Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
by Henry King
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Actor: Isobel Elsom, Jennifer Jones, Murray Matheson, Torin Thatcher, William HoldenDirector: Henry King
Cinematographer: Leon Shamroy
Editor: William Reynolds
Producer: Buddy Adler
Writer: Han Suyin
Writer: John Patrick
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 4.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 4.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.55:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
DVD Review: Magic
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie has been panned as melodramatic and not very deep when it comes to talk about Communist China. There are also complaints about Jennifer Jones not being good in the part. It's this last criticism that I find most strange. In the 50's no less, she portrays a beautiful and complex woman with an independent life she never even hints at giving up for love. It's perfect. The love story is romantic but not unrealistic--what I mean by that is the people had just fallen in love and people really do act like that during the first meeing of two souls. The music is wonderful, the architecture and costumes beautiful. It's just magic and well worth having. Ok, women are going to like it better than men. I also think the comments on communism have actually grown more relevant over time. They are not silly. I don't think the movie is dated, it portrays a love story with complexity yet maintains a simple enough story to make it easy to just concentrate on love of life.DVD Review: "We shall now have tea and speak of absurdities."
Summary: 3 Stars
That line never fails to make me laugh when I hear it within the context of an intentionally dramatic scene in this atmospheric 1955 romantic sudser that was a big hit in its day thanks to the familiar Sammy Fain theme song. At the same time, the somewhat patronizing Orientalism of that line represents much of the arm's-length approach the film has in reflecting the U.S. attitude toward China in the 1950's. Viewed by today's standards, the result feels emotionally simplistic like a more thoughtful Harlequin romance novel, even though the production values are first-rate. However, the bigger problem with the film is the unfortunate lack of chemistry between the two leads, Jennifer Jones and William Holden. Their characters' romance never quite resonates, and the pacing is not helped by Henry King's lugubrious direction.
Set against the backdrop of the 1949 Communist Revolution, Han Suyin, a Eurasian doctor in Hong Kong falls for Mark Elliott, a married war correspondent. The film focuses on their somewhat illicit love story at a time when a relationship between a half-Chinese, half-European woman and an American was considered as forbidden as the inevitable adultery. The racism and culture clashes between East and West take up much of the storyline with the lovers surrounded by English colonialists thriving on the class distinctions left over from the Victorian era, and by her equally traditional Chinese relatives who shun the imprint being left by the Europeans. The film benefits immensely from the use of actual Hong Kong locations with the cinematography by Leon Shamroy and Charles G. Clark providing a textbook example of how to create the right atmosphere given the exotic locations.
Because of her Svengali-like relationship and eventual marriage to mega-producer David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind), Jones had an interesting array of roles during her career. She can be appealing in the right role (Portrait of Jennie, Beat the Devil), but she never quite brings this conflicted character to life. Burdened with trying to look and act Chinese, she comes across as stiff and often actressy, although she improves as the story moves along. As Mark, Holden is wasted in a relatively colorless role given that he was at his career peak at the time, and despite his expressions of enduring love, he can't seem to create the desperately needed sparks with Jones like he did with Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly. Even with all its flaws, the movie is still worthwhile to see for its lush production and for the surprisingly robust set of extras on the 2003 DVD with a commentary track provided by film historian Sylvia Stoddard, UCLA film scholar John Burlingame, and cinematographer Michael Lonzo. Stoddard and Burlingame fill in a lot of the interesting details on the life of the real Han Suyin, while Lonzo's comments are limited to the technical details of the CinemaScope production.
DVD Review: A True Movie Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is a must see for anyone who is a fan of classic love stories.DVD Review: Much clearer than my old VHS copy
Summary: 5 Stars
My copy of this movie was very old and the new and enhansed version much better and clearer with good color.DVD Review: Surprizingly Well Kept For It's Time!
Summary: 4 Stars
I remember watching this film with my mom on a weekday afternoon as a kid and wondering why she was crying at the end. It seemed boring as a kid watching it. But as my taste for movies advanced, so did the understading of this film. I took a chance on this film again and was pretty touched by it. It's a carefully patterned film with one of my favorite actors. William Holden is a true romantic leading man. He would get another shot on a similar project, "The World of Susie Wong." The casting of Jennifer Jones was satisfactory as she plays her part very well, although it loses it's luster as she is not asian. But it's the backdrop of Hong Kong and the beautifully photographed landscape that impressed me the most, epecially the unforgetable musical score that surrounds the couple. Though the film does seem tame compared to the chick-flix nowadays. But I'll take this film over any of the others currently being made. As for the familiar tune, you'll have it in your head all day. Recommended for those who long for the good old days of film.
Description of Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
Newsman Mark Elliott is an American war correspondent temporarily staying in Hong Kong during the Korean War. While there he meets and pursues a beautiful Eurasian Doctor. But when they begin to fall in love, their friends and families pressure them to stop the cross cultural relationship.This love story made in 1955 and set against the backdrop of war is a many-splendored thing: it features a drop-dead gorgeous Eurasian doctor seeking meaning in her life (Jennifer Jones), a dashing but married American war correspondent who's macho yet not afraid to declare his love (William Holden), and a couple of murky subplots to give their relationship its oh-what's-going-to-happen-next edge (her Chinese heritage, his wife, the outbreak of the Korean War). One scene builds beautifully upon the next, accompanied by dialogue that often sounds like poetry: "I will make no mistakes in the name of loneliness," the doctor says near the beginning of their relationship. The movie also makes few mistakes as it combines thoughtful words with Oscar-winning costumes to tell its tale. It even leaves you with a hummable tune--the Academy Award-winning title song--as you reach for the Kleenex. --Valerie J. Nelson
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