Love is a Many-Splendored Thing

Based on the autobiographical novel by Han Suyin, Love is a Many Splendored Thing was evocatively location-filmed in Hong Kong. Jennifer Jones plays Ms. Suyin, a Eurasian doctor and the widow of a Chinese general. She falls in love with American news correspondent Mark Elliot (William Holden), who unfortunately cannot obtain a divorce from his present wife. This, together with the disapproval of Dr. Suyin's tradition-bound relatives and Hong Kong's strict racial laws, forces the couple to carry on their romance in a clandestine fashion. The romance ends in tragedy, but with renewed hope for a happier future. The one lasting legacy of Love is a Many Splendored Thing is its Oscar-winning title song, written by Paul Fain and Sammy Webster; Oscars also went to Alfred Newman's musical score and Charles LeMaire's costume design. — Hal Erickson

AMG Review: An immensely popular tearjerker, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing has dated very badly through the years, but it still holds great appeal for aficionados of good soap operas. As an over-the-top romantic melodrama, it's hard to beat, but those who are not prone to tearing up at the sight of a forlorn Jennifer Jones standing bravely and lonely atop a high, windy hill would be well advised to look elsewhere — and quickly. Love makes no attempt to disguise its soapiness, and it wears its manipulative nature right out on its sleeve — and that gets quite wearying after a while. Fortunately, Love has a couple of classic weeper performances from Jones and William Holden, both of whom knew just how to play this kind of material for maximum effectiveness. Even more fortunately, Love has all the gorgeous surface trappings — beautiful sets and scenery, gorgeous costumes, sumptuous photography, a sweepingly romantic score — that provide the real joy in films of this type. The title song is also still memorable, although nowadays it may evoke laughter more than passion and tears. Love is anything but a great film, but it's the kind of guilty pleasure that many find irresistible. — Craig Butler