"Aventure Malgache" ("Madagascan Adventure") was one of two short French-language propaganda films which Alfred Hitchcock directed for the British Ministry of Information during the Second World War, the other being "Bon Voyage". "Bon Voyage" was intended to publicise the struggle of the French Resistance in mainland France itself, while "Aventure Malgache" deals with the Resistance movement in the French colonies. After the fall of France in 1940 the administration in French Madagascar (like that in some other colonies) supported the collaborationist Vichy regime until the island was liberated by British and Free French forces in 1942. The hero of the film is Paul Clarus, a lawyer and amateur actor, who is a leading light in the Resistance on Madagascar. (He is said to be based upon a real-life figure, Jules François Clermont, who portrays him in the films). His activities include helping anti-Vichy Frenchmen escape from the island to British-controlled territory and running a clandestine pro-Resistance radio station. These activities bring him into conflict with the villainous Jean Michel, who before the war was a criminal whom Clarus prosecuted in court, but who has now become the Vichy regime's "Chef de la Sûreté" on the island. Some Vichy supporters were quite sincere in their belief that Marshal Philippe Petain's regime represented the best hope for the French nation but Michel is a cynical turncoat; when the British arrive we see him replacing a portrait of Petain in his office with one of Queen Victoria (which he has presumably been keeping in preparation for just such an eventuality).In "Bon Voyage" Hitchcock did make some use of his normal suspense techniques, but "Aventure Malgache" is a more straightforward piece of propaganda. In the opening scene Clarus is seen discussing his adventures with some of his actor friends, so there is little suspense about the film; we know from the start that Clarus will survive. As with "Bon Voyage" the film is so different from Hitchcock's normal feature films, even explicitly propagandist ones like "Foreign Correspondence" or "Saboteur", that I will not award it a mark out of 10. It did, however, expand my French vocabulary by one word. "Malgache" is French for "Madagascan"; on the basis that "gacher" is French for "to spoil" I would otherwise have translated the title as "An Adventure Badly Spoiled".

The film is about the French controlled island of Madagascar. Once the French surrendered to Germany in 1940 and became their allies, their colonies around the globe were left to decide whether to go along with the Vichy government or throw in their lot with the British and continue to fight the Nazis. The film particularly follows one man on the island who is the head of the underground movement.This is a very odd film. During WWII, Alfred Hitchcock made two short propaganda films in French! Everyone speaks French and I wonder if Hitchcock himself understood the language. Considering how weak this short film is, I assume he didn't! Unlike most propaganda films, this film is way too talky and slow. Additionally, it's not exactly inspiring. There simply is no action or suspense and the film is amazingly uninspiring. All these factors led the British government to say "thanks but no thanks" to the director when he tried to help out with the war effort.FYI--I noticed one reviewer gave the short a 10. When I checked, I noticed that out of dozens and dozens of their reviews I perused, all had received 10s--every last one.

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.

A corrupt Vichy police official & a wily Resistance lawyer have their own intense AVENTURE MALAGACHE during the early years of the Second World War.Although having lived in Hollywood since 1939, famed film director Alfred Hitchcock nevertheless wanted to be involved in some way with the British war effort against the Axis. So, in 1943 he returned to London & took up the assignment to direct a couple of propaganda films aimed at the French, under the auspices of the British Ministry of Information. The two film shorts which resulted - BON VOYAGE & AVENTURE MALAGACHE (both 1944) - did not excite the Ministry and were given only very brief exhibition, after which they languished for decades in the vaults of the British Film Institute. Hitchcock, meanwhile, his war service satisfied, returned to California.AVENTURE MALAGACHE (Adventure in Madagascar) is basically a look at the extreme antagonism between the two principal characters, cut off, as they are, from the main action of the War due to their Indian Ocean location. Extremely fast moving, it demands unblinking attention on the part of the viewer, especially if one must needs be forced to rely on the English subtitles. The acting & production values are quite good - Hitchcock was able to call upon the services of French actors, writers & technicians exiled in Britain.