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Absolutely Fantastic

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Malaya (1949)It would be nice to love this movie—with a strong theme of wartime ingenuity and bravery, and with three stellar actors—but by the end I was thinking everyone involved was just going through the motions. That's probably enough in many ways with people this naturally gifted on screen, and the movie is enjoyable, no question. With all the borrowings or references to earlier classics (Sydney Greenstreet even has a big bird as a pet, as in "Casablanca"), it makes for a fun time.The premise starts with some very compact storytelling—a somewhat disreputable man (James Stewart) is overheard saying he could smuggle rubber out of British Malaya (now Malaysia). It's WWII and the Army likes the idea enough to send him off with an ex-con (Spencer Tracy) who knows the area well. (This is all arranged with the help of Lionel Barrymore in a small role.)Then the adventure begins as they penetrate with surprising ease the rubber plantations and arrange with the generally friendly locals and ex-pats to get their hidden stockpiles. The Japanese do eventually catch on and there is fun there, but not before a couple of torch songs and some humorous excess as usual from the likable Greenstreet.Frankly, things never get exciting or even suspenseful, though interesting all along. One huge problem (for me) was a complete lack of details. The two men would say, okay, let's go get this rubber here, and they meet the plantation owner and there is some talk and then suddenly they are going down the river with some little barges. The Japanese have no suspicions, and the local smugglers are all these cheerful Resistance Fighter types who really like to help a lot.It would be fun to know if a young viewer finds this exotic and fun or laughable. It's somewhere between in all. And what honestly holds it together for anyone who likes the actors is just watching familiar faces in new roles. That is one of the endless interests of the movies.See it? Sure, if you already like older films or WWII films. It's not bad. The director Richard Thorpe is quite unknown these days, but the cinematographer is a standard bearer of he period, George Folsey, and that makes every scenes look terrific. Yeah, it's not at all bad. But it ain't great, either.

I'm an American ex-pat living in Malaysia, so I thought I'd watch this to see if there were any old scenes of life in Malaysia in the late 40's. Well, as I expected, there weren't, BUT the actual movie and story were really well done and interesting.I thought the dialog in this movie was the best I have heard from this era. I watch a lot of "noir", and this dialog was more realistic with a flair that wasn't overdone. For example, the interaction between Spencer Tracy and his girl wasn't flowery or sappy, it was kind of hip and snappy without being too "40's". Also, every line out of Greenstreet's mouth was sublime.Casting was awesome! It seemed like everybody was perfect for their role. Greenstreet was fantastic as an almost omnipotent bar owner. Tracy was rough and rugged. Stewart was convincing as a sort-of-drifter that finally finds purpose in his life. Plus, you get a cameo of Lionel Barrymore, which is worth it's weight in gold.This is a "feel good" movie about losers and dregs of society helping to win the war. It's tough, violent, and not everybody gets out alive. And, it's patriotic without being sappy. Watch this one on the Fourth of July, and you can't go wrong!

Malaya (1949) *** (out of 4) Washed-up reporter John Royer (James Stewart) is picked up by a government man who forces him into telling them how to sneak rubber out of Malaya. Royer agrees to help the government and he enlists the help of an old friend (Spencer Tracy) and soon the two are questioning their motives as they try and help the war cause. I've read quite a few reviews for this title and it seems that the majority of people were disappointed and I can certainly understand where they're coming from. After all, with such a terrific cast you really could argue that MGM should have spent more time coming up with a better story as there's no question it's quite standard WWII fair. With that said, it's the terrific cast that makes this worth viewing and I think seeing all the big names together makes the film worth sitting through. Not only do you have Tracy and Stewart but we've also got Lionel Barrymore and Sydney Greenstreet in his final film appearance. I thought watching the four of these men together was a lot of fun and especially the banter between Stewart and Tracy. I was a little surprised to see Stewart taking a supporting role but he's certainly very good in it and manages to bring that charm of his across without a problem. His character is also a patriotic one and I thought the actor did a great job at getting this across. Tracy is also exceptionally good here even though the character certainly wasn't going to stretch the legend any. Greenstreet is terrific as always and it's really amazing to see how good he could be with what appeared to be very little effort. It's a real shame that this turned out to be his final film. Barrymore plays the type of character he was typically doing during this point of his career but it was fun seeing him and Stewart together a couple years after IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The film also offers up some exciting action scenes and especially at the end, which I won't ruin but the effects of the battle were extremely realistic and they put you right there in the middle of the action. Again, I can see why some might be disappointed that the film is so light in areas but seeing the four stars together makes it very much worth seeing.

Someone had the wits to make a 1940's patriotic war movie in the style of film noir. Is it hokey? Of course it is!! But when it's done like this, you have a sense of watching a war film at its best. Part of it is a literate script that goes far beyond the usual patriotic hoo-ha and gives a sense of real urgency to the war in Asia. Part of it is some totally professional acting by Stewart, Tracy, Greenstreet and, not least, John Hodiak in the role of an FBI agent. If you're bored, as I am, by the John Wayne, flag-waving nonsense that proliferated during the war, try this on. It manages to be improbable and believable at the same time.