Editing Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (film)

{{Short description|1955 film by Henry King}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
| image          = Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing.jpg
| caption        = Original film poster
| director       = [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]]
| producer       = [[Buddy Adler]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[A Many-Splendoured Thing]]''<br>1952 book|[[Han Suyin]]}}
| screenplay     = [[John Patrick (dramatist)|John Patrick]]
| starring       = [[Jennifer Jones]]<br>[[William Holden]]
| music          = [[Alfred Newman (composer)|Alfred Newman]]<br>[[Sammy Fain]] title song
| cinematography = [[Leon Shamroy]]
| editing        = [[William Reynolds (film editor)|William H. Reynolds]]
| distributor    = [[20th Century Fox|Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation]]
| released       = {{Film date|1955|8|18}}
| runtime        = 102 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1.78 million<ref>Solomon, Aubrey. ''Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-4244-1}}. p. 249</ref>
| gross          = $4 million (US and Canada rentals)<ref name=AllTime>{{cite news|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=All-Time Film Rental Champs|date=October 15, 1990|page=M170|first=Lawrence|last=Cohn}}</ref>
}}

'''''Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing''''' is a 1955 [[Deluxe Entertainment Services Group|Deluxe color]] American [[drama film|drama]]-[[romance film]] in [[CinemaScope]]. Set in 1949–50 in [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter Mark Elliot (played by [[William Holden]]), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from [[China]], Han Suyin (played by [[Jennifer Jones]]), only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong society.

The film was adapted by [[John Patrick (dramatist)|John Patrick]] from the 1952 [[autobiographical novel]] ''[[A Many-Splendoured Thing]]'' by [[Han Suyin]]. The film was directed by [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]].

The film later inspired a television soap opera in 1967, though [[Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (TV series)|without the hyphen in the show's title]].

==Plot==
A widowed Eurasian doctor Han Suyin (Jones) falls in love with a married-but-separated American correspondent Mark Elliott (Holden) in Hong Kong, during the period of [[Chinese Civil War|China's Civil War]] in the late 1940s. Although they find brief happiness together, she is ostracized by the greater Chinese community. After losing her position at the hospital, Suyin and her adopted daughter go to live with a friend while Mark is on an assignment during the [[Korean War]]. They write to each other constantly. She receives word that Mark was killed and she goes to visit their favorite hilltop meeting place. In his last letter, which she receives that same day, he reminds her to be grateful, no matter what happens to him, because they got to experience “that many-splendored thing” which many people never do.

==Cast==
[[File:Jennifer Jones in Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing trailer.jpg|thumb|[[Jennifer Jones]] as Dr. Han Suyin]]
* [[William Holden]] as Mark Elliott
* [[Jennifer Jones]] as Dr. Han Suyin
* [[Torin Thatcher]] as Humphrey Palmer-Jones
* [[Isobel Elsom]] as Adeline Palmer-Jones
* [[Murray Matheson]] as Dr. John Keith
* [[Virginia Gregg]] as Anne Richards
* [[Richard Loo]] as Robert Hung
* [[Soo Yong]] as Nora Hung
* [[Philip Ahn]] as Third Uncle
* [[Jorja Curtright]] as Suzanne
* [[Donna Martell]] as Suchen, Suyin's sister
* [[James Hong]] (uncredited)
* [[Keye Luke]] (uncredited)
* [[J. Cabin Joe]] (uncredited)

==Production==
The rights to the novel were bought by [[David Brown (producer)|David Brown]] of 20th Century Fox for the producer [[Sol C. Siegel]].<ref>Epstein. Page 317.</ref> However, when he left the company the project was given to [[Buddy Adler]]. The screenplay struggled to get [[Motion Picture Production Code]] approval because of its themes of adultery and [[miscegenation]].<ref>{{AFI film|id=51570}}</ref>

Parts of the film were shot on location in [[Hong Kong]] by second-unit director [[Otto Lang (film producer)|Otto Lang]], which was unusual for its time. Two weeks of location filming in Hong Kong had been completed before the final screenplay had been finished by screenwriter John Patrick. He then had to adapt the screenplay to include as many of the shots as possible.

Despite the film's romantic subject and their chemistry on the screen, Holden and Jones could barely stand each other on set. Holden was turned off by Jones's obsessive involvement with her character and complaints about her makeup (which she said made her "look old"), about her costumes and about her dialogue. Soon, they were barely speaking to one another. According to Holden's biography, Jones was also generally rude and abrasive to everyone involved in the production.<ref name="holden">{{cite book|author=Michelangelo Capua|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uMp6ACb74UkC&q=Jennifer+Jones+holden+love+is+a+splendored&pg=PA88|title=William Holden: A Biography|publisher=McFarland|year=2009|pages=87–90|isbn=9780786444403}}</ref>
Their relationship was also not helped by Jones's worries about Holden's reputation as a womanizer. Holden claimed that she chewed garlic before her love scenes, which she may have done to discourage him.<ref>Epstein. Page 321.</ref> Once, Holden tried to make peace, offering Jones a bouquet of white roses, which she tossed back in his face.

The film was completed on time, within the planned three-months schedule. Indonesian director, [[J. Cabin Joe]], made an uncredited role in the film where he appeared along with Holden.{{Sfn|Biran|1979|p=101}}

===Locations===
[[File:41A Conduit Road Hongkong.jpg|thumb|The Foreign Correspondents' Club, then located at 41A [[Conduit Road]], is portrayed in the film as a hospital. The building was demolished in the late 1960s.]]
* The former Mok residence located at 41A [[Conduit Road]] became the [[Foreign Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong|Foreign Correspondents' Club]] in 1951. In the film it is portrayed as a hospital. The building is now demolished and Realty Gardens apartment complex has occupied the site since 1970.<ref>[http://www.fcchk.org/about-club/history-fcc Foreign Correspondents' Club - History - 41A Conduit Road] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517114847/http://www.fcchk.org/about-club/history-fcc |date=2014-05-17 }}</ref>
* The former colonial-style Repulse Bay Hotel, demolished in 1982, and now the site of [[The Repulse Bay]] apartment building.<ref name="building history">{{cite web|url=http://www.therepulsebay.com/ |title=The Repulse Bay's website - History |publisher=Therepulsebay.com |access-date=2013-02-10}}</ref>
* The Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, now part of the [[Jumbo Kingdom]].<ref name="stuff">{{cite web |url=http://orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/tai-pak-floating-restaurant-aberdeen/ |title=Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff: "Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen |publisher=Orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com |date=2009-09-10 |access-date=2013-02-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005070525/http://orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/tai-pak-floating-restaurant-aberdeen/ |archive-date=2012-10-05 }}</ref>
* The famous hill-top meeting place where the lovers used to meet was filmed in rural California at Fox Ranch Malibu, and the backdrop was filmed in Repulse Bay, Hong Kong.

==Reception==
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' characterized it as "beautiful, absorbing."

The film earned rentals of $4 million in the United States of America and Canada.<ref name=AllTime/>

In Ireland and the Canadian province of Quebec, local censors did not like the suggestions of divorce and cut the film to make it appear that Holden was single.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=1|date=January 18, 1956|access-date=August 25, 2019|title=Censor Changes Plot|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/variety201-1956-01#page/n598/mode/1up|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="8"| [[28th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Motion Picture]]
| [[Buddy Adler]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="8"| <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1956 |title=The 28th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 20, 2011 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706094007/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/28th-winners.html |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> <br> <ref>{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/30350/Love-Is-a-Many-Splendored-Thing/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115172554/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/30350/Love-Is-a-Many-Splendored-Thing/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-01-15 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2008 |title=NY Times: Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing |access-date=2008-12-22}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| [[Jennifer Jones]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction – Color]]
| Art Direction: [[Lyle R. Wheeler]] and [[George Davis (art director)|George Davis]]; <br> Set Decoration: [[Walter M. Scott]] and [[Jack Stubbs]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography – Color]]
| [[Leon Shamroy]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design – Color]]
| [[Charles LeMaire]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture]]
| [[Alfred Newman (composer)|Alfred Newman]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Song]]
| "[[Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (song)|Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing]]" <br> Music by [[Sammy Fain]]; <br> Lyrics by [[Paul Francis Webster]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound Recording]]
| [[Carlton W. Faulkner]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[13th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| Best Film Promoting International Understanding
| [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]]
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldenglobes.com/film/love-is-a-many-splendored-thing/ |title=Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[1955 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| Jennifer Jones
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1955 |title=1955 New York Film Critics Circle Awards |publisher=[[New York Film Critics Circle]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Photoplay#The Photoplay Magazine Medal of Honor|Photoplay Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Gold Medal
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|}

* In 2002, the film ranked #85 on [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions|AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions]].<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions100.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624052654/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions100.pdf |archive-date=June 24, 2016 |access-date=August 20, 2016 |publisher=American Film Institute}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
{{Further|Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (song)}}
The music was commissioned from [[Sammy Fain]] and [[Paul Francis Webster]] as background music. It was extensively developed and woven into the film's orchestral score by [[Alfred Newman (composer)|Alfred Newman]] and his choral director [[Ken Darby]]. To make it eligible for the Best Original Song category of the Academy Awards lyrics were subsequently added.  The original lyrics were rejected by the studio so new ones were written.<ref>Epstein. Page 322.</ref> The resulting sentimental and upbeat song, "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" was one of the first songs written for a&nbsp;movie to reach No. 1 in the charts in the same year.

The song was subsequently recorded by [[The Four Aces]] and also by [[Jerry Vale]], [[Nat King Cole]], [[Danny Williams (singer)|Danny Williams]], and [[Frank Sinatra]], among others. Italian-language versions were recorded by [[Nancy Cuomo]], [[Neil Sedaka]], and [[Connie Francis]]. Francis also recorded the song with its original English lyrics, and a German-language version, ''Sag, weißt du denn, was Liebe ist''.

The song's lyrics relate:

{{poemquote|Love is nature's way of giving
a reason to be living,
The golden crown that makes a man a king.}}

During the film, charged romantic moments occur on a high grassy, windswept hill in [[Hong Kong]]. In the bittersweet final scene on the hilltop, the song (heard on the sound track) recalls the earlier encounters:

{{poemquote|Once on a high and windy hill,
In the morning mist, Two lovers kissed,
And the world stood still.}}

The theme song won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song#1950s|Academy Award for Best Song]], and the recording by The Four Aces went to [[Number-one hits of 1955 (United States)|#1 on the charts for three weeks in 1955]], shortly before [[rock and roll]] became a dominant force on the charts. Newman's orchestral score, which made heavy use of Fain's tune, also received an Oscar.

[[Varèse Sarabande]] made the complete original soundtrack available on compact disc in 2002, limiting the pressing to 2,000 copies.

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1955]]
* [[List of films set in Hong Kong]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last = Epstein | first = Edward Z. | title = Portrait of Jennifer Jones | location = New York | publisher = Simon & Schuster | year = 1995 | type = Hardback | isbn = 0-671-74056-3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/portraitofjennif00epst}}
* {{Cite book
 |title=Apa Siapa Orang Film Indonesia 1926–1978
 |trans-title=What and Who: Film Figures in Indonesia, 1926–1978
 |year=1979
 |oclc=6655859
 |publisher=Sinematek Indonesia
 |editor-last=Biran
 |editor-first=Misbach Yusa
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (film)}}
* {{IMDb title| id = 0048316 | title = Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|love_is_a_many_splendored_thing}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=81996}}
* {{AFI film|id=51570|title=Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing}}
* Song lyrics (of The Four Aces), webpage: [http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_four_aces/love_is_a_many_splendored_thing.html OldieLyrics-The_Four_Aces].
* [http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/35/3500490.pdf "Hong Kong as City/Imaginary in ''The World of Suzie Wong'', ''Love Is a Many Splendored Thing'', and ''Chinese Box''", by Thomas Y. T. Luk, The Chinese University of Hong Kong]

{{Henry King}}

[[Category:1955 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:1955 films]]
[[Category:20th Century Fox films]]
[[Category:CinemaScope films]]
[[Category:American romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Alfred Newman]]
[[Category:Films about interracial romance]]
[[Category:Films about journalists]]
[[Category:Films based on Chinese novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Henry King]]
[[Category:Films set in 1949]]
[[Category:Films set in 1950]]
[[Category:Films set in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award]]
[[Category:Korean War films]]
[[Category:Photoplay Awards film of the year winners]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic drama films]]