As I've mentioned many times before, back in the days before Cable or even- gulp- DIGITAL Broadcasting , back when there were but THREE major television stations, ABC, NBC and CBS, channels used to sign off at the end of the day, and for most of the night, all you saw was a test pattern. But there was a temporary reprieve for newbie film buffs like me, in the form of “Nite-Owl Theater” and the like, where the TV stations would broadcast old Black and White films in the wee hours of the morning, usually between 12:30 to 3:00 in the morning!
There is something sort of magical about watching old movies late at night , wrapped up in a blanket, where you feel you’re the only person awake in the world. The vintage movies really come to life, and you almost feel transported to that earlier time. Those days of watching those late night movies still bring back fond memories!
Whenever I'd see a particularly impressionable movie that night, I'd always run to school the next day, gushing about the fine flick I'd just seen, and to this day one of my friends till remembers the day I came to class gushing about a movie called "The World of Suzie Wong" and, in particular, the hypnotically STUNNING beauty Nancy Kwan playing the title role!
"The World of Suzie Wong" was a 1960 film starring William Holden as an American architect named Robert Lomax taking time off from his regular job to see if he can make it as a painter, and what better place to try than the visually vibrant land of Hong Kong!
Wanting the most 'interesting" places to see and inspire him, he takes residence in a seedy loft above a bar where prostitutes meet their dates, woo them and take them upstairs for one-on-one time...A shabby lodging to be sure, but for an artist, so much to inspire him!
It's here that he meets the bewitchingly beautiful Suzie Wong- though it is not the first time!
He and Suzie had met briefly on the boat over where she had introduced herself as Mei Ling, the affluent daughter of a multi-millionaire Father. But seeing her in her actual element, she confesses that her Mei ling persona is just a fun thing she does on days off the separate herself from her real life.
The two continue living their lives, with Lomax attempting his art and Suzie working the crowds of sailors every evening. But a friendship of sorts inevitably grows between them and, when Robert decides to use Suzie herself as his muse, his career as an artist takes off and finds that he is truly and deeply in love with this outspoken, sassy and altogether brash young girl!
Oh MAN, I cannot TELL you the effect Nancy Kwan had on high-school me- with her perfect balance of bawdy sexiness and wide-eyed innocence, she completely captivated me and for MONTHS afterwards still had my head swimming!
Years later I'd see Nancy in a whole slew of films and shows, most notably Flower Drum Song and the Hippie Chick from the pilot of the first episode of Hawaii 5-O (!) and for years in the 80's she was most famous for her "Beauty Rejuvenating Pearl Cream Powder" adverts which ran during those same late nights I first fell in love with her!
PS: At the time, I had no idea this movie's cultural significance- I just thought it was a cute story with a cute girl. But reading up on The World of Suzie Wong years later, it seems this film made a huge impression on not only oriental flavor into 'modern" styles at the time (especially the cheongsam dress), but was perhaps even greater for the barriers that Nancy Kwan herself pulled down for the future asian actors and actresses that followed!
