The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)

Director:

Mark Robson

Writers:

Isobel Lennart (screenplay)
Alan Burgess (novel)

Release Date:

19 December 1958 (West Germany)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | War

Tagline:

Love had suddenly come to her under the China sky...love for this Eurasian soldier who now pressed his earthy, Oriental skin against her own...

Plot:

All her life Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was the place where she belonged. Not qualified to be sent there as a missionary...

Plot Keywords:

China | Missionary | Mandarin | Foot Binding | Mediation

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	...	Gladys Aylward
Curd Jürgens	...	Capt. Lin Nan (as Curt Jurgens)
Robert Donat	...	The Mandarin of Yang Cheng
Michael David	...	Hok-A
Athene Seyler	...	Jeannie Lawson
Ronald Squire	...	Sir Francis Jamison
Moultrie Kelsall	...	Dr. Robinson
Richard Wattis	...	Mr. Murfin
Peter Chong	...	Yang
Tsai Chin	...	Sui-Lan
Edith Sharpe	...	Secretary at China Inland Mission
Joan Young	...	Sir Francis' cook
Lian-Shin Yang	...	Woman with baby
Noel Hood	...	Miss Thompson (as Noël Hood)
Burt Kwouk	...	Li
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Blaine	...	Madman (uncredited)
Christopher Chen	...	Tax collector (uncredited)
Lin Chen	...	Innkeeper's wife (uncredited)
Frank Goh	...	Timothy (uncredited)
Ronald Kyaing	...	Young Lin (uncredited)
Judith Lai	...	Sixpence (uncredited)
Ronald Lee	...	Chief muleteer (uncredited)
Louise Lin	...	Mai Da (uncredited)
André Mikhelson	...	Russian commissar (uncredited)
Stanislaw Mikula	...	Russian conductor (uncredited)
Aung Min	...	Buddhist priest (uncredited)
Michael Wee	...	Mandarin's aide (uncredited)
Ye-Min	...	Bai-Bao (uncredited)
Zed Zakari	...	Chief Prison Guard reporting riot (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Robson

Writing credits
Isobel Lennart		(screenplay)
Alan Burgess		(novel "The Small Woman")

Produced by
Buddy Adler	....	producer

Original Music by
Malcolm Arnold

Cinematography by
Freddie Young		(as F.A. Young)

Film Editing by
Ernest Walter

Casting by
Nora Roberts

Art Direction by
John Box
Geoffrey Drake

Costume Design by
Margaret Furse

Makeup Department
John O'Gorman	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Cecil F. Ford	....	production manager
James E. Newcom	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Middlemas	....	assistant director
Peter Yates	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mickey Lennon	....	dressing props (uncredited)

Sound Department
J.B. Smith	....	sound mixer
Gerry Turner	....	sound mixer
Michael Hickey	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Walker	....	camera operator (as Bob Walker)
Dennis Fraser	....	grip (uncredited)
Ronnie Fox Rogers	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Casting Department
Joe Powell	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Music Department
Malcolm Arnold	....	conductor

Other crew
Jung-En Liu	....	technical advisor
Angela Martelli	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Company (1958) (UK) (theatrical)
• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (1959) (Spain) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1965) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• CBS/Fox Video (1989) (UK) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Fox Video (1995) (UK) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Fox Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Fox Video (199?) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  CinemaScope is the Registered Trademark of

Runtime:

158 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | Mandarin | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #19037) | West Germany:12 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Beddgelert, Gwynedd, Wales, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This was Robert Donat's last film, he died during its making. In the scene where he is saying goodbye to Gladys as the elders prepare to take their leave of the city, he says as though he was prophesying his death, "I fear we shall never see each other again."

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The captain is talking with Gladys and says that someone will listen to anything for an extra bowl of rice. The story takes place in northern China and rice is only eaten in southern China. Noodles made from wheat was the mainstay of the Chinese diet in the north. Later in the film it appears Gladys takes a serving of rice from a large pot, and lastly on the journey with the children they come across some uncooked rice which Gladys picks it up.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gladys Aylward: My name is Gladys Aylward. I've written to the head of the missionary society. His reply stated that he'd see me if I ever came to London. If he's busy, I can wait.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1 (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

THE CHILDREN'S MARCHING SONG (THIS OLD MAN)

The One Who Loves People

In the 30's, the working-class Englishwoman Gladys Aylward (Ingrid Bergman) leaves Liverpool and arrives in London, trying to join the China Missionary Society expecting to be sent to China. However, having only ordinary schooling, her request is turned down due to her lack of qualification to the position. Gladys works hard as a maid and uses all her savings and salaries to buy a train ticket to Tientsin. Then she travels by mule to the remote province of Wangcheng, where she works with the Englishwoman Jeannie Lawson (Athene Seyler) and the Chinese cook Yang (Peter Chong) in the Inn of the Sixth Happiness. When Ms. Lawson has an accident and dies, Gladys has no money to run the establishment and accepts the position of "foot inspector" offered by the Mandarin Hsien Chang (Robert Donat). She is assigned to visit the countryside to promote and enforce the government's law against foot binding Chinese girls. She is successful, changes her nationality to Chinese and her name to Jen-ai (meaning "the one who loves people"), surprising the skeptical bi-racial Captain Lin Nan (Curt Jurgens). When Wangcheng is invaded by the Japanese, Jen-ai travels through the mountains with one hundred children to save them from death.

"The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" is a wonderful and engaging epic based on the true story of the enlightened Gladys Aylward. Her biography romanticized by Hollywood is awesome, and the movie is fantastic. Ingrid Bergman is stunning in the role of a servant in a period of class struggle in London determined to go to China where she believes she belongs and has a mission from God to be accomplished. The colors and the landscapes are impressive, but the cast of Ingrid Bergman as a woman not gorgeous; Curt Jurgens as a Chinese-Caucasian; and Robert Donat as a Chinese is weird, but they have perfect performances and I believe that is what matters in a film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Morada da Sexta Felicidade" ("The Inn of the Sixth Happiness")