- Fictionalised but effective biopic of a brave, tenacious humanitarian
- A blockbuster that brought global attention to a very worthy cause
- But quasi-historical epic presents Hollywoodised version of the facts
- Heroic Gladys Aylward resented its misrepresentation of her life and work
- Despite flaws, it remains an accomplished and highly moving entertainment
- Robert Donat’s final film is a wistful, knowing epitaph to his life and career
- His stereotyped role hasn’t dated well and would be cast differently today
- But his timeless performance becomes more poignant with passing years
UK quad poster by Stafford and Co.; see Suspicion
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Part 2: Home video and soundtrack
Contents
Plot
Skip this section if you haven’t seen the film!
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is director Mark Robson’s lush and sweeping adaptation of English missionary Gladys Aylward’s adventures and humanitarian deeds in China. No one is better suited to portray this dedicated, charming and sincere woman than the great Ingrid Bergman. Gladys Aylward is a young servant girl in northern England who has great expectations of being a missionary in China. The missionary service in London feels Gladys is not qualified for the arduous duties of a missionary in the Orient. But out of pity, they offer her a job as a domestic in the house of a China service veteran, Sir Francis. The old man is won over by Gladys’s charm and humility, and through his influence he arranges passage for her to a Chinese mission.
It is the torturous 1930s and Gladys arrives in a land devastated by political strife and foreign invasion where poverty, ignorance and cruelty are common facts of life. Arriving in Wangcheng she finds the elderly missionary, Mrs. Lawson (Athene Seyler), who is converting an old house into an inn where travelers can eat well, sleep comfortably and hear stories of the Gospel. Wangcheng is run by a powerful and aloof Mandarin (Robert Donat) who is hostile to the presence of the foreign women. A Chinese army officer, Lin Nan (Curt Jürgens), arrives to inform the Mandarin of new tax laws and the cessation of the custom of women binding their feet. As a subtle form of humiliation the skeptical leader appoints Gladys as the official foot inspector to enforce the new law, confident she will fall. To everyone’s surprise the Englishwoman succeeds in her assignment, even earning the respect of the wise Mandarin.
German poster
Mrs. Lawson passes away and with the energy and courage of Miss Aylward the inn becomes a great success. She learns the language and eventually becomes a Chinese citizen. The admiring locals soon call her “Jenai” which means “she who is well loved.” But desperate times are ahead. Lin Nan informs Gladys that the Japanese invaders are closing in and everyone must flee Wangcheng. During the ordeal of holding back the enemy, Lin Nan and Gladys fall in love. But the city can resist no longer and as the others prepare to leave, the ailing Mandarin, out of respect for “Jenai,” converts to Christianity.
Gladys leads a group of 100 orphan children on a perilous journey over rugged mountains to the safety of the southern provinces. It is the missionary’s determination that assures the journey’s success. The party is met with a hero’s welcome, led by the man from London who had, years ago, doubted Gladys’s ability as a missionary. Through harsh trial, Gladys Aylward becomes an accomplished humanitarian who now is supremely content in her adopted land and with the man she loves.
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness owes much to the tremendous appeal of an actress of Ingrid Bergman’s stature and quiet dignity. She always displays an air of maturity and sincerity, ideal qualities for portraying the spunky yet tender missionary. The distinguished Robert Donat is excellent as the proud but reasonable Chinese aristocrat. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is a testament to what individual resourcefulness and sensitivity in the service of humanity can accomplish despite seemingly impossible odds. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is complimented by superb production techniques. Master British cameraman Freddie Young and production designer John Box lend their considerable talents to creating an authentic atmosphere of the mysterious East. This was quite a feat as the movie was shot in Wales, since political obstacles in China at the time made on-location shooting impossible. – US CBS/Fox CED (1982)
Life | Sight and Sound | North Wales Live | Formosa Files
Production
US half sheet poster (alt/alt). Turns out grocers’ apostrophes aren’t a modern phenomenon. US one sheet, style Y; lobby cards/alt.
“Wonderfully moving and entertaining… Bergman is… infinitely touching.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Shortly after winning her Best Actress Oscar, Ingrid Bergman began filming this “spectacularly mounted, impressively acted and directed picture.” – Variety
What is the sixth happiness? Each of us must find it in our own hearts!
When English serving girl Gladys Aylward (Ingrid Bergman) is turned down to serve as a missionary in China, she decides to go anyway. After numerous hazards and escapes, she manages to arrive at her destination, the small, remote mountain town of Wangcheng. Working out of an old inn, Gladys soon meets Lin Nan (Curt Jürgens, The Spy Who Loved Me), a Eurasian officer in the Chinese army—and the local Mandarin (Robert Donat).
As the years pass, Gladys becomes a Chinese citizen, earning the trust and love of the natives as well as that of the Mandarins. But after Japanese planes bomb Wangcheng, the Mandarin orders Gladys to leave him and escort 100 orphans to a safe haven within China’s interior. With Lin Nan providing a map that will lead her around enemy lines. Gladys leads her caravan across precipitous trails, icy peaks and steep canyons, as she embarks on what will become the longest—and most important—journey of her life.
Swedish poster (alt)
Behind the scenes
Alan Burgess, a BBC announcer, was the first person to make the world aware of Gladys Aylward in a radio story. A British parlor maid, she used her own savings to go to China in 1930, where she worked as a missionary. It was her achievement in escorting a large number of children to safety over perilous terrain during the Japanese-Chinese War, however, that brought her to Burgess’s attention. A London publisher heard the radio story and engaged Burgess to write a book about it. The novel took seven years to research and write; it was published as The Small Woman. In November 1957, 20th Century Fox announced their plans to film The Small Woman with Mark Robson (Peyton Place) as director. To play Gladys Aylward, Robson approached an actress whose American film comeback in Fox’s Anastasia had earned her the 1956 Best Actress Oscar [accepted on her behalf by Cary Grant].
Robson: “I could only see Ingrid Bergman in the central role of the courageous, devoted woman. I was told there was no chance of obtaining her, that she had too many commitments for films in Europe. I went to Paris and managed to see Miss Bergman. I handed her the novel. She read the title, The Small Woman, and laughed. ‘Small me!’ she exclaimed. Nonetheless, she consented to read it. The next day she phoned me. She was enthusiastic. ‘It’s right for me,’ she said. ‘I’ll do it.'” For the key role of the Chinese Mandarin, Robson approached the great British actor Robert Donat. The 1939 Oscar-winner (Best Actor, Goodbye, Mr. Chips) was in rapidly declining health due to his lifelong battle against chronic asthma. Robson next flew to Formosa to discuss the project with the Nationalist government, but soon realized he’d have to film elsewhere. Robson: “I couldn’t resolve my problems with the Nationalist government; they submitted some 45 points and I overcame objections to 44 of them—I could not go along on eliminating reference to the foot-binding of women.”
Unknown and a not-small Ingrid Bergman on set
Other possible location sites proved equally problematic—Hong Kong was too built-up and modern. Singapore too lush and tropical; even the United States and Western Europe bore little resemblance to Northern China. It was only while browsing through a travel brochure that the director discovered Snowdonia, a rugged area in North Wales. It was here that Robson filmed his exteriors, recruiting 2,000 British citizens of Chinese heritage as extras. Interiors were lensed in the MGM studios at Elstree. Among the sets constructed there was a 300,000-square-foot Chinese city. It cost $250,000 and was publicized as the largest set ever built outside Hollywood. Prior to production, the project was retitled The Inn of the Sixth Happiness after an old Chinese wish for the five happinesses: virtue, tranquillity, wealth, position and a peaceful death. The sixth wish, created for the film, was “that one which each of us must find in his own heart.”
Filming began in England in March 1958, and proceeded without mishap. For Robert Donat, however, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness would be his last project. Performing his scenes with the aid of an oxygen tank, Donat passed away from emphysema one month after completing the film. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness had its American première on December 17, 1958, and earned Robson a 1958 Oscar nomination for Best Director. As for Gladys Aylward, she received half of novelist Burgess’s proceeds from the book and film. This selfless woman eventually opened an orphanage in Taiwan, where she died on January 3, 1970, after having devoted nearly thirty years of her life to the care and wellbeing of the Chinese people. – US Fox LD (1996)
Origins/endings
US first edition (source)
- The Small Woman/The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1957) – Alan Burgess | Italian | German | French | Spanish | Japanese
- Argo 2-cass abridged audiobook (1979) read by Ingrid Bergman (87:00)
Like The Magic Box before it, Robert Donat’s last film was also based on a biography, this time of Gladys Aylward, a determined missionary who throughout the 1930s and 1940s endured many travails to help countless, poor Chinese people, but especially women and children. Alan Burgess developed the book from his own 1949 radio dramatisation of her story, The Years of Trial, starring no less than Celia Johnson, which was much repeated before being partially adapted twice more. The latter of these was part of a tribute programme introduced by Ingrid Bergman following Aylward’s death in 1970.
- Ingrid Bergman: My Story (1980) – Bergman and Burgess | Italian | German | French | Spanish/new | Japanese
The entire project and all it stood for remained dear to the actress, who regretted narrowly missing out on meeting Aylward before she died but did attend a memorial in her honour. Bergman also befriended Burgess and they collaborated on her own 1980 autobiography. Just two years later, she bravely struggled to complete her final film, a biopic of recently deceased Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, in a manner mirroring the sad fate which befell her co-star in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.
“In the picture though not in the script: The genuine agony of Robert Donat’s final performance.” – Newsweek
However well-intended, the film of Aylward’s heroic exploits is no history lesson but plays fast and loose with the facts. Added to that, London studio sets and Welsh scenery had to suffice as stand-ins for the wilds of China, and there are many dated instances of yellowface, including the three male leads: Jürgens, Donat and Michael David. However, if you can overlook its flaws, taken on its own terms this is a very enjoyable and affecting drama that shone renewed if refracted light on a truly remarkable woman and gave us one final, precious performance from a clearly ailing Donat. As recounted by film restorer Robert Harris, who worked on the initial photochemical restorations of Rear Window and Vertigo:
“Cinematographer Freddie Young told me that not only was he one of the nicest people one was apt to work with, but also a consummate professional. During the production of Sixth Happiness, he pulled Freddie aside mid-shoot, warned him that things were not well with his health, and told him to make certain that he got everything that he needed from him for the film to be completed, and to cut together properly. Much like a similar situation with Spencer Tracy’s scenes for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Freddie worked with Mr. Donat to get his scenes from all necessary angles and shots, and had him released from set as early as possible. [Missing reverses used a double.]”
The film was a huge critical and commercial success, becoming one of the biggest worldwide box office draws of the year, and winning a hatful of awards and nominations for its director and stars. And dammit if the ending won’t get you cheering and tearing up every time.
Robert Donat, Ingrid Bergman and Curt Jürgens
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Part 2: Home video and soundtrack
Related articles
- Robert Donat Collectors Guide, Parts 1-5
- Robert Donat Collectors Guide: The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
- Robert Donat Collectors Guide: Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
- Alfred Hitchcock Collectors Guide: The 39 Steps (1935)
- Charters and Caldicott Collectors Guide
- Nova Pilbeam Collectors Guide
