Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

John Patrick (screenplay)
Han Suyin (novel)

Release Date:

26 September 1955 (Sweden)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

The price they pay when they come out of their secret garden and face the world in modern-day Hong Kong - makes this one of the screen's unforgettable experiences!

Plot:

A widowed doctor of both Chinese and European descent falls in love with a married American correspondent in Hong Kong during China's Communist revolution.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Doctor | Hong Kong | Separated | Chinese Civil War

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

William Holden	...	Mark Elliott
Jennifer Jones	...	Dr. Han Suyin
Torin Thatcher	...	Humphrey Palmer-Jones
Isobel Elsom	...	Adeline Palmer-Jones
Murray Matheson	...	Dr. John Keith
Virginia Gregg	...	Anne Richards
Richard Loo	...	Robert Hung
Soo Yong	...	Nora Hung
Philip Ahn	...	Third Uncle
Jorja Curtright	...	Suzanne
Donna Martell	...	Suchen, Suyin's sister
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Salvador Baguez	...	Hotel Manager (uncredited)
W.T. Chang	...	Old Loo (uncredited)
Aen-Ling Chow	...	Wife (uncredited)
Kei Thin Chung	...	Interne (uncredited)
Edward Colmans	...	Dining Room Captain (uncredited)
Ashley Cowan	...	British Sailor (uncredited)
Lee Tung Foo	...	Old Loo (uncredited)
Herbert Heyes	...	Father Low (uncredited)
James Hong	...	Fifth Brother (uncredited)
Joseph Kim	...	General Song (uncredited)
Marc Krah	...	Wine Steward (uncredited)
Candace Lee	...	Oh-No (uncredited)
Weaver Levy	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Angela Loo	...	Mei Loo (uncredited)
Keye Luke	...	Lee Foo (uncredited)
Stella Lynn	...	Wife (uncredited)
Eleanor Moore	...	English Secretary (uncredited)
Harry S. Quan	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
Beulah Quo	...	Third Aunt (uncredited)
Hazel Shon	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Hayward Soo Hoo	...	Second Brother (uncredited)
Walter Soo Hoo	...	Third Brother (uncredited)
Leonard Strong	...	Fortune Teller (uncredited)
Kam Tong	...	Dr. Sen (uncredited)
Marie Tsien	...	Rosie Wu (uncredited)
Barbara Jean Wong	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Jean Wong	...	Nurse (uncredited)

Directed by
Henry King

Writing credits
John Patrick		(screenplay)
Han Suyin		(novel "A Many-Splendored Thing")

Produced by
Buddy Adler	....	producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy

Film Editing by
William Reynolds

Art Direction by
George W. Davis
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Walter M. Scott
Jack Stubbs

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Helen Turpin	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hal Herman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Alfred Bruzlin	....	sound
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound
Carlton W. Faulkner	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ray Kellogg	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles G. Clarke	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Clyde Taylor	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Music Department
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator
Hugo Friedhofer	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Leigh Harline	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Fox Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Centfox (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) (optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (magnetic prints)

Certification:

Australia:G (DVD rating) | Netherlands:AL | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (certificate #17475) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

For his beach scene with Jennifer Jones, William Holden shaved the hair from his chest in order to get that "clean-cut" look supposedly favored by female moviegoers.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the orderly comes to get Dr. Han in the operating room at the beginning of the movie, one of the members of the film crew (a man wearing glasses) can be seen reflected in the window of the right-hand door to the O.R.

Quotes:

Third Uncle: We shall now have tea and speak of absurdities.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions Round 1, Game 37 (#21.149)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

A Many-splendored film

I purchased the DVD for this one, having seen the trailer for it on another DVD. I am fascinated by the film for several reasons and wonder whether it was really filmed in Hong Kong. The paradisiac scenery of the film, continuous anticyclonic weather, clear blue skies, the beautiful hill with the tree behind the hospital, a deserted beach etc etc all seem to have very little to to with the pictures we see of HK today - rain, mist and thousands of skyscrapers ... could it really be the same place, or was the film in reality shot elsewhere ? Perhaps HK internauts could confirm or deny ! Does that hill with its tree really exist.

In French the film is called " La Colline de l'Adieu " ( Goodbye hill )

Apart from this, I don't like the Cinemascope format, all the characters seem to small, so I have to use the zoom on my DVD to fill the screen ( losing picture detail in the process of course ).

Perhaps Mr William Holden liked the Orient, I'd already seen him in Suzie Wong and it was interesting to compare the two films. SW was more gutsy and crude than LIAMST.

I love the theme music of this film and have countless different recordings of it. I also loved both actors, both Holden and Jones were beautiful people. Repeated viewings of the DVD have brought me to like the film more and more, but I would have preferred just a little more passion in the love scenes. Also, JJ as a Chinese person leaves a little to be desired, beautiful though she is, she doesn't have the mannerisms of a Chinese person. It would be interesting to have an Oriental point of view on this one.

Should I add that the FINAL scene on the hill tightens the spectator's throat to a point of near suffocation !