The 7th Dawn (1964)

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Michael Keon (novel)
Karl Tunberg (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 October 1964 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Tagline:

A STRANGE LAND SLEEPS LIKE A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN - SO STILL...SO MYSTERIOUS...SO UNTOUCHED- UNTIL THE FIRST LIGHT OF DAWN AWAKENS THE PASSIONS OF MEN AND THE FURIES OF WAR!

Plot:

Political and personal intrigues surround a group of characters in Malaya, after the close of the Second World War. |

Plot Keywords:

Malaya | Guerilla | Communist Infiltrator | Asia | Number 7 In Title

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

William Holden	...	Major Ferris
Susannah York	...	Candace Trumpey
Capucine	...	Dhana Mercier
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Ng
Michael Goodliffe	...	Trumphey
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Cavendish
Sydney Tafler	...	Tom, Chief Petty Officer
Maurice Denham	...	Tarlton
Beulah Quo	...	Ah Ming

Also Known As:

The Seventh Dawn (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Malaysia

Company:

Holdean

Trivia:

The British High Commissioner of Malaya in 1953 (when the film was set) was General (later Field Marshall) Sir Gerald Templer. The character of Trumphey more closely resembles the next British High Commissioner of Malaya Sir Donald Charles MacGillivray.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the start of the movie, during the Japanese surrender, Ferris tells Trumphey that the British are five years too late implying that the MPAJA insurgents have been fighting the Japanese alone for that time. Since the war in Asia started in December of 1941 and ended in 1945, Ferris' statement is off by one and a half years.

Unheralded but classic period piece & morality play

This is one of those films that goes unnoticed for some reason, despite having an excellent story, superb cast and breathtaking scenery.

Although it is "entertainment", art does imitate life and we see the brutal reality of how a dedicated (and duped) Marxist revolutionary lets deep, committed friendships fall to the wayside, in fact uses those very friendships, to further his political cause.

The film came out about the time the war in Vietnam became an American War and this may be the reason it did not do as well as it should have at the box office.

A young Suzanna York is stunning; Capucine is the classic beauty she remained until her untimely, and sad, suicide in 1987. Bill Holden was the perennial Bill Holden. The Asian commie rat was a typical Asian commie rat. Those guys still don't have a clue. China will eventually fall not from within but from without-they can't keep the internet out and once its citizens see the real world out there, communism is finished.

Well worth watching whenever you can catch it.