The World of Suzie Wong

Long before "Pretty Woman", "Maid in Manhattan" and "In the Mood For Love" were dreamed up, we have this beautiful film from the fifties which is the meatiest of them all.

True the film is a bit long, but this does not detract from the general impression it gives to the spectator.

The dialogues are sublime, the technicolor is wonderful and both protagonists are very beaufiful actors. I saw this on TV and would dearly love to have it on DVD ( chance would be a fine thing !!! ) to have a better sound quality for the dialogues.

For pure unadulterated romance and passion, this film is hard to beat. One gets the impression that it was rather ahead of its time when it came out.

Lastly, those frightening landslide sequences close to the end are really impressive, and the "baby's funeral" also leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

A truly magnificent film, seemingly little known today, and which would gain from being made better known to the general public .......

AT LONG LAST I saw The World of Suzie Wong at my school library today. You just have to see it to believe it. It is a shame that it takes an outsider (Hollywood) to capture the exotic beauty of the old-time Hong Kong. (With Love Is a Many-splendored Thing as the forerunner) I have never seen Hong Kong photographed in a flattering yet realistic light. Nancy Kwan ignites the screen with such charm and grace which Asian actresses seriously lack today. All through the film I smile whenever I see her. I love her chemistry with William Holden..yet another favorite of mine...Hong Kong is blessed to be immortalized by this exquisite romance.

The setting is Hong Kong in the late fifties…

The film tells the story of a bittersweet love affair between an American architect who has decided to try painting and a wonderful Asian girl who uses with vigor and diligence her essentially dirty trade in a turmoil of mischievous fantasy…

Suzie Wong (Nancy Kwan), attracted to Robert Lomax (Holden), offers to be his "steady girlfriend," but a world-weary Lomax informs her that he has had enough of love and wants only to paint…

Paint he does, and the irresistible hooker, appointed as a model, appears in his work in a variety of poses… A compassionate Lomax suddenly realizes he loves her and takes her as his mistress…

There are comic moments in Richard Quine's movie concerning the lies Suzie relates to win the respect of her prostitute friends and her drunken admirer, Ben (Michael Wilding).

Nancy Kwan in her film's debut displays a large range of feelings, alternating hardness, affection, and affinity

Today there are many "chick flicks." The World of Suzie Wong is the quintessential "romance for guys."

There are two parallel themes in this film: 1) the "Pygmalion" theme, which was old when George Bernard Shaw's play first appeared in 1913. Pygmalion, in classical legend, was the king of Cyprus who fell in love with his own sculpture. Hence the theme of beginning with a raw material (in this case a woman of no great position or education) and to some degree transforming her into she whom you might adore.

Some may object to this theme carrying racist overtones, but in my view the reverse is true. The very fact that in this type of romantic union the protagonists are of unequal social position means that the man is attracted to the woman because of her human qualities, not because of any advantage she can provide to him in terms of social status or wealth. In fact, a man who loves such a woman is often looked down upon socially, which is present in this story. The object of Robert Lomax's love is Susie Wong for who she is as a woman and how she makes him feel, and he gladly, even cynically disregards the disparagements of those who do not approve.

2) Theme number two is the enchantment of the East. This is magic stuff for those so smitten, and once smitten, these is no cure. In this way, this wonderful story (novel and film) is understated. It is barely believable that Lomax's attraction to Suzie would start from nothing and grow so slowly to compelling strength. This mixture of desire and fascination is more likely to stormily seize a man's heart, but "Robert meets Suzie-falls crazy in love-marries Suzie" would make for a ten-minute film, and that just wouldn't do, would it?

It's also an interesting commentary on the film makers of the fifties that when they wanted to tell the story of interracial romance they had to attenuate the effect. Both Nancy Kwan and France Nguyen (in South Pacific) were of mixed parentage.

When a guy with Quixotic romantic notions (which Lomax clearly has, or he would not be in Hong Kong trying to paint professionally) beholds the lovlieness of a Nancy Kwan in those subtle, but oh, so sexy silk dresses (cheongsam in Cantonese, Qipao [shee pow] in Mandarin), he sees a vision of feminine loveliness he thought could only exist in the Platonic realm of the form. He sees perfection. He is enchanted. There is no cure save to have this woman for his own or death. This enchantment your humble correspondent knows first-hand, and therefore connects deeply with Robert and Suzie.

The World of Suzie Wong is so very romantic, and the themes explored here are enduring. I love the novel -- I love the film. I can't imagine anyone but William Holden playing Lomax. This role belongs to he.

I enjoyed the movie because I accepted it for what it was -- a love story between two PARTICULAR people. I did NOT see it as an allegory about East meets West, imperialism or feminism. To me it wasn't a documentary about interracial love. Thus, the title ("The World of Suzie Wong") is somewhat misleading. It isn't so much about the the world or Hong Kong, but about two individual people.

The Holden character was unique -- someone pushing 40, conventionally moral, unsure what would become of him professionally and geographically, suffered some bad romances in the past, couldn't afford to "keep" Suzie, and --though attracted to her-- couldn't bear the thought of her having to consort with other clients. Suzie had no other foreseeable job opportunities commensurate with what she could earn from prostitution. She created a fantasy personality/situation in her mind to deflect the grimness of her profession. As mentioned in the film, she was presented as particularly strikingly beautiful; for one thing, she was hailed as the prettiest girl in her hangout. For me they only had to prove things for themselves, not for the sociological things mentioned in the first paragraph.

I generally liked the movie -- quite a few interesting scenes scattered amongst the tedious parts.

Best part for me -- I loved that scene, near the end, with the burning of the paper models for a departed character, cried. At the very end of the scene, Holden asks her to whom he should address the "letter of introduction," which also was to be burned. She replies, "to whom it may concern." Wonderful. Worth staying through the whole movie.