1955
| Director | Henry King |
| Producer | Buddy Adler |
| Production Company | 20th Century Fox |
| Release Date | August 18th, 1955 |
| Cast | William Holden (Mark Elliot), Jennifer Jones (Dr. Han Suyin), Torin Thatcher (Humphrey Palmer-Jones), Isobel Elsom (Adeline Palmer-Jones), Murray Matheson (Dr. John Keith), Virginia Gregg (Anne Richards), Richard Loo (Robert Hung), Soo Yong (Nora Hung), Philip Ahn (Third Uncle), Donna Martell (Suchen, Suyin’s Sister), Maria McClay (Rosie Wu – uncredited), Ashley Cowan, James Hong |
Mark Elliot (William Holden) plays an American reporter covering the Chinese civil war in 1949 Hong Kong. While undergoing a trial separation from his wife, he meets Dr. Han Suyin (Jennifer Jones), a widowed physician from mainland China. As they fall in love with each other they experience disapproval from both her family and his friends about their interracial romance.
The fact that this film touches on racial issues prevalent at the time, while at the same time employing the use of Yellow Face by picking Jennifer Jones to play Dr. Han Suyin creates an absurd sense of both approval of the film taking a rather progressive stance for the 1950s, and severe discomfort and sadness in the face of the reality of 1950s Hollywood, which would almost exclusively use white actors only for any lead and supporting roles, regardless of the characters’ ethnicities.
Maria had a minor uncredited role in this particular movie as Rosie Wu, the giggly and somewhat out of control date of a British sailor played by Ashley Cowan, whom she accompanies to the hospital for treatment by Dr. Han Suyin, after having bit him. Apparently this is something her character had done before as the doctor scolds her for doing it again despite telling her not to the last time around.
Scenes Featuring Maria
In order to view the video content for this post you must be logged in as a registered user of the site.