The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Details

Release year: 1958

Storyline

A tenacious British woman becomes a missionary and runs an inn for travelling merchants in China during the Japanese invasion and the tumultuous years leading up to the Second World War.

Top credits

Awards

0 wins & 1 nomination

Did you know

• This is the final film of Robert Donat, who died during its making. In the scene in which he is saying goodbye to Gladys as the elders prepare to take their leave of the city, he says, as though he was prophesying his death, "I fear we shall never see each other again."

• The real Gladys Aylward (1902-1970), born in London, was a former domestic turned missionary in China, best known for her work with children. She became a Chinese citizen in 1936. Four years later, despite being in ill health herself, she shepherded more than 100 children over the mountains to safety at the height of the Sino-Japanese war. In 1958, the year this film was released, she founded a children's home in Taiwan, which she continued to run until her death. Known in China as "Ai-weh-deh", or "Virtous One", she continues to be regarded as a national heroine.

• The real Gladys Aylward was reportedly embarrassed at the romantic part of the film. She did fall in love with a Chinese soldier, but they never married, and their affair was very brief.

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Technical specs

Sound mix

4-Track Stereo

Aspect ratio

2.35 : 1

Color

Color