Sept. 2, 1964 - Opening today is “The 7th Dawn,” a Technicolor drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring William Holden, Capucine, and Tetsuro Tamba. The film, set during the Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti-British National Liberation War (1948-1960), is based on the 1960 novel “The Durian Tree” by Michael Keon and was filmed on location in Malaysia.
Because the British government deemed the script to be prejudicial to British interests, it refused to cooperate. Therefore, all British troops in the film were portrayed by Australian troops running operations along the Malaysian-Thai border.
Filming was delayed when actual squatters took up residence in the Chinese squatter village set. After their removal, filming resumed and the Chinese squatters stayed to watch. When the village is torched in the film, crying and wailing can be heard. This wasn’t from the Malay extras but from the real squatters who had just lost their new home.
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