Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

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:

Mark Elliott: Are we going swimming?
Dr. Han Suyin: Mark, going out with you once was harmless enough. I don't want my seeing you to be awkward. Hong Kong has a peculiar code and malice is a pleasant pastime for women with nothing to do.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

"A Great Many Mistakes Are Made In the Name of Loneliness"

Those prophetic words were spoken by William Holden (as a war reporter) to the beauteous Jennifer Jones (as a Eurasian doctor), explaining his failing marriage on the beach. They start an affair, despite huge odds of adultery and racial issues. In Hollywood of the 1950s, interracial romance was allowed but only with dire consequences at the end. Beautiful Hong Kong scenery (although some beach scenes look studio-bound), a famous title tune, poetic script, lovely background music (by Alfred Newman), great costumes, outstanding performances, especially Jones (directed here by Henry King, who also did "The Song of Bernadette - 1943, an Oscar for Jones) still make this a world-class romance weeper.