Outpost in Malaya 03/18/25

The territorial imperative gets a curious workout: English planters in Malaya defend their homesteads against ‘bandits’ with undefined aims. Ken Annakin contributes deft direction to a ‘colonial conflict’ story with the postwar politics filtered out, and replaced with domestic anxiety. Will planter’s wife Claudette Colbert look for love somewhere else, or will hubby Jack Hawkins realize how much he needs her?  Couples therapy arrives in a bloody fight to the death against machine guns and machetes. With Anthony Steele and young Peter Asher, who gets to witness a nifty cobra versus mongoose brawl — in his bathroom. On Blu-ray from MGM Amazon.
03/18/25