Review of China Doll (1958) by Paul D — 15 May 2015

There is an epic movie somewhere in the script of China Doll, but audiences will never see it. The beginning of the film betrays the viewer. The film starts off smartly introducing the characters, their environment, and subsequent interactions.

China Doll (1958, Frank Borzage) is similar to Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955, Henry King) starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones, but is frankly better than that film as it contains a better opening and middle.

The end of the film is its downfall. Rushed, confusing, and clichéd Li Hua Li's single-mother character must navigate war-torn country with babe-in-arms (sounds like its been done before). Speaking of Li Hua Li, she is very good even in the most dreadful of scenes towards the film's end, but shines in the early portions of the film and she matches and out-performs seasoned leading-man Victor Mature in almost every scene.

When watching Victor Mature the viewer gets the sense that there is a good actor hiding under that crusty exterior, a good actor who doesn't seem challenged, but Li Hua Li brings Mature out of his haze.

The two leads work very well together and the audience must thank veteran director Frank Borzage for that accomplishment as he handled this type of material before. Also, it is interesting to note the inter-racial relationship between the white American male pilot and the female Asian domestic in a 1950s film.