Around 1960s, the "real Suzie Wong?", a Shanghai-born Japanese girl named Ms. Wong Yuet-lan filed a $500,000 lawsuit against author Richard Mason, Paramount Pictures, and the book's publishers, in a US court against the film company for copyright infringement, became a headline news in Hong Kong.
Ms. Wong Yuet-lan was interviewed by the Hong Kong Express News 快報 in February of 1964.
Her father was a Japanese officer. when she was 6 years old, went to Shanghai. Her mother and brothers were remained in Japan, and she was raised by a nurse. When she was 11, Japan surrendered, and her father committed suicide.
To make ends meet, she worked in a Shanghai factory. Later, she was lured into a brothel as a child prostitute who entertained guests but did not sleep with them.
In the 1950s, her "boss" took her to Hong Kong. She first worked in a factory, and later became a bartender at the Lucky Star Hotel in Wan Chai, took the name Suzie, but everyone called her "Suzie Wong".
At the Lucky Star Hotel, Suzie met Richard Mason, a journalist from UK who came to Hong Kong to collect writing materials. She even had a son with Richard.
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However, the legal dispute did not go to a full trial and was ultimately dropped.
Mason publicly disputed her claim, stating the character of Suzie Wong was a composite based on several different women he observed working in Hong Kong bars, rather than based on just one individual. He also noted that he chose the name Suzie simply because it sounded like a "good name".
The legal aftermath involved several specific details:
The Lawsuit: Wong Yuet-lan—who was 24 at the time—filed the suit in 1960s. She claimed to be the primary inspiration for the character and sought damages alongside an injunction against further distribution of both the novel and film.
The Author's Stance: Richard Mason adamantly disputed Wong's claims. He stated that his Suzie Wong was not based on a single individual, but was rather a composite of various bar girls he had observed while staying at the Luk Kwok Hotel in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong.
The Character Name: Mason said he merely "thought Suzie was a good name" and chose "Wong" to alliterate with the book's title.
He was a British novelist best known for his 1957 publication The World of Suzie Wong.
Born in Hale, near Manchester, he attended The Downs Malvern, a private boarding school, from September 1928 to 1933. He later attended St Marys School and Bryanston School (1933–36) in Dorset, and published articles in the local press and a film magazine between 1933 and 1938.
After working for the British Council, he served in the Royal Air Force from 1939 until 1944. Attached to the 14th Army as an intelligence officer, he was taught Japanese in a three-month crash course taken in India, to interrogate prisoners of war in India and Burma.
In 1948, he married the writer Anne Cumming, they separated in 1958 and were later divorced.
In the 1960s, he married his second wife Sarett Rudley, a television mystery writer best known for a number of Alfred Hitchcock Presents teleplays.
In the early 1970s, in Rome, where he met his third wife Margot Wolf in 1972.
He past away on 13 October 1997 in a New York hospital. He was 78 years old and had lived in Rome for nearly 40 years.
He is survived by his wife, Maggie, and two children, Theo and Jessica.
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The Lawsuit and Newspaper Interview 1964
Around 1960s, the "real Suzie Wong?", a Shanghai-born Japanese girl named Ms. Wong Yuet-lan filed a $500,000 lawsuit against author Richard Mason, Paramount Pictures, and the book's publishers, in a US court against the film company for copyright infringement, became a headline news in Hong Kong.
Ms. Wong Yuet-lan was interviewed by the Hong Kong Express News 快報 in February of 1964.
Her father was a Japanese officer. when she was 6 years old, went to Shanghai. Her mother and brothers were remained in Japan, and she was raised by a nurse. When she was 11, Japan surrendered, and her father committed suicide.
To make ends meet, she worked in a Shanghai factory. Later, she was lured into a brothel as a child prostitute who entertained guests but did not sleep with them.
In the 1950s, her "boss" took her to Hong Kong. She first worked in a factory, and later became a bartender at the Lucky Star Hotel in Wan Chai, took the name Suzie, but everyone called her "Suzie Wong".
At the Lucky Star Hotel, Suzie met Richard Mason, a journalist from UK who came to Hong Kong to collect writing materials. She even had a son with Richard.
========================
However, the legal dispute did not go to a full trial and was ultimately dropped.
Mason publicly disputed her claim, stating the character of Suzie Wong was a composite based on several different women he observed working in Hong Kong bars, rather than based on just one individual. He also noted that he chose the name Suzie simply because it sounded like a "good name".
The legal aftermath involved several specific details:
The Lawsuit: Wong Yuet-lan—who was 24 at the time—filed the suit in 1960s. She claimed to be the primary inspiration for the character and sought damages alongside an injunction against further distribution of both the novel and film.
The Author's Stance: Richard Mason adamantly disputed Wong's claims. He stated that his Suzie Wong was not based on a single individual, but was rather a composite of various bar girls he had observed while staying at the Luk Kwok Hotel in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong.
The Character Name: Mason said he merely "thought Suzie was a good name" and chose "Wong" to alliterate with the book's title.
Richard Mason (16 May 1919–13 October 1997)
He was a British novelist best known for his 1957 publication The World of Suzie Wong.
Born in Hale, near Manchester, he attended The Downs Malvern, a private boarding school, from September 1928 to 1933. He later attended St Marys School and Bryanston School (1933–36) in Dorset, and published articles in the local press and a film magazine between 1933 and 1938.
After working for the British Council, he served in the Royal Air Force from 1939 until 1944. Attached to the 14th Army as an intelligence officer, he was taught Japanese in a three-month crash course taken in India, to interrogate prisoners of war in India and Burma.
In 1948, he married the writer Anne Cumming, they separated in 1958 and were later divorced.
In the 1960s, he married his second wife Sarett Rudley, a television mystery writer best known for a number of Alfred Hitchcock Presents teleplays.
In the early 1970s, in Rome, where he met his third wife Margot Wolf in 1972.
He past away on 13 October 1997 in a New York hospital. He was 78 years old and had lived in Rome for nearly 40 years.
He is survived by his wife, Maggie, and two children, Theo and Jessica.