Review of The World of Suzie Wong (1960) by Marilee A — 15 Aug 2010

In certain ways even better than the similarly-themed "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" (also starring Holden), which five-years-earlier delivered 20thCentury Fox a box-office smash that Paramount is here trying to replicate via a 'looking-glass' strategy.

As opposed to Splendored's well-educated, well-bred, reserved Chinese medical doctor as Holden's love interest, Suzie Wong's a entirely different type of 'professional' - clever, proud, good-natured, trying to save face while bootstrapping herself out of poverty one client at a time.

And while Fox played it straight-down-the-line installing a proven 30ish Caucasian female actress as lead (barely made Chinese on-screen), Paramount had the courage/insight to field a then-unknown 20-year-old Asian (Nancy Kwan) who delivered an endearing and career-best performance right out-of-the-gate.

And here Holden's a starving artist, not a successful journalist.

Spendored leans heavy on outstandingly lush mid-Century Hong Kong cinematography to engage viewers, while going lighter on character development. In this film, on the other hand, Holden and Kwan deliver much deeper. Viewers quickly develop strong empathy/interest in both characters; the sets shine mostly because these two stand within them.

Though there's good gandering at Hong Kong via establishing/external shots, Wong's moreso built around set pieces from MGM's London lot.

Further, Wong's a more light-hearted dramatic romance - both Holden and the audience enjoy being the disengaged viewers of the shenanigans inside the brothel where Holden's rooming - whereas Splendored's drama is far more undiluted and heavy-handed.

Widescreen; Technicolor. From a 1957 novel by British writer Richard Mason, inspired by his own residency within the once-infamous Wan Chai district of Hong Kong.

RECOMMENDATION: Suzie Wong's the absolutely perfect double-bill/bookend to Splendored; though the two films differ in certain respects, viewers enjoying one will undoubtedly enjoy the other. See 'em both.