[sheepherder]

The two are not connected, other than that they both take place and are concerned with what the British called "The Emergency" in Malaysia.

First, the book. "The Officer From Special Branch" is a novel set at the height of 'The Emergency', the late 40's and early 50's, and concerns a British officer sent to the Malay peninsula to eliminate Communist agitators and terrorists. This he does, but it seems his successes are won at great personal cost. The book is one of those that you really don't want to put down, as the Officer plans and implements projects to capture or kill the Communist leaders. It is very insightful, and although the author, Tom Lilley, has left no personal notes as to his real career, it is most likely that he was either involved or was there when the Emergency was in effect. The book was published in 1970 and I am surprised it was not made into a movie...

The movie. "The 7th Dawn" is also set during 'The Emergency' and centers around an American plantation owner who has been friends with Communist partisans during WW II and the movie starts, rather surprisingly, at the end of the war in Malaysia with the partisans executing Japanese prisoners of war...One of the partisans, a high ranking officer, then travels to Moscow to be trained in revolutionary doctrine, and returns to find the peninsula under British control. He leads the Communist forces against the British rule, while his erstwhile friend, the plantation owner, who considers himself apolitical, is forced to take sides when his mistress is taken prisoner by the British and sentenced to be executed unless he turns the Communist leader in to the British authorities.

This movie was released in 1964, before the American involvement in Viet Nam was news, and has not received much attention, possibly because it depicts an American helping Communist terrorists, even if before they became such. I first saw this film sometime in the late 60's, on what was called "The Late Show", a late night movie presentation. But the theme from the movie is probably instantly recognizable, like "Tara's Theme" from 'Gone With The Wind'.

I heartily recommend both of these, if you can find them. I was able to get "7th Dawn" on VHS and convert it to DVD, and "Officer From Special Branch" was a library sell-off. (Seems like many libraries in the US are merging into regional mega-libraries and selling off all their duplicates.)

We Americans tend to ignore the fact that the British and French (and Dutch and others) were also involved in the Communist revolution in Southeast Asia in the late 40's, 50's & 60's as well as the US, and it is very interesting to read or view a book or movie dealing with another point of view. (I was reminded of the movie "Too Late the Hero", which depicts British soldiers in the Pacific in WW II and presents a very different viewpoint than is usually seen in WW II movies).

I hope you can find these and enjoy them as much as I did. They have both become part of my permanent library.

Edit: I found out yesterday that "The Officer From Special Branch" was also published under the title "The Projects Section", presumably in the same year [1970]. No reason given for the change...