the mother of a teenager who commits a high school massacre. With Ezra Miller and John C. Reilly.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Drama 2004 103 mins Director: Michel Gondry
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play the couple who fall in love so quickly it seems they must have known each other in a past life ... only to discover they did.
Seven Psychopaths
Comedy 2012 110 mins Director: Martin McDonagh
Three Billboards' director Martin McDonagh spins an epic and twisted tale of pets and gangsters, with an all-star cast.
Shame
Drama 2011 101 mins Director: Steve McQueen
A sex addict struggles to hide his habits from his equally troubled sister. With Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.
Hunger
Biopic 2008 96 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Northern Ireland, 1981. In the Maze prison, Bobby Sands begins a hunger strike to reclaim the status of Republican inmates as political prisoners.
Featuring Peter Finch
Girl with Green Eyes
Drama 1963 92 mins Director: Desmond Davis
Rita Tushingham plays the shy, naive girl who catches the eye of Peter Finch's middle-aged writer, in this effervescent adaptation of Edna O’Brien's best-selling novel.
Far from the Madding Crowd
Period drama 1967 165 mins Director: John Schlesinger
Terence Stamp and Julie Christie star in the classic adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s tale of tragedy and passion.
New
Outcasts
Drama 2008 25 mins Director: Ian Clark
A girl in love, a pop star in peril and a gang on the run - watch it play out!
Walter
Drama 1982 73 mins Director: Stephen Frears
Ian McKellen stars in Stephen Frears' TV play as Walter, a man with learning difficulties who's put in an institution after the death of his mother.
Polio
Documentary 1958 13 mins Director: Rollo Gamble
Daniel Farson meets people affected by polio in a series of studio interviews and a filmed report with a man paralysed after contracting the disease.
Behindert
Documentary 1974 98 mins Director: Stephen Dwoskin
The account of a close, personal relationship as experienced by a disabled man.
Walter and June
Drama 1983 65 mins Director: Stephen Frears
Ian McKellen and Stephen Frears reunite for Walter and June, the sequel to their earlier TV play Walter. The titular character (McKellen) meets a young mother (Sarah Miles) who is suicidally depressed; the two begin to support one another to cope with life in a closed institution.
No Future
Documentary 1958 13 mins Director: Rollo Gamble
Despite the bleak title, there is some hope in this film about disabled schoolchildren.