I love this movie so much

Highly Overrated But Still Good

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

"The 7th Dawn" was released in 1964, the year that President Lyndon Johnson took the initial critical steps in escalating the war in Vietnam. In turn, the film was based on the 1959 novel "The Durian Tree" by Australian author Michael Keon. It is remarkable to think that the novel and the film both provided lessons that could have served as warnings about the tragic war that contributed to breaking the back of the American Century.The strength of the film is the ambiguous depiction of nationalist insurgents in Mayasia (formerly known as Malaya), who are rebelling against their British overlords in the aftermath of World War II. The film distorts the historical record by pointedly avoiding the labeling of the guerrilla fighters as "communists." The leader of the insurgents, a World War II hero who fought with the allies, is portrayed sympathetically until the very end of the film.The performances are uniformly excellent with the charismatic Capuchine and the luminous Susanna York in the leading women's parts. Tetsurô Tanba conveys the patriotic zeal of the leader of the insurgents. William Holden is serviceable as the apolitical American entrepreneur who is inevitably drawn into the conflict between the British and the Mayayans.The noted cinematographer Freddie Young captures a harrowing jungle sequence with a nearly unprecedented naturalism of detail. The beauty of the natural environment of Malaysia is juxtaposed with the violence of the British military in burning a village. This was the film artist who photographed "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia." The haunting musical score of Riz Ortolani is at the heart of a breath-taking opening credit sequence.Perhaps the content of this film has become less relevant with the passing of more than a half century. On the other hand, the recurring word that is used throughout the film to describe the insurgents is not communists, not guerrilla warriors, not rebel fighters, and not nationalists. The word that is used is "terrorists." For this reason, the film may continue to speak to us in a nuanced way about vital issues in the twenty-first century.

Enjoyable and welcome - just shows how few films were made about the end of the British Empire (India being an exception). Well cast and the excellent supports - Sydney Tafler, Michael Goodliffe and Maurice Denham bring added credibility. Nice to see Tafler in a role other than his usual line in club managers and assorted crooks. Likewise, Goodliffe shows a gravitas contrasting from his normal parts - the seedy (Jigsaw 1962) through to various officer types and police inspectors.

A British colony in Asia is under attack from terrorists. A suspected terrorist has been captured, tried, and convicted. The sentence is death. The terrorist group kidnaps the British governor's daughter. She will be killed if the execution proceeds. Time is running out. Only her lover, Ferrell, can save her. No mistake. It's Paul Ferrell and he's rescuing Caroline rather than Candace this time. The movie (actually a serial or in the States a miniseries) is "A Place of Execution" from 1953 eight years before "The Durian Tree" was published and eleven years before "The 7th Dawn" was released. Is this a strange coincidence or a reused plot line? Draw your own conclusions.

There is a haunting, lost quality to this film that is really special. The mysterious jungles, ethereal sunrises, lost colonial world are all woven together beautifully. The life-enhancing youth of Susanna York, and exotic Capucine at the peak of her career converge at just the right moment in time to play off of the wasted, weary Holden (though still an effective acting presence). Few viewers at the time realized that the famous globe-trotting Holden was perfectly suited to this role as an aging man who accumulates wealth but realizes that he has thrown away all his opportunities for success in a personal life. Now we know that age and mistakes were catching up with Holden himself, just like the character he portrays here. Expensively made, fine cinematography, beautiful but haunting musical score written at the perfect time.Sincere acting conveys the simplistic ideals believed by everyone in those days (The British, the Communist leader Ng, the naive Americans). Simplistic thought by so many people who did not realize that the world was becoming very complicated. The USA that very year on the brink of massive effort and tragedy in Vietnam. The early 1960's with so many nations on the cusp of independence as colonialism was literally dying as this film was being made. Viewers in 1964 were still expecting movie-star Holden and happy endings. Instead, Holden gave them the truth here and they couldn't handle it. So, this movie was long forgotten, only shown a few times over the years in various chopped-up prints, and achieved obscurity. We are lucky that a full-length version was preserved. This kind of independent-minded, carefully photographed, rare unique movie is seldom encountered and should be treasured, despite how uneven or flawed it may be.