Grade: C
Synopsis: During World War II, in unoccupied Madagascar, a French resistance leader makes enemies on both sides.
Aventure Malgache is an interesting short film from director Alfred Hitchcock. Along with Bon Voyage (1944), Hitchcock made the film for Britain to use as a propaganda piece during the war effort. Unfortunately, the end product didn’t depict the united front the French Resistance wanted to promote, and despite Hitchcock’s status as a Hollywood director, the film was shelved for the better part of fifty years.
Even more interesting is that the story is true, and the lead actor is playing himself. For safety reasons, his name is changed, as are those of the entire French cast, but the rest is essentially a dramatic recreation framed by an ingenious device of having the principals as actors preparing to go on stage.
As a film, Aventure Malgache is somewhat hindered by its obviously small budget. Hitchcock does make the most of light and shadow to create a tense, believable atmosphere, and the cast, while not a standout, is certainly workable. Indeed, this film, along with Bon Voyage, certainly feels more akin to Hitchcock’s early British thrillers than his later Hollywood efforts, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
