25 Nov Malaya
Malaya, WWII Movie starring Spencer Tracy and James Stewart
(1949) In 1942, the Allies were in dire need of rubber. Manchester Boddy, a news publisher, wrote to President Roosevelt that perhaps the U.S. could export valuable rubber from Malaya (the world’s largest producer of rubber.) The President wrote back that “We are already moving in this direction and I hope it will bring some results.”
This gave Mr. Boddy all he needed to sell his story to the movies. It all sounded so good that Spencer Tracy and James Stewart agreed to the main roles.
I doubt that the rest of the story is anywhere near as factual as the letter from the President. With two such great stars plus Sydney Greenstreet, (it was his last film) I was anticipating an excellent movie.
I was disappointed. Spencer Tracy acted like he really wasn’t in the spirit. In a TCM article, however, I read that he was literally that. James Stewart was trying hard to keep Tracy’s drinking to a minimum.
The best part of the movie was when Tracy and Stewart step into a train to get their marching orders from who else … the President!
No Comments