Windom's Way

Based on a now out of print but at one time best selling 1952 novel by James Ramsey Ullman, this drama had been in the offing for some years before it was eventually made in 1957. Peter Finch gives a BAFTA-nominated performance as a devoted doctor tucked away in a remote part of Burma (now Myanmar) where he gets involved in a political uprising while trying to save his marriage.

British doctor Alec Windom (P. Finch) runs the local hospital in a small village (for want of a better word) in this impoverished country where it goes without saying the natives are notoriously exploited and probably still are. There are only two white men in the entire province or so it would seem: Windom and man called Patterson (Michael Hordern) - the kind of man playwright Jill Craigie would have despised - a colonialist who runs the rubber plantation with most of the locals working for him at a pittance. It is only too obvious that there is trouble brewing. The natives want to continue working their own rice plantation and here they appear to be autonomous. Windom is very much on their side (and we can imagine carries many of the screenwriter's convictions) but stubborn old Patterson won't give an inch.

Meanwhile Windom's English wife Lee (Mary Ure) arrives accompanied by Colonel George Hasbrook (Robert Flemyng), a sympathetic British Attaché (which makes a nice change) who warns Windom to keep out of local politics. Lee is well aware of what she will have to give up to be with the man she loves as is he is a selfless fellow and a true philanthropist - are such men a dying breed? Meanwhile, Windom’s head nurse Anna Vidal (Natasha Parry), a local woman and quite naturally just happens to be in love with him - sadly a love that can go nowhere. Her brother Jan (played by Scots actor John Cairney) finds himself running the revolt when their religious leader, Father Amyan (Sunny Bin Hussan) is arrested after they've gone on strike and held by the local police force. The incensed rebels smash down the surrounding fence to free Amyan. Some of the policemen flee but the sadistic and trigger-happy Police Officer Lansang (George Margo) tries to open fire on the rebellious crowd and is killed. Then old Father Amyan is found dead in his cell. The outcome as you may imagine will not be a pretty one and Dr. Windom finds himself bang in the middle of this nightmare. Just whom can he trust? Is it remotely possible even to glimpse a satisfactory denouement? Do you seriously believe that the country's authorities with the insidious Commissioner Belhedron (Oxford educated Indian actor Marne Maitland) in charge will do the right thing and overlook the killings of the policemen? The Rebel Forces, as we will see later, are just as fascistic in their ideals and can easily be compared to Stalin. Things simply don't change and he writing on the wall is always ignored.

Natasha Parry and John Cairney are both supposed to be natives and sport 'darkened' skin - Cairney even has his eyes altered to look more Asian. In a way this would be considered too offensive by nowadays p/c standards but the production company would have told you they could not find any Asian actors to play those parts. Finch fits his part only too well and elicits our sympathy, which is as it should be. Grégoire Aslan (who was of Armenian background) supplies a sympathetic portrayal of the town Mayor Lollivar. Hordern and Flemyng keep the British end up and Ure injects the positive note in at the anti-climax. No qualms about Ronald Neame's direction and a plaudit for plucky 7-year old Kurt Christian as the brave young native boy Kosti. Filmed in Corsica (as opposed to the Far East) the script had originally been written by Carl Foreman (best known for 'Young Winston'), it was then re-written by Anthony Perry and finally 'softened' by former actress and political activist Jill Craigie (Mrs. Michael Foot) who is given sole credit. WINDOM’S WAY is, in some respects, a complex and serious film as you can well imagine.

Newly restored, this Blu-ray and DVD release comes with a Theatrical trailer, Image gallery and Limited Edition booklet by Neil Sinyard.