Love is a many-splendored thing: film locations

Submitted by David on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 17:31

This film is set in Hong Kong, between 1949 and the start of the Korean War in 1950. It was filmed a few years later, and released in 1955.

As the opening credits roll, we're given an aerial view of Hong Kong Harbour. The camera starts above Green Island, then flies east along the harbour-front towards Central.

 

Then we move to street-level (02:00), following an ambulance along Queen's Road Central, past Central Market (02:13), then up until we arrive at the hospital.

The hospital

This is one of the main locations of the movie, as Dr Han Suyin, the female lead, works there.

Later we hear Suyin tell an old schoolmate: "I'm now a resident doctor here at the Victoria Hospital" (24:57). The view of the ambulance turning off the main road (02:28) does look similar to the area near the old Victoria Hospital, but when we see the building at 02:45, or from above at 42:15, it looks quite different from the photo I saw of the Victoria Hospital.

Does anyone know which building was used as the hospital for filming?

More locations to follow...

Further information:

Places shown in this film
Central Market (4th & current generation) [1938- ]
Green Island [????- ]
The Fairview, 41A Conduit Road (Former Mok Residence, later the FCC) [1911-c.1963]
Tai Pak floating restaurant, Aberdeen [c.1954- ]
Pottinger Street, steps up from Queen's Rd C. [????- ]
Kai Tak Airfield / Airport [????-????]
Arrowhead [1953-????]

Comments

Following the explanatory leads provided by prior posts made in this thread concerning the topic of the tree scene in the film "Love is a Many Splendored Thing", I contacted Brian Rooney who lives near the now named "Malibu Creek State Park" and is knowledgable regarding the history of what was once the named "The Fox Ranch". He approved the following account for Gwulo:

“Per research done by Los Angeles area film historians Mike Malone and Brian Rooney, the fabled tree from LMST existed in several places around Los Angeles, but never in Hong Kong. TCF studio records show that the crew sent to Hong Kong to shoot scenes with Holden and Jones did not include sound personal. They were shooting only secondary, non-dialogue scenes that music and effects would be added to later. While the scenes of actors walking up the steps is indeed HK Harbor, when the scene cuts to the grassy hill, you are in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu,  

Close ups of Holden and Jones and the tree were done on a soundstage at TCF. Watch the film closely and you’ll notice that they are not squinting in the close-ups meaning they are not outside. The light on their faces in the close-ups is noticeably better. This is far easier to achieve inside.

Wider scenes of Holden and Jones on the hill with the tree also include Brents Mountain at left – adjacent to 20th Century Fox Ranch near Malibu. It is very clear where the wide scenes were shot.

For fans of the film, there is no reason why a duplicate tree cannot be cast and placed in a scenic location above Hong Kong as a tourist destination. Fantasy can be made reality with a little work.”

So my dream of one day visiting that tree in Hong Kong with my wife appear dashed.

Bill McIntyre

 

Hi Bill,

Sorry that your dream is dashed, but it is interesting to get more detail about the actual tree. Thanks for posting it.

I was going to suggest it would be possible to visit the tree in Malibu, but I read that even that isn't possible:

However, some landmarks can be challenging to find. A massive oak tree visible in the background of Henry King's 1955 "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" puzzled the film historians. 

A careful search of the area where the film was believed to have been shot eventually turned up the tree's stump. Other areas have been subdivided and developed past recognition. 

From: http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/news/3812/new-book-of-archival-photos-sheds-light-on-malibu-filming-locations

Regards, David

I read an article in SCMP about Han Suyin's work and the film almost two decades ago. I don't remember much about the content, but I do remember the mention of 'Buxey Lodge', which has something to do with the mansion and the party scene. I guess the 'Buxey Lodge' refers to the present site along Conduit Road, and not the original one in Caine Road. Can anyone get to the archives of SCMP and track down that article?

I attended Island School in the old British Military Hospital on Bowen Road.  I haven't seen the film for s long time, but |I have always thought that the interior scenes of Jennifer Jones as a doctor were filmed in my old school building.  I also remember one scene outside the building which reinforced it in my mind.  I'll need to see it again I guess to be sure.

Being an avid oarsman for the Yacht Club, rowing through the 1980s, mainly in Deepwater Bay and through the gap to Repulse Bay, and having watched Love is a Many Splendored Thing many times I can confirm the two locations used in that area were indeed by the rocks (where they came out of the water from swimming) to the left of the rowing boat shed on middle island and the old house (where they sat drinking in the garden) that was perched on the east side of Deep Water Bay as you progress round towards the gap to Repulse Bay. Indeed another still from the film would show the hill of Ocean Park (without the Dragon or Cable Car!)

 

After a fair amount of searching I can reveal that the dinner party property was not Buxey Lodge but in fact the building that once stood on Block B of Po Shan Mansions. For the sake of clarity I gave it the address 10 Po Shan Road but I have no idea if this address is correct or was the one that was used (it may have gone by just a building name?).

 

I have always wondered where the tree and beach scenes were shot. I lived in Shouson Hill and susupected Deepwater Bay for the beach but the tree scene was so unlike Hong Kong I was puzzled. Plus the whole movie takes place on Victoria Island I wondered how the heck she got out in the middle of nowhere.

Here is another recent discovery that I feel is worthy of sharing. During the opening ambulance driving scene several areas are used to film the ambulance as it makes its way to the hospital. The scene starts on Queen's Road Central close to the junction with Hillier Street before moving to show the section running up to Central Market. Then we see this next shot below:

Pok Fu Lam Road
Pok Fu Lam Road, by Philk

Again, this has taken me some time but the availability of the online aerial photos from the mapping office has been crucial to me finding some of the more difficult locations on my blog. The image above is Pok Fu Lam Road where the bus terminus now stands. I know David will be interested in this view because he lived nearby for many years.

In the far distance you can Tai Mo Shan and below it Stonecutter's Island (which helped me narrow down the rough area) and if you look closely, I believe the white building at the back is the wing of the original Ricci Hall. Aerial images have confirmed this is the location.

So Pok Fu Lam Road was subsequently widened significantly and the bend was removed - at least as part of the road, because the bend still exists, it just forms the hill side of the bus terminus petrol station area now. The void to the left of the road was filled to create ground for the road widening and much of that space beyond is now occupied by Academic Terrace.

Great find - thanks for tracking this one down. It is an area I'm interested in, and this is the first time I've seen what it looked like before Pokfulam Road was straightened out.

I've combined a few more stills to give a wider view:

Pokfulam Road

 

Here's a 1958 map of the area:

1958 Map of Pokfulam / Pokfield Roads junction

 

The items I've marked are:

  • A - Single buildings where Hok Sze Terrace starts sloping downhill
  • B - Double buildings along the flat section of Hok Sze Terrace
  • C - Likely Ricci Hall in the distance, as Phil identified
  • D - This is much closer than C, and I think was the building at 101, Pokfulam Road
  • E - A platform on the map, which looked to be in use as a car park when the film was shot

There are a couple of items that don't match up:

  • F - A petrol station on the map isn't shown in the film
  • G - A substantial building with a pitched roof is shown in the film but not on the map - It's actually a retaining wall, see Phil's comment below.

I think the two differences are explained by the 4-5 year gap between the dates of the film and the map, during which the building G was demolished and the petrol station F was built.

I sat and looked at G for a long time and I believe it's not a building at all but rather the retaining wall for the large space E at the top. If you look closely there is a shadow/foliage on the part facing the camera which forms an angle, giving the impression of it being a pitched roof, but in fact its just a slope leading down from the wall at the top. If you look where you put the B on the map above you can see the two flat parts of it separated by the shaded slope.

Why was it designed this way? I have no idea but perhaps there was a geotechnical reason given the limited amount of space or perhaps the vertical distance between the platform (E) and the lower ground on that side of the road (i.e. had to build a seperate platform to support the retaining wall?). What makes me more curious is what E was originally intended for .

The absence of F could be explained by the fact that the camera doesn't include the far right area (where F would be) in frame. 

Hi Phil,

Other than the Lo Pan Temple, one building of the era on Ching Lin Terrace still stands today.   Someone is still iiving in it.

There are also two buildings in Tai Pak Terrace of the era that are also standing, but it is a boarded up construction site.  It appears some refurbushing was underway before it was stopped.  All windows were removed and most of the front and back walls are removed.  A steel stair case had been built linking up the floor but that's about it.

T

Came here from the mention of Sun Kin Kwok Studio, which also appears in this undated Cathay Pacific poster:

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/hong-kong-fly-there-by-ca…

The same location can be seen in photographic form in the book 香江情懷 光影百年（英文書名：A Hundred Year of Local Images, and you can also see the Chan Hung Wai Tailor signs in both the poster and photo:

https://books.google.com/books?id=xzdCEAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA238&ots=Rj1H4giv-R…

I was looking for the tree shot the other day and noticed moddsey's link is now broken. So here it is again. It's a good example showing how these shots were done - a combination of studio set and back projection. This film in particular had no sound recording during the Hong Kong location shoot and so all dialogue scenes were later shot on a sound stage like this back in the US.

classic films
classic films, by philk