89 Days of Oscar Nominees – #47 – Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 89 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 1 Dec 2016 and The 89th Annual Oscars on 26 Feb 2017.

Here is my 47th review of the 89 chosen Films…

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“Our gorgeous lie did not even last the night.” – Han Suyin

Number of Times Seen – 1 (15 Jan 2017)

Brief Synopsis – In Hong Kong in 1950, a married American war correspondent falls in love with a local doctor who was recently widowed.

My Take on it – This is yet another film that I never even heard of before adding it to my list.

This was even more surprising to me because this film features William Holden, who I am a fan of his work.

Holden starred opposite Jennifer Jones in this film and their characters actually have an interesting kind of chemistry here because there are scenes that work and others which don’t at all work.

This probably had a lot to do with their disdain for one another (see trivia below) during the filming of this movie.

The story is somewhat interesting to watch, but it feels too generic and predictable the whole way through.

What was nice was the fact that they were able to give the characters a lot of different kinds of advice by the people around them whether they be friends, family or work colleagues.  This helped make things feel even more realistic because it isn’t the kind of situation where everyone would agree as to whether it’s for the best or not.

Unfortunately tho, on a whole, this film lacks enough heart to make us care for the characters and their situation and also the lack of the feeling of a realistic romance between the two main characters.

Bottom Line – Jones and Holden have interesting chemistry here because it doesn’t always work as it should.  Liked the story, but it feels like it was way too predictable and not original enough.  Liked how the characters kept getting so many different kinds of advice from their friends, family and colleagues which made that aspect feel more realistic. Unfortunately tho, on a whole, this film is lacking real heart and the feeling of a real romance between the characters.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Jennifer Jones reportedly chewed garlic cloves before her love scenes with William Holden, which may have been an effort to deter her notoriously womanizing co-star. Considering how badly they were getting along, Holden suspected that it was Jones’ attempt to annoy him. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy

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