Love is a Many - Splendored Thing ( film ) - wikipedia Love is a Many - Splendored Thing ( film ) Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing Original film poster Directed by Henry King Produced by Buddy Adler Written by John Patrick Based on A Many - Splendoured Thing 1952 book by Han Suyin Starring Jennifer Jones William Holden Music by Alfred Newman Sammy Fain title song Cinematography Leon Shamroy, ASC Edited by William H. Reynolds Distributed by Twentieth Century - Fox Film Corporation Release date August 18, 1955 ( 1955 - 08 - 18 ) Running time 102 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $1.78 million Box office $3 million ( US in 1955 ) Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing is a 1955 Deluxe color American drama - romance film in CinemaScope. Set in 1949 -- 50 in Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter Mark Elliot ( played by William Holden ), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor Han Suyin originally from China ( played by Jennifer Jones ), only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong society. The movie was adapted by John Patrick from the 1952 autobiographical novel A Many - Splendoured Thing by Han Suyin. The film was directed by Henry King. The movie later inspired a television soap opera in 1967, though without the hyphen in the show 's title. Contents 1 Summary 2 Cast 3 Production 3.1 Locations 4 Reception 4.1 Awards and honors 5 Soundtrack 6 See also 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 External links Summary A widowed Eurasian doctor Han Suyin ( Jones ) falls in love with a married - but - separated American correspondent Mark Elliott ( Holden ) in Hong Kong, during the period of China 's Civil War in the late 1940s. Although they briefly find happiness together, she is ostracized by the greater Chinese community. After losing her position at the hospital, Suyin and her adopted daughter go to live with a friend while Mark is on an assignment during the Korean War. They write to each other constantly. She receives word Mark was killed and she runs to visit their favorite hilltop meeting place. Cast Jennifer Jones as Dr. Han Suyin William Holden as Mark Elliott Jennifer Jones as Dr. Han Suyin Torin Thatcher as Humphrey Palmer - Jones Isobel Elsom as Adeline Palmer - Jones Murray Matheson as Dr. John Keith Virginia Gregg as Anne Richards Richard Loo as Robert Hung Soo Yong as Nora Hung Philip Ahn as Third Uncle Donna Martell as Suchen, Suyin 's sister Production The rights to the novel were bought by David Brown of 20th Century Fox for the producer Sol C. Siegel. However, when he left the company the project was given to Buddy Adler. Parts of the film were shot on location in Hong Kong, which was unusual for its time. Two weeks of location filming in Hong Kong had been completed before the final screenplay had been finished by screenwriter John Patrick. He then had to adapt the screenplay to include as many of the shots as possible. Despite the film 's romantic subject and their chemistry on the screen, Holden and Jones could barely stand each other on set. Holden was turned off by Jones ' obsessive involvement with her character and complaints about her makeup ( which she said made her `` look old '' ), about her costumes and about her dialogue. Soon they were barely speaking to one another. According to Holden 's biography, Jones was also generally rude and abrasive to everyone involved in the production. Their relationship was also not helped by Jones ' worries about Holden 's reputation as a womanizer. Holden claimed she chewed garlic before her love scenes, which she may have done to discourage him. Once, Holden tried to make peace, offering Jones a bouquet of white roses, which she tossed back in his face. The film was completed on time, within the planned three months schedule. Locations The Foreign Correspondents ' Club, then located at 41A Conduit Road, is portrayed in the film as a hospital. The building was demolished in the late 1960s. The former Mok residence located at 41A Conduit Road became the Foreign Correspondents ' Club in 1951. In the film it is portrayed as a hospital. The building is now demolished and Realty Gardens apartment complex has occupied the site since 1970. The former colonial - style Repulse Bay Hotel, demolished in 1982, and now the site of The Repulse Bay apartment building. The Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, now part of the Jumbo Kingdom. The famous hill - top meeting place where the lovers used to meet was located in rural California and not in Hong Kong. Reception Upon its initial release it made US $4 million in the United States of America. Variety characterized it as `` beautiful, absorbing. '' Awards and honors Awards Award Date of ceremony Recipients and nominees Result Academy Awards March 21, 1956 Best Picture Buddy Adler Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role Jennifer Jones Best Cinematography, Color Leon Shamroy Best Art Direction -- Set Decoration, Color Art Direction : Lyle R. Wheeler and George Davis ; Set Decoration : Walter M. Scott and Jack Stubbs Best Costume Design, Color Charles LeMaire Won Best Sound Recording Carlton W. Faulkner, Twentieth Century - Fox Sound Department Nominated Best Music, Original Song Music : Sammy Fain Lyrics : Paul Francis Webster For the song `` Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing '' Won Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Alfred Newman Soundtrack Further information : Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing ( song ) The music was initially commissioned from Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster as background music. It was extensively developed and woven into the film 's orchestral score by Alfred Newman and his choral director Ken Darby. To make it eligible for the Best Original Song category of the Academy Awards lyrics were subsequently added. The original lyrics were rejected by the studio so new ones were written. The resulting sentimental and upbeat song, `` Love is a Many - Splendored Thing '' was one of the first songs written for a movie to become no. 1 in the charts in the same year. The song was subsequently recorded by The Four Aces and also by Jerry Vale, Nat King Cole, Danny Williams, and Frank Sinatra, among others. Italian - language versions were recorded by Nancy Cuomo, Neil Sedaka, and Connie Francis. Francis also recorded the song with its original English lyrics, and a German - language version, Sag, weißt du denn, was Liebe ist. Here is a sample of the song 's lyrics : Love is nature 's way of giving a reason to be living, The golden crown that makes a man a king. In the film, charged romantic moments occur on a high grassy, windswept hill in Hong Kong. In the bittersweet final scene on the hilltop, the song ( heard on the sound track ) recalls the earlier encounters : Once on a high and windy hill, In the morning mist, Two lovers kissed, And the world stood still. The theme song won the Academy Award for Best Song, and the recording by The Four Aces went to # 1 on the charts for three weeks in 1955, shortly before rock and roll became a dominant force on the charts. See also List of American films of 1955 List of films set in Hong Kong References Jump up ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox : A Corporate and Financial History ( The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series ). Lanham, Maryland : Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8108 - 4244 - 1. p. 249 Jump up ^ ' The Top Box - Office Hits of 1955 ', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956 Jump up ^ Epstein. Page 317. Jump up ^ Michelangelo Capua ( 2009 ). William Holden : A Biography. McFarland. pp. 87 -- 90. ISBN 9780786444403. Jump up ^ Epstein. Page 321. Jump up ^ Foreign Correspondents ' Club - History - 41A Conduit Road Archived 2014 - 05 - 17 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` The Repulse Bay 's website - History ''. Therepulsebay.com. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 10. Jump up ^ `` Hong Kong ( & Macau ) Stuff : `` Tai Pak Floating Restaurant, Aberdeen ''. Orientalsweetlips.wordpress.com. 2009 - 09 - 10. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 10. Jump up ^ Epstein. Page 323. Jump up ^ `` The 28th Academy Awards ( 1956 ) Nominees and Winners ''. oscars.org. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 20. Jump up ^ `` NY Times : Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing ''. NY Times. Retrieved 2008 - 12 - 22. Jump up ^ Epstein. Page 322. Bibliography Epstein, Edward Z. ( 1995 ). Portrait of Jennifer Jones ( Hardback ). New York : Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0 - 671 - 74056 - 3. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing ( film ). Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing on IMDb Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing at Rotten Tomatoes Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing at AllMovie Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing at the TCM Movie Database Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing at the American Film Institute Catalog Song lyrics ( of The Four Aces ), webpage : OldieLyrics - The_Four_Aces. `` Hong Kong as City / Imaginary in The World of Suzie Wong, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and Chinese Box '', by Thomas Y.T. 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( 1941 ) Remember the Day ( 1941 ) The Black Swan ( 1942 ) The Song of Bernadette ( 1943 ) Wilson ( 1944 ) A Bell for Adano ( 1945 ) Margie ( 1946 ) Captain from Castile ( 1947 ) Deep Waters ( 1948 ) Prince of Foxes ( 1948 ) Twelve O'Clock High ( 1949 ) The Gunfighter ( 1950 ) I 'd Climb the Highest Mountain ( 1951 ) David and Bathsheba ( 1951 ) Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie ( 1952 ) The Snows of Kilimanjaro ( 1952 ) King of the Khyber Rifles ( 1953 ) Untamed ( 1955 ) Love Is a Many - Splendored Thing ( 1955 ) Carousel ( 1956 ) The Sun Also Rises ( 1957 ) The Bravados ( 1958 ) This Earth Is Mine ( 1959 ) Beloved Infidel ( 1959 ) Tender Is the Night ( 1962 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Love_Is_a_Many-Splendored_Thing_(film)&oldid=807751867 '' Categories : 1955 films English - language films 1950s drama films 20th Century Fox films American drama films American romantic drama films Film scores by Alfred Newman Films about interracial romance Films about journalists Films based on Chinese novels Films directed by Henry King Films set in 1949 Films set in 1950 Films set in Hong Kong Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award Korean War films American films Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Latina Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 29 October 2017, at 23 : 02. 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Question: who starred in love is a many splendored thing
Answer: William Holden