- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
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4 out of 5
Ingrid Bergman's screen appeal was usually based on the vulnerability of her characters, so for her to present the tenacity and courage of Gladys Aylward, the domestic servant who set out to bring Christianity to the peasants of China, was a considerable challenge. It's a glamorised portrayal (and one with which Aylward was not completely satisfied), but it's also a gritty and completely sympathetic performance, backed by some exceptional support playing, notably from the indomitable Athene Seyler. In the last film of a distinguished career, Robert Donat is heartbreaking as a kindly mandarin, but the spirits are sent soaring by the final chorus of "Nick knack paddy wack".
Plot Summary
Romantic drama based on a true story, starring Ingrid Bergman and Curt Jurgens. Gladys Aylward, a young English servant girl, travels to China in the 1930s to carry the Christian creed to a country ravaged by war. With a fellow missionary, she rents an old house in the town of Wangcheng. There she meets Lin Nan, a Chinese Army officer.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Gladys Aylward
- Ingrid Bergman
- Captain Lin Nan
- Curt Jurgens
- Mandarin
- Robert Donat
- Sir Francis Jamison
- Ronald Squire
- Miss Thompson
- Noel Hood
- Mrs Lawson
- Athene Seyler
- Yang
- Peter Chong
- Mr Murfin
- Richard Wattis
- Li
- Burt Kwouk
Crew
- Director
- Mark Robson
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