ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Robert J. Maxwell Hitchcock was working under wartime restrictions when he shot this French-language film in Britain and the limits imposed are apparent. How the director must have ached for a chance to give the audience his usual tourist's view of an exotic location, in this case Madagascar. Instead there are sets consisting of small rooms and one more sizable courtroom. The purpose was propaganda and it probably worked, although now of course it seems crass and dated. Nothing special about it, no Hitchcock touches or anything. It's fast-paced and tightly written movie urging the French to resist the occupation and showing them how it's done, while at the same time warning of the dangers involved. It's not really worth going out of one's way for except that it's a historical curiosity.

trimmerb1234 In wartime with such a shortage of resources, short films made in the French language in Britain in 1944 were undoubtedly made for very distinct purposes. In this situation Hitchcock evidently put his talents entirely at the disposal of the powers that be but, in the absence of concrete information, we can only guess what those purposes were.In common with "Bon Voyage" - the other of the two films Hitch shot in the French language during the war - the intended audience was Vichy France and the Vichy controlled French colonies (the film is set in Madagascar). Overall they were propaganda films, intended for the French resistance. Each is to some extent instructional particularly warning of pitfalls resistance members could fall into. Here the main character is imprisoned by the Vichy authorities and finds that a defence lawyer has been provided for him. The defence lawyer asks for full details of the man's resistance activities so that he can better defend him. The main character immediately realises that the lawyer is working for the authorities and there solely to extract incriminating information. Noticeable too are the many references to Britain's role in supporting the Resistance - presumably an important part of the film's message.Overall the film quite slick, pacy and good humoured. Other propaganda elements are not so obvious although presumably the main character's bravery, spirit, wiliness along with his undoubted patriotism (like Petain, a hero of the Battle of Verdun in WW1, indeed known to Petain but having chosen resistance rather than collaboration) perhaps offered something of a role model for the audience. The key line must have been "The greatness of a country is measured by the spirit of its people". Given the reality of occupation and collaboration, "spirit" was one thing that nevertheless could remain undimmed, that national honour could still be fought for and could still be saved.Interestingly both films were small projects and that it was other directors who handled the now iconic wartime productions.

mattker A recent article on Australian Web Journal SENSESOFCINEMA brings a lot of new information (cast, script,etc.)on this underrated film.For example,interesting link between the French actor who plays MICHEL, and a character in a well known Stanley Donen movie.A connection between DZ91,code name of a British Secret Service agent during WWII and Paul CLARUS,a French lawyer from Madagascar. Another point of view regarding the MOLIERE PLAYERS and some members of the Company.Documents from the British National Archives, and from a French private collection.

Snow Leopard "Aventure Malgache" is one of two short, French-language features that Alfred Hitchcock made during World War II as a tribute to the French Resistance. It is not as good as the other of these ("Bon Voyage"), but it will certainly be of interest to fans of the great director, and it is also a distinctive look at one of the more unknown aspects of World War II.The film opens in a dressing room, as one of a group of French actors discusses how a character in their upcoming performance reminds him of his experiences on the island of Madagascar when it was taken over by the Axis. The story that he tells in flashback contains some suspense, but the main interest is psychological and historical. There were many on the island who wanted to resist Vichy rule, but they were split into various factions, and their attempts were further complicated by personal rivalries and agendas. While there is not much action, it is interesting as a very different look at World War II than what we are used to seeing in the movies. There are some good Hitchcock touches of humor and mild suspense, and like "Bon Voyage", it is very similar in nature and length to an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".If you are a Hitchcock fan, or if you are fascinated in everything about World War II, you should find "Aventure Malgache" of some interest.