The Ugly American (1963)
Directed by George Englund

Film Review

Whilst it bares scant resemblance to the novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer on which it is loosely based, The Ugly American offered a cogent and very timely reflection on the failings of United States foreign policy in the early 1960s.   The fictional country of Sarkan is easily identified with Vietnam and the film's portrayal of disastrous American political intervention in Southeast Asia proved to be startlingly prescient.  Anyone watching the film today will see immediate parallels with more recent attempts by the United States to have its way in regions beyond its frontiers, attempts that almost invariably go awry through an inability to read the political situation correctly and a delusional belief in the righteousness of its cause.  Whilst the film does tend to caricature and oversimplify what actually happened in Vietnam, it is not too far wide of the mark, and the scenario it presents is all too easily recognised as a blueprint for subsequent foreign policy disasters in other countries.

Marlon Brando redeems himself after his embarrassing histrionics in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) with a performance that is easily one of his best, an electrifying portrayal of a well-meaning but misguided ambassador who suddenly wakes up to the fact that the world is not duo-chromatic.  Whether he is charming a Senate subcommittee, exploding in a shower of righteous indignation or looking paralysed by fear and uncertainty as events get out of hand, Brando's Ambassador MacWhite demands our attention and is certainly one of the actor's most brilliant creations.  The only other member of the cast who comes close to matching the intensity and authority of Brando's performance is his co-star, the talented Japanese actor Eiji Okada, who had previously featured in Alain Resnais's Hiroshima, mon amour (1953).   Kukrit Pramoj, a notable literary and political figure in Thailand (where the film was shot), was originally hired by director George Englund to act as cultural advisor but ended up being cast as the Sarkhanese Prime Minister.  So comfortably does Pramoj inhabit the role, exuding majestic charm and enlightened humanity, that it seems fitting, a decade later, he would be appointed the real Prime Minister of Thailand.  Although it was not a great success when it was first released and is all too often overlooked today, The Ugly American is a compelling drama with a moral which all political leaders in the West (not just the Americans) should heed.  Good intentions are never enough to win hearts and minds.

Film Synopsis

When he is appointed United States Ambassador to Sarkan, a small country in Southeast Asia, Harrison Carter MacWhite is confident that he can dampen political tensions in the region and strengthen ties between Sarkan and America.  It isn't long before he realises that the situation is more problematic than he had assumed.  His arrival in the country coincides with a violent riot in which he and his wife narrowly escape death.  His staff of diplomats appear to have no idea what is happening in the country and, to cap it all, his old friend Deong, the popular leader of Sarkan's independence movement, is opposing America's presence in the country.  The focus of the Sarkanese anger is Freedom Road, a new thoroughfare that the locals believe will be used to transport American military equipment.  Convinced that a show of strength will save the day, MacWhite authorises the re-routing of the road up to the border with Communist North Sarkan.  When he hears of this, Deong allies himself with Communist representatives from China and Russia, who agree to supply arms so that his people can launch a full-scale revolution...