The Seventh Dawn seemed a natural for William Holden given the spectacular success he had in that part of the world with The Bridge On the River Kwai. Unfortunately Seventh Dawn doesn't quite live up to the David Lean classic.
What The Seventh Dawn is, is a sincere attempt to look at the issues confronting Southeast Asia during the Fifties. Three people, American William Holden, and natives Capucine and Tetsuro Tamba have been involved in resistance to the Japanese. Holden like the country so much, he's going to settle down as a rubber planter. Capucine is going back to teaching school and agitating for eventual independence from Great Britain. Tamba is going to school himself, a scholarship awaits him at a university in Moscow.
Fast forward seven years or so from V-J day and all of them have succeeded more or less in their chosen paths. Unfortunately their paths put them on a collision course with each other.
Holden's a free-wheeling hedonist who just won't settle down and marry Capucine and he's got a new distraction in the form of Sussanah York the daughter of the new British administrator. Her role is the weakest here and the dumbest. Her offer of sacrifice to bring peace to Malaya just doesn't ring true at all.
I do like what Tetsuro Tamba did with his part. His people as he's been taught in Moscow can't feed themselves, let alone govern themselves. They need Red style tutelage and he's going to see they get it.
Measured against The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Seventh Dawn falls far short. Still it's nicely photographed in the Republic of Malaysia and the cast is earnest enough in their roles. William Holden fans will like it.
