Recommended Movie: The World of Suzie Wong

[yellowman]

Slightly off-topic movie recommendation: The World of Suzie Wong

see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054483/

This might be of great interest to those who admire Asian women for qualities other than their great beauty. This is not X rated. It is, however, pretty shocking for its era (1960). It is also charming, funny and surprisingly romantic, at least from a man's point of view. The woman is just beautiful, IMHO--in fact a few of them are. Judge for yourself. I mention this because while I'm sure some of you know this movie, I'll bet most have never heard of it. Trust me--check it out. I'll say this too: there are some highly memorable lines in this movie and probably some deeper lessons to be gained. If only a porn movie were ever made this well, it'd bring a new level of respectability and interest to to genre. Oh well, someday.

This will shock most people but for those not stuck in the obvious cliches of what kind of guy appreciates Asian women (you know what I mean), this movie will be very rewarding. Opinions from the group would be appreciated as there aren't many I can even talk to about this kind of thing without the tiresome knee jerk reactions.

[enemabandit]

The posts on this board never cease to amaze me. The world of Suzie Wong is one of my all time favorite movies. It is one of those movies that invokes feelings. Great movie

[Snowman]

This thread is the first time I have heard of this movie. I see it was released in 1960, which is before I was born. Here's a description of it from Video Universe:

This romantic drama deals with the love and interracial relationship between a struggling American artist (William Holden) and a beautiful Chinese prostitute (Nancy Kwan). Filmed on location in Hong Kong, this melodrama has become noted for its treatment of Asian stereotypes and interracial relationships, and provides a compelling story about the resolve of true emotion and love. An American painter living in Hong Kong gets caught up in the affairs of a local woman named Suzie Wong -- not realizing that she works as a prostitute. Suzie lies to him about her past and her present, desperately attempts to overcome his reluctance to sleep with her, and competes with the upper-class daughter of an American daughter for his affections. Despite all the deception, an unlikely romance eventually develops between the two. He suspects, however, that he does not know the entire truth about her. Ultimately, he does discover her secret -- but not before tragedy changes their lives forever. The film, "The World of Suzie Wong," is based on the stage play, which was adapted by Paul Osborn from the Richard Mason source novel.

Two customers gave it five out of five stars in mini-reviews ("an absolute classic") and it sounds like Paramount did a nice job with the transfer to DVD. I'm going to check this movie out. Now I am curious about it!

World of Suzie Wong DVD at Video Universe

P.S. -- I will probably move this thread to the "Mainstream Media" board soon since this film is not an adult title.

[yellowman]

Snowman,
I know it's slightly off-topic, but this movie will affect a lot of the readers of this forum. That's why I took a chance and brought it up here.

-Y

[ginko23]

Old Thread Back From The Dead.

Movie based on the book The World of Suzie Wong, 1957, written by Richard Mason.

Must read if you can find it.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by ginko23 Movie based on the book The World of Suzie Wong, 1957, written by Richard Mason. Must read if you can find it.

The World of Suzie Wong (Hardcover) at Amazon

The World of Suzie Wong (Softcover) at Amazon

"Daring and Different -- the unforgettable story of a bitter-sweet love affair that began in a Hong Kong brothel."

The book and movie both appear to have quite a following. Even the movie poster is available for purchase! From what I gather, the book departs somewhat from the movie. One reader on Amazon wrote this about it:

The book is very different than the movie. It is much more nuanced and descriptive of Hong Kong (and even British) society of the Fifties. Lomax is British in this book, not an architect or middle class, but rather an ex-pat who had worked in Malaya, and now wanted to paint. His romance with Suzie grows organically, and by the end of the novel, more truthful than the movie. That they end up living in Japan after time in racist England is so unexpected, but perfect... strangers in a strange land, to each other and to all around them, yet loving and supporting each other through life. Highly recommended - for the story, the ambience, social commentary and historical detail.

The book does get some good reviews. This person "0000_"0000" wrote:

The 'World of Suzie Wong' is essential reading for any expatriats in Hong Kong or China, especially if you are a male *wink wink*. Richard Mason does a good job of painting a portrait of 1950's Hong Kong while narrating his semi-autobiographical story of romance between a British artist and a Chinese waterfront whore. Mason's antagonist is unabashed about falling for a prostitute, and the honesty of his emotions (surely coming from Mason's own heart) is a breath of fresh air, for what man (expat or not) in China hasn't 1) slept with a hooker and 2) thought about "saving" her from her lifestyle. The downside to 'Suzie Wong' is that the story's main characters are a bit too romantic. Robert Lomax is unaturally sympathetic and overly compassionate towards his "dirty yum-yum girl," while Suzie is not the hardened and cold prostitute that she would be after sleeping with "over 2,000" sailors. Nevertheless, 'The World of Suzie Wong' is a fun, quick read with a couple unexpected twists and gives us an acurate and historical perspective of mid-twentieth century Wan Chai / Hong Kong.

And Bernard M. Patton "Book Worm" called it "great literature."

It's 44 years since Richard Mason's classic story made its entrance. Mason is still alive, living in Rome. Would he recognize Hong Kong? I doubt it. Today little remains of Mason's British Colony, the old Hong Kong, inhabited back in 1957 by Suzie, the pretty Wan Chai bar girl. Back in the 1950's Hong Kong was a small sleepy town. Traffic, if you believe Mason, as I do, was minimal and there were no back alleys with neon signs or red taxis charging exorbitant fares. The barefoot rickshaw drivers in harness to their two wheeled carts ran their cargoes of humans around town the hard way. Now the one driver left spends his time posing for tourist pictures and charging five Hong Kong dollars a shot. In Wan Chai the trams that Suzie took still work their way through the jammed streets that have their share of smoke filled pick up bars. One even bears the name Suzie Wong in honor of the character. The bars remain here but the girls are not Chinese. The girls come in from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. The old business of "No money, no talk" still holds, but the prices have gone up. The hostesses of modern times don't even know Suzie nor have they read the book. But they too would cheer her story, the way the hostesses of the 50's did, championing Suzie's cause to become "a respectable girl." The book was followed in 1958 by a succssful stage play that ran for two years on Broadway starring France Nuyen as Suzie and none other than Star Trek's William Shatner as Robert Lomax. In 1960 a popular film version was released starring Nancy Kwan and William Holden. In a way, the Suzie Wong story helped bring Hong Kong before the world's gaze and played a part in the popular recognition of the territory and in that way contributed to its development. If you want to have some fun, read the book and compare it to the film. You'll learn (again) that there is no substitute for literature, especially great literature created by a great writer.

Here's the one-sheet from the movie!

[ginko23]

Wow! Great work Snowman. I saw the movie first and that inspired me to read the book. It was out of print at the time (pre-Amazon era). Took me a year of searching before I found it in a used bookstore.

Anyone that had a romantic relationship with a young lady from one of the poverty stricken Asian countries will find it a good read and bring back old memories, good and bad. While it does not represent the bar scene of Hong Kong today, parallels can be made with Thailand and the Philippines today.

There are thousands of Asian women living in this country today that trace their roots to these circumstances. Most have children. I’m sure that the children of these women have their suspicions on what mom was and perhaps are confused and ashamed. I would recommend this book as a way to understand mom and dad. I disagree with the one reviewer about Suzie being hard-core after 2,000 men. This is a great love story and is great literature.

I had the pleasure of seeing “Miss Saigon” on Broadway. Closed Now. This is also highly recommended and has a similar theme.

Ginko

[ZowCowNow]

The first asian startlet that I lusted over was named Linda Wong. Could they have been sisters? LOL

[soicowboy]

soicowboy of course read this book ages ago
its a classic for anyone who has lived in south east asia
the line between hookers and friends can blurr very easly very quickly
you met her at the bar one night she came home with you and never says goodbye but just hangs out with you all day no matter what you do she tags along
well your in the world of suzie wong son
the movie changes a lot of the more interesting stuff

[ginko23]

Originally Posted by soicowboy you met her at the bar one night she came home with you and never says goodbye but just hangs out with you all day no matter what you do she tags along well your in the world of suzie wong son

You are a Master at "Orthography" Soi