You won't be disappointed!

An action-packed slog

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I am so surprised that this movie was made in 1949. It plays much like war propaganda films made during the war. The story of the rubber shortage during the beginning of the war and some Americans and others getting involved to steal rubber in Malaysia. Spencer Tracy does some fine acting here. He also punches out several people and somehow it seems like he actually does. Valentina Cortese is the leading woman, she is even shorter than Tracy. James Stewart has a different type of role here as a brother trying to get revenge with the Japanese after his brother is killed in the war. Sydney Greenstreet is a bad guy whose playing both sides. Lionel Barrymore has a brief role early in the film. John Hodiak is featured as Kellar.For some reason, when the film ends, it has the feel of what might have been a war propaganda film. This might be because the story was written by Manchester Boddy who wrote a film called "Mr. Blabbermouth" which was one of those films. Frank Fenton converted it for the screen as he did other films often in the 1950's.

WW2-set story about a plot to smuggle rubber out of Japanese-occupied Malaya. Reporter Jimmy Stewart, whose brother was killed by the Japanese, enlists in the war and is tasked with the smuggling operation, a nearly impossible mission he boasts he can do easily with the help of an old friend. That friend being Spencer Tracy, currently serving time at Alcatraz.Watchable time-killer that's a bit of a disappointment given the cast. Notable for being the final film of Sydney Greenstreet. Despite his failing health at this time, Greenstreet is still the most lively actor in the bunch. Tracy and Stewart are just going through the motions, not that the dull script or pedestrian direction do much to help them. Also the last film Stewart made with Lionel Barrymore, whose part is unfortunately small.

There is a scene that makes the whole picture worthwhile (although it is otherwise pretty ordinary): Sydney GREENSTREET is entering a room after app. 2/3 of the movie, where Spencery Tracey has just been "treated kindly" in an "interview", Greenstreet is sweating (as always), sitting down and looking at the molestor of Tracy, then says (roughly): "If you say this was necessary, then of course it was necessary, but wasn't that much for a bottle of poor booze?". The officer say: "But he broke our rules". Greenstreet: "A man who drinks and then doesn't break any rules is no man. Drinking and making troubles goes together, this is also a rule." What a line !! Officer: "I love your logic." Of course these are not exactly the lines from the picture, cause I saw the German dubbed version and re-translated them, but they can only be better in the English version.Hilarious! Tape it, when shown on TV next time and get to that scene, it is just great!

Malaya may seem a fantastic tale, but the story actually has quite a bit of truth to it. When World War II broke out the Japanese quickly conquered most of the rubber producing areas of the world. The modern mechanized army does run on rubber and both the USA and Germany developed types of synthetic rubber to be used.My mother told me during World War II there were all kinds of drives for recyclable material and among the most valuable was rubber. People contributed all kinds of old tires for the war effort.Lionel Barrymore plays the real life Manchester Boddy who was publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News who was the prime mover in the scheme you see portrayed here in Malaya. Though this story is fictional, the need for rubber in the USA was critical at the time and there was in fact a rubber smuggling operation going on.Spencer Tracy before he came to MGM played just the kind of two fisted action heroes at Fox which was his original studio. He expressed an interest in doing this kind of film for old time sake and got cast in it. He really isn't poaching on Humphrey Bogart's territory these were the kind of roles he originally did in film while Bogey was playing hoods over at Warner Brothers.Because the script called for a buddy team of heroes, James Stewart was approached and he even conceded top billing to Tracy. According to the Films of James Stewart, he admired Tracy as an actor so much that he was grateful just for the opportunity to work with him again. In fact Stewart's first film role was in Murder Man, a film that starred Spencer Tracy back in 1935.With the two of these big stars in the leads, MGM was able to recruit a really outstanding group of players like John Hodiak, Valentina Cortese, Roland Winters, Richard Loo, the aforementioned Lionel Barrymore and my two favorites Gilbert Roland and Sydney Greenstreet.Roland was shortchanged though. Watching Malaya I could tell his role as Tracy's adventurous friend was left on the cutting room floor. But even a little Gilbert Roland is always a pleasure to watch.This was Sydney Greenstreet's last film and in it he essentially reprises the part of Ferrari in Casablanca. He's got the best lines in the film and his scenes with his cockatoo are classic. As he says, he's just a saloon keeper with an access to gossip. Which gets put to very good use.Stewart the idealist, Tracy the cynical realist. Too bad they didn't work together more.