Malta Story (1953)

Director:

Brian Desmond Hurst

Writers:

Nigel Balchin (screenplay)
Peter De Sarigny (idea)

Release Date:

5 August 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

In 1942 Britain was clinging to the island of Malta since it was critical to keeping Allied supply lines open...

Plot Keywords:

Malta | WWII

Cast

Alec Guinness	...	Flight Lt. Peter Ross
Jack Hawkins	...	Air CO Frank
Anthony Steel	...	Wing Cmdr Bartlett
Muriel Pavlow	...	Maria Gonzar
Renée Asherson	...	Joan Rivers (as Renee Asherson)
Hugh Burden	...	Eden, Security
Nigel Stock	...	Giuseppe Gonzar aka Ricardi
Reginald Tate	...	Vice Adm Payne
Ralph Truman	...	Vice Adm Willie Banks
Flora Robson	...	Melita Gonzar, Maria's Mum

Runtime:

UK:103 min | USA:97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #17089, General Audience) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Malta

Company:

British Film-Makers

Trivia:

First feature of Lee Patterson.

Maltese, keep that stiff upper lip

Someone else unfortunately used the title, location, location, location, in his film review. It's not only the plot of the movie, it's the

history of Malta.

Malta located south of Sicily and right in the middle of that

Mediterranean bottleneck between Sicily and Tunisia has had the

misfortune by geography to be smack in the middle of supply and trade routes since ancient times. That made it desirable real estate. Malta's been occupied by every conqueror operating in that area, most recently the British during World War II.

And at that time that island with its air and naval base was doing a lot of damage to Erwin Rommel's supply route in North Africa. With unbelievable courage the British garrison held on for over two years and was never really out of harm's way until the Allies took Sicily.

Lots of black and white combat footage used and together with the

performances of the male leads, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, and Anthony Steel the film has a nice documentary feel. Guinness who plays so many quirky type characters on the screen is for once a very straightforward lead as Peter Ross aerial reconnaissance photographer. He has a romance going with one of the locals and her mother is played by Flora Robson.

There is an interesting subplot there in which Flora Robson's son is taken prisoner as a spy for the Italians and sentenced to be executed as a spy. He tells his British captors that he is in fact a Maltese patriot and that they are the occupiers and it's their occupation that is bringing death and destruction to his people. Not that he wasn't right. The Maltese finally do have their independence now.