The Planter's Wife
Encyclopedia
The Planter's Wife is a 1952
British
drama film
directed by Ken Annakin
, and starring Claudette Colbert
, Jack Hawkins
and Anthony Steel
. It is set against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency
and focuses on a rubber
planter and his neighbours who are fending off a campaign of sustained attacks by Communist insurgents while also struggling to save their marriage. The film was retitled Outpost in Malaya in the USA.
. Despite facing problems from Communist terrorists and his own wife wishing to leave him, the family unites to defend their plantation from an attack at the film's climax.
The film's director later made Swiss Family Robinson
for Disney. In addition to the end battle, the film also features a fight to the death between a cobra
and a mongoose
.
but for safety reasons during the ongoing Emergency, much of the filming was done in Ceylon.
1952 in film
The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Ken Annakin
Ken Annakin
Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE was an English film director.- Biography :Annakin grew up in Beverley, Yorkshire where he attended the local school. He began his career in feature films following an early experience making documentaries. His first filmwork was in 1947 with the Rank Organisation...
, and starring Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
, Jack Hawkins
Jack Hawkins
Colonel John Edward "Jack" Hawkins CBE was an English actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman. The youngest of four children in a close-knit family,...
and Anthony Steel
Anthony Steel
Anthony Maitland Steel was an English actor and singer.-Early life:Anthony Steel was born in London, the son of an Indian army officer and educated at Cambridge. After serving as an officer in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, he entered the British cinema and made 64 film...
. It is set against the backdrop of the Malayan Emergency
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
and focuses on a rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
planter and his neighbours who are fending off a campaign of sustained attacks by Communist insurgents while also struggling to save their marriage. The film was retitled Outpost in Malaya in the USA.
Plot
It tells the adventurous story of rubber grower and his wife, whose plantation is destroyed by terrorists in the Malayan EmergencyMalayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
. Despite facing problems from Communist terrorists and his own wife wishing to leave him, the family unites to defend their plantation from an attack at the film's climax.
The film's director later made Swiss Family Robinson
Swiss Family Robinson (film)
Swiss Family Robinson is a 1960 American Technicolor feature film starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, and Sessue Hayakawa in a tale of a shipwrecked family building an island home. The screenplay by Lowell S. Hawley was loosely based upon the 1812 novel Der Schweizerische Robinson by Johann...
for Disney. In addition to the end battle, the film also features a fight to the death between a cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
and a mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
.
Cast
- Claudette ColbertClaudette ColbertClaudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
as Liz Frazer - Jack HawkinsJack HawkinsColonel John Edward "Jack" Hawkins CBE was an English actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman. The youngest of four children in a close-knit family,...
as Jim Frazer - Anthony Steel as Hugh Dobson
- Ram GopalRam GopalRam Gopal may refer to:* Ram Gopal - Author, Freedom Fighter * Ram Gopal Varma - Indian screenwriter, film director/producer* Ram Gopal - late Bangalore-born British dancer...
as Nair - Jeremy SpenserJeremy Spenser-Selected filmography:* Kind Hearts and Coronets * The Planter's Wife * Background * Escapade * The Man Who Loved Redheads * It's Great to Be Young * The Prince and the Showgirl...
as Mat - Tom MacaulayTom MacaulayTom Macaulay was a British actor. He was born as Chambré Thomas MacAulay Booth.-Selected filmography:* I See a Dark Stranger * The Chiltern Hundreds * The Long Dark Hall...
as Jack Bushell - Helen GossHelen Goss-Selected filmography:* Important People * The Reverse Be My Lot * Fanny by Gaslight * A Place of One's Own * They Were Sisters * The Wicked Lady * Pink String and Sealing Wax...
as Eleanor Bushell - Sonya Hana as Ah Mov
- Andy Ho as Wan Li
- Peter AsherPeter AsherPeter Asher is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He first came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a record producer.-Early life:He was born at the Central Middlesex Hospital, a child actor and...
as Mike Frazer - Yah Ming as Ah Siong
- Shaym Bahadur as Putra
- Ng Cheuk Kwong as Ho Tang
- Bryan ColemanBryan ColemanBryan Coleman was a British film actor and television actor.-Selected filmography:* A Window in London * Jassy * Landfall * The Lost Hours * The Planter's Wife...
as Capt. Dell - Don SharpDon SharpDonald Sharp is a British film director.His most famous films were made for Hammer Studios in the sixties, and included The Kiss of the Vampire and Rasputin, the Mad Monk . Also in 1965 he directed The Face of Fu Manchu, based on the character created by Sax Rohmer, here played by Christopher Lee...
as Lt. Summers
Filming locations
Background location footage was shot in MalayMalay
-Language:* Malay language , the macro-language of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, lingua franca of the Malay Archipelago* Malaysian language, the official form of the Malay language in Malaysia...
but for safety reasons during the ongoing Emergency, much of the filming was done in Ceylon.