Movie: The 7th Dawn by United Artists

[Isaac Ho]

MOVIE:THE 7th DAWN - A UNITED ARTISTS PRODUCTION UNDER MGM

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As reviewed by Isaac Ho, the Admin & Founder of this Forum

FOLKS;

I have just finished viewing the classic movie The 7th Dawn  as produced by United Artists under MGM Studio of United States.

This movie  was filmed entirely in Malaysia in 1963 and it is based on the now out-of-print  novel The Durain Tree by Michael Keon,

and it was centre around the Malayan Emergency in its early days of 1948.

The main characters in this movie was William Holden, the stay-behind-party of white soldiers fighting the main enemy - the invaded

Jap army of Imperial Japan which illegally occupied the then British Malaya from 1942 to 1945 until the Jap enemies final surrender.

Michael Keon who wrote the book to which the film was based on, he portrayed that the Communist Terrorist Leader was Ng (in real

Chin Peng) acted by Japanese  actor Tetsuro Tamba.

Whilst the American actor, William Holden acted as The Major in the Malayan Jungle Force along with Susannah York and Capucine

who portrayed herself as the mistress of the Major.

The three jungle fighters emerged from the jungle after the fall and ultimate surrender of the Jap Imperial Army in British Malaya

in which the newly appointed British High Commissioner who was working to the independence ultimate of Malaya - free from the

British colonial yoke.

The beginning scene shown a helicopter hovering above a playing field which was filmed in Forest Research Institute with Bukit

Laggong in the background.  The loudspeaker inside the British military helicopter urged the jungle fighters against the Japs

to lay down their arms as the was was over. Again with the same helicopter flying over Bukit Hari of the Forest Research Institute,

Kepong. And the camera swift panned downwards to show the freedom fighters mowing down the captured Jap army with William

Holden the Major and Tetsuo Tamba as Ng. The entire U.S. movie was filmed with the assistance of Merdeka Studio in the grounds

of FRI, the Lake Gardens, the King's House called Carcosa, the Kuala Lumpur Moorish Railway and the famed Clock Tower to the

rubber estates along the Negri Sembilan Road, the Klangate Dam and surroundings of the final battle between the British Jungle

Squad and the Communist soldiers led by Ng. The film was convincing in the fact in trying to tell the story of the Malayan

Emergency. There were also scenes in the Pudu Jail where Dana the school teacher acted out by Capucine was imprisoned for

having a hand grenade inside a durain.  And Susannah York in the act of trying to contact Ng to free Capucine who was due to

be hanged under the British Emergency Law than in force in Malaya. It was under the Durain Tree that Susannah York, who

acted as the daughter of British High Commissioner who courageously trying to save Capucine's condemn life. However, when

the film was finally completed, the Malaysian Government led by Tunku Abdul Rahman banned the film to be shown on Malayan

Cinema Hall in 1960s. Only the dvd is available to today and it could be order from www.amazon.com of The Seventh Dawn.

en.wikipaedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Dawn#/media/File:The_7th_Dawn_FilmPoster.jpeg