I was fossicking about in a Classic DVD section and stumbled across a copy of this 1956 film based on Neville Shute's novel of the same name, starring Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch.

This is a fictional story of a group of British women and children civilian prisoners in Malaya in the Second World War, and an Australian soldier who helps them. Actually quite a powerful film, especially when you consider it was filmed only 11 years after the war.

Neville Shute always intrigued me as an author - immensely popular in the 1950's and 60's he appears to have faded into seeming obscurity with the passing of the years. He left Britain after the war and moved to Australia, settling not far from where I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula. I first encountered his work at high school when I read 'On the Beach'.

Likewise, Peter Finch is an Australian actor who has seemingly faded from view with the passage of time, and probably worth the time finding some more movies in which he starred.

Filmed on location in Malaya, Australia and the ubiquitous Pinewood Studios, England. DVD release by ITV studios.

Recommended if you can find a copy.

- Copy Purchased by the Reviewer, JB-Hi Fi, Brighton $A19.