Victor mature, was huge in the 1940s. This was filmed in 1957, and released in 1958, but mature tells us it's really 1943, at about 23 minutes in. Pilot cliff brandon (mature) wakes up from his hangover and finds that he has accidentally purchased a chinese girl, shu jen. Li li hua had started acting in the 1940s and worked for years in film, in china and the states. Roles for denver pyle, ward bond. Bond was best known for wonderful life and maltese falcon, but died quite young. Smallish role for danny chang. He was in hollywood for about ten years. It's good, but all the talk about cashing in on a soldier's life insurance made it sound a little cheap. I don't think they would have spoken that way during the war itself. Things were taken much more seriously, and patriotic. Shu jen and brandon make up and come to a an understanding. Fun song "suppose" at about 56 minutes, sung by steve (john desmond). And when shu jen is in the family way... brandon re-considers things. Which hollywood would have had to dance around, during the actual 1940s. It's pretty good. A bit silly, and sentimental, but oh, well. Directed by frank borzage. He had won two oscars way back when.
Review of China Doll
