Fashion style & beauty tips for women over 40

Thursday 1 March 2012

Iconic film: The world of Suzie Wong (1960)


Esta semana os quiero recomendar una película que sólo he visto una vez en televisión y considero una pequeña joya: El Mundo de Suzie Wong (1960), película inspirada en el libro homónimo que Richard Mason escribió en 1957.

Dirigida por Richard Quine (La pícara soltera, Un extraño en mi vida, Como matar a la propia esposa) y protagonizada por Nancy Kwan,  William Holden y Sylvia Syms, narra la historia de Robert Lomax (Holden) un aspirante a artista que decide vivir un año en Hong Kong para comprobar si realmente puede vivir sólo de la pintura.  Puesto que sus recursos son limitados, busca habitación en el distrito de Wan Chi donde se concentran las prostitutas y los delincuentes callejeros pero el alquiler es realmente barato por lo que no le importa. En el hotel donde vive conoce a Suzie Wong  (Kwan) una prostituta de la que se enamora perdidamente.  Esta relación produce un choque de culturas que da lugar a situaciones de lo más variopinto. A eso se le añade el hecho de que Kay O’Neill (Sylvia Syms) la hija de un rico banquero se enamora a su vez de Lomax e insiste en ayudarle en su nueva aventura como pintor.   

La recreación del Hong  Kong de los años 60  es realmente espectacular y las tomas de los exteriores que aparecen al principio fueron filmadas realmente en el Hong Kong de la época. La dirección artística corrió a cargo de John Box (Doctor Zhivago, El Gran Gatsby) mientras que el diseño de vestuario fue obra de Phyllis Dalton (Doctor Zhivago, La Princesa Prometida).

Dalton vistió a Nancy Kwan con diseños característicos de la época (llamados qi-pao) en colores sólidos, con un corte que se ajustaba a las curvas de su cuerpo como un guante y le aportaba un aire extremadamente sensual. En el lado opuesto está  Sylvia Syms. Su personaje representa una dama de buena familia por lo que su vestuario es una mezcla de trajes prácticos para el trabajo y elegantes vestidos de noche en colores pastel (¡tan de moda esta temporada!).  

Siento que el post tenga tantas fotos (y de mala calidad) pero es muy difícil encontrar buen material de películas antiguas por eso cuando lo encuentro… ¡vale la pena enseñarlo todo!

¿Conocíais la película chicas?
¡Ánimo que ya es jueves!


This week I want to suggest you a film that I’ve only seen once in TV and I consider a little gem: The World of Suzie Wong (1960), inspired in the book of the same title by Richard Mason (1957)

Directed by Richard Quine (Sex and the Single Girl, Strangers when we met, How to murder your wife)  and starred by Nancy Kwan, William Holden and Sylvia Syms it tells the story of Robert Lomax (Holden) an aspiring artist who relocates in Hong Kong for a year to see if he can make a living as a painter. Due to his limited financial resources, he founds a room in the Wan Chi district where the prostitutes and common criminals live. In the hotel where he’s staying he meets Suzie Wong (Kwan) a prostitute whom he falls in love with. This relation provokes a cultural shock that causes funny situations. In addition, Kay O'Neill (Sylvia Syms) the daughter of a very rich banker also falls in  love with Lomax and she insists in helping him with the selling of his paintings.

The recreation of the Hong Kong of the 60’s is simply amazing and the first scenes of the film were really shot in the Hong Kong of the time. The artistic direction was in charge of John Box (Doctor Zhivago, The Great Gatsby) while the wardrobe design was Phillys Dalton’s doing (Doctor Zhivago, The Princess Bride).

Dalton dressed Nancy Kwan with typical dresses of the time (aka qi-pao) in bold colors and a cut that fitted her body like a glove giving her a very sensual appearance. On the flip side of the coin,  Sylvia Syms character represents the wealthy lady of a good family so her wardrobe is full of practical day dresses and elegant night gowns in pastel tones (the ones that are so in vogue right now!)     

I’m sorry for the long post (and bad quality of the pictures) but it is so difficult to find good material of classic films that when I find it… I think is really worth it to show it all!!

Did you know that film ladies?
Come on, it is Thursday already!!





This is the ferry where they first meet


The interior of the club where Suzie works



This lavender qi-pao is one of my favourites






She reminds me to Audrey Hepburn in this B/W outfit!!


That's the only "occidental" costume she wears in the whole film


Kay's lace and silk dress is a dream...



The interior of Robert's room
 
In my opinion this is one of the best moments of the film: the cha-cha dance...


All pictures courtesy of Sweet Sunday Mornings
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7 comments

  1. Hola!
    Tienes un blog muy atractivo, enhorabuena. Ya tienes una seguidora más. Pásate por nuestro blog, estoy segura de que encuentras algo interesante.
    Un bs, que tengas un feliz jueves.

    http://www.villarrazo.com/behindthestyling/

    ReplyDelete
  2. No conocía esta película, pero la tendré en cuenta, tiene muy buena pinta...
    Qué vestidos más monos!!!
    Bss

    ReplyDelete
  3. wonderful images!! why don't we follow each other??

    lachambrefiore.blogspot.com

    kisses
    Fiore

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  4. I've actually never seen this movie! I've heard of it and I do like the costumes! I would love to have a custom made qi-pao one day, I'm definitely going to have one made when I go back to Asia.....someday!

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  5. Hello Sweetie, you asked if you can share the photos from my post. I don't see any problem but these images do not belong to me . I have copied them from lovelyritablog.com. To be onest I didn't ask about permission but I always try to specify on the description where the image came from. So I did this time too. Kisses
    http://aprettylife13.blogspot.com/

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  6. Hello, I have a small question, that maybe sounds funny to you ... but maybe you could provide some thoughts or ideas: I like the colourful lamp in Roberts Room (the one over the bed). I tried to figure out what it is made of and how it is made ... it looks a little bit as if he wiped his paintbrushs off:-) I would love to buy a replica but I guess it doesn't exist, so i would love to try making one by myself. But for this I would need a closer shot of it from different sides. Could you probably help me with that?!
    Best regards (sorry for my bad english, it's not my motherlanguage!).

    ReplyDelete

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