Henry King and Otto Lang direct Jennifer Jones, William Holden and Torin Thatcher in this Hong Kong set romance based on the true story of a biracial doctor who finds neither the European or Chinese cultures accept her when she begins an affair with a married American journalist.

Tough one this. A very handsomely assembled big studio slice of orientalism. What must have felt like quite a progressive discourse on race at the time now feels utterly inept. The casting of Oklahoma born white bread Jones (who is very capable in the lead in every other respect) as a Eurasian completely fails to modern eyes. And considering this as a film where the protagonist’s racial status affects every interaction, story development and emotion… nah… it just can’t work.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Beat The Devil (1953)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/