Satan Never Sleeps

Satan Never Sleeps is the final film by great director Leo McCarey, whose finest hour was probably the fondly-remembered Going My Way. This is almost a remake of Going My Way in many ways, but back in 1962 when the film was released it was savaged by critics who found it vulgar, cliche-ridden and boring. When I first saw the film in 1993, I was pleasantly surprised by it. The performances are good, the story maintains a reasonable level of interest, and it is shot colourfully. The film is certainly overlong and some of the characters are painted in too broad strokes, but apart from that the critics were unfairly unkind to the film.

Father O'Banion (William Holden) and Father Bovard (Clifton Webb) are a couple of Catholic priests running a remote mission post in China in 1949. O'Banion has recently befriended a young Chinese woman Siu Lan (France Nuyen), but she makes him feel uncomfortable by frequently flirting with him and hinting that she would like to share his bed. Communist forces move into the area and damage the priests' chapel. To add to their woes, Siu Lan is raped and impregnated, and the Communist forces order the public execution of all Christians in the region. Ultimately, they have to flee for safety, pursued by Communist soldiers.

The film was actually filmed in England and Wales, but only occasionally does the lack of authentic location lensing show. Holden gives a decent performance and Webb, though miscast, is entertaining to watch as his older companion. Nuyen strikes the right balance as the flirtatious native girl. The worst performance comes from Weaver Lee, as a Chinese communist colonel - his character is written as a caricature rather than a realistic person, and he just can't get across a convincing reading of the role. On the whole, Satan Never Sleeps is an engrossing, diverting way to pass a couple of hours - certainly not the mega bomb that the critics would have you believe.

While typical of the films of the 1950's in its style and perhaps anti communist profiling, it never the less gives us an insight into the total brutality that the communist showed towards the catholic church and for that matter any religion that wasn't ordained by chairman mao. One could almost imagine the actions of this film even today as the communist in china continue to maintain their stance of brutality against the catholic faith. this could be because so far the Holy See remains the one and only government to recogine the sovereign rights of Taiwan. As for the relationship between the woman and the priest I aggree that this is rather simplified and does leave one wondering exactly how old she would have been and if perhaps she suffered from some form of mild social retardation.

William Holden and Clifton Webb star in "Satan Never Sleeps," a 1962 drama also starring France Nuyen. It's directed by Leo McCarey - it's his last film.

The story concerns a priest, Father O'Banion (William Holden) who comes to a mission in China to relieve an elderly priest, Father Bovard (Clifton Webb). A young girl, Siu Lan (Nuyen) is in love with O'Banion and has followed him. The Communists seize the mission, and the leader rapes Siu Lan, who becomes pregnant. The priests have to make an effort to flee China before it becomes too late.

Beautiful scenery is the highlight of this rather slow-moving story, as well as the beauty of young France Nuyen, who plays her part very well. Clifton Webb, as usual, does an excellent job as a tired old priest who is seeing his efforts at Christianity being rubbed out by the Communists, the leader being one of the boys he taught. Holden makes a handsome priest, but let's face it, there was never really anything very priestly about William Holden. One can never imagine such a man being celibate, which is probably why Siu Lan was following him all over the place.

There is a major personality change toward the end of this movie that really renders it foolish - not that such a thing couldn't happen, but not in that short period of time.

"Satan Never Sleeps" is not up to the standards of Leo McCarey, whose 43-year-career included "The Awful Truth," "Bells of St. Mary's" and "Going My Way." There are some good scenes, though, and the actors are likable.

Passably entertaining, but often unconvincing, silly, and down-right hokey, Leo McCarey's film of Pearl S. Buck's original screenplay "China Story," "Satan Never Sleeps" takes place during the Communist takeover of China in the late 1940's. Possibly seeking to replicate his success with the Oscar-winning "Going My Way," McCarey tackles the story of a younger priest sent to relieve an aging priest at a remote Chinese mission. However, the charming conflict between Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald is beyond the reach of William Holden and Clifton Webb. Although Webb, in his final screen role, is quite good as crusty Father Bovard, Holden as Father O'Banion is uneven, and neither actor benefits from France Nuyen's annoying presence. The French-Vietnamese Nuyen's Siu Lan, a young Chinese girl with an obsession for Holden, mugs and grins like a schoolgirl in a childish performance that undercuts the film's moral core. Not only does Siu Lan moon over a man obviously twice her age, but she ignores his priestly vows and even suggests he switch religions to attain her goal. The lack of candor between O'Banion and Bovard with regard to Siu Lan's intentions is puzzling, given that the elder priest would have been O'Banion's confessor, and the entire situation could have been cleared at the outset.

The script by Claude Binyon and McCarey himself simplifies Communism and the Chinese Civil War; rather than explore issues and motivations in historical context, the film uses blatant propaganda to paint a good-versus-evil, black-and-white portrait of the period. The propagandist approach was likely Buck's, because she had been refused entry to China during this period. Helming his last film, McCarey directs with a heavy hand and cannot decide between light comedy, tragedy, and political drama; the film abruptly weaves between various moods and succeeds at none. Although poor rear projection and obvious painted backdrops mark the image, Oswald Morris's impressive cinematography captures the Welsh locations that convincingly stand in for rural China.

Marred by a simplistic political backdrop, an unconvincing dynamic between the two priests, and a performance by France Nuyen that grates like fingernails on a blackboard, "Satan Never Sleeps" is not worthy to be the swan song of two cinematic talents: Leo McCarey and Clifton Webb. Both are better remembered for their classics from the 1930's and 1940's. While Holden survived the film to give some remarkable performances in the following decades, Nuyen was relegated to minor roles, principally in television series. Unfortunately, this film is not a high point on any participant's resume.

William Holden (looking disinterested) and fey Clifton Webb are priests in the 1940s serving at a Chinese mission and being terrorized by the Red Chinese Army. Holden is actually being terrorized in another way as well--by twinkling servant Frances Nuyen, who's anxious to snuggle up to the heavy-sighing Man of the Cloth. Director Leo McCarey helmed this adaptation of Pearl Buck's novel as either a comedy-drama or as a drama with a comedic undermining (I'm not sure which, as the tone of the film strays all over the place). There are Communist takeover sequences such as the crucifix thrown on the fire which should be harrowing, but McCarey directs it thoughtlessly, cartoonishly. We never really fear for Holden or Webb's safety because the direction is so dispassionate (and Holden is so laconic) that fear seems nearly unwarranted. I actually found the Nuyen-seducing-Holden scenes more tasteless than the violence, and the pat conclusion is tacked on for silly relief--but by then the viewer has no idea where to stand emotionally with "Satan Never Sleeps". It's a curiosity, but not a particularly good example of one. ** from ****