During World War II, Alfred Hitchock made a couple of relatively short propaganda movies for the people of France and their colonies, which, at the time, included a large portion of Africa. A map early in the film shows how much of Africa was under French control during the war. In 1944, much of France had been occupied by the Nazis for about 4 years and prior to D- Day, it looked to many that France could be occupied for quite some time. People needed something to keep their hopes alive and this was one of Hitchcock's attempts. However, this wasn't released during the war and no one really knows if this might have any effect on the moral of the French speaking world or not.
This and "Bon Voyage" were made using French writers, actors, technicians in wartime England. "Aventure malgache"is based on a true story that happened in Madagascar, a former French colony.
The story starts off with members of a French acting troupe performing in London with one actor (Paul Bonifas) trying to figure out how to play the role of a gangster. His resemblance to the police chief in Madagascar, a Nazi appeaser, is noted by another actor (Paul Clarus) and the bulk of the movie is the story of how the French colonists managed to survive with a corrupt police chief while still getting some people off of the island and broadcasting resistance radio services.
This isn't a typical Hitchcock movie and that could account for some of the lower reviews. In watching this, I try to imagine myself as a member of the target audience - one who is hoping to get out from under the tyranny of Nazi rule and to know that there are people in the rest of the world who haven't given up freeing my people. Members of that original target audience would have been subject to arrest (or worse) just by seeing this movie. A glimmer of hope could be worth that for many people.
This and "Bon Voyage" were made using French writers, actors, technicians in wartime England. "Aventure malgache"is based on a true story that happened in Madagascar, a former French colony.
The story starts off with members of a French acting troupe performing in London with one actor (Paul Bonifas) trying to figure out how to play the role of a gangster. His resemblance to the police chief in Madagascar, a Nazi appeaser, is noted by another actor (Paul Clarus) and the bulk of the movie is the story of how the French colonists managed to survive with a corrupt police chief while still getting some people off of the island and broadcasting resistance radio services.
This isn't a typical Hitchcock movie and that could account for some of the lower reviews. In watching this, I try to imagine myself as a member of the target audience - one who is hoping to get out from under the tyranny of Nazi rule and to know that there are people in the rest of the world who haven't given up freeing my people. Members of that original target audience would have been subject to arrest (or worse) just by seeing this movie. A glimmer of hope could be worth that for many people.