Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing -- 生死戀



Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 film from 20th Century Fox. The movie stars William Holden and Jennifer Jones.

After the communist take over China, a widowed doctor with a Chinese father and European mother is relocated to Hong Kong. There she is introduced to an American journalist, Mark Elliot. The journalist is relentless in his quest to woo Doctor Han Suyin. At first, Han is reluctant to due to her Eurasian background, fearing for discrimination they would face as a couple. But love was meant to be and they become a couple. However, Mark is still married, but separated from his wife in Singapore. Will it work out between these 2 star crossed lovers?

I recently saw this movie on the Fox Movie Channel. I probably missed the first 20% of the movie. But when I noticed it being based in Hong Kong, I stopped to watch. And as I watched, the movie started to make sense. I was thinking the whole time that this is a film in the 50s. 50s! And the subject matter is one that is still discussed with passion these days. However, mixed race marriage are commonplace now, it still has its detractors. I was blown away and couldn't stop watching. The movie was hard to figure out. I didn't know if the set was Hong Kong or the Los Angeles Chinatown. In the end, I think it was mostly made in the states with montages of HK.

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