Themes: Members of the Clergy, Missionaries, Unrequited Love
Main Cast: William Holden, Clifton Webb, France Nuyen, Athene Seyler, Martin Benson
Release Year: 1962
Country: UK/US
Run Time: 125 minutes
Plot
Director Leo McCarey returned to the religious themes of his classics Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) for this action drama, his final film. William Holden stars as Father O'Banion, a Catholic priest assigned to relieve the retiring Father Bovard (Clifton Webb) at a mission in China. Along the way, O'Banion has unwittingly picked up a follower with a crush on him, Siu Lan (France Nuyen). The girl becomes the mission's cook, but before Bovard can depart, Mao's 1949 communist takeover begins. Red soldiers led by Chung Ren (Robert Lee) seize the mission as their local command center. Chung Ren rapes Siu Lan, impregnating her, while O'Banion is forced to watch. Unable to cross China's closed borders, both priests remain at the mission, ministering to the locals despite harassment by Chung Ren. Delighted by his son's birth, Chung Ren begins undergoing a change of heart. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Director Leo McCarey combined two of his favorite themes -- Catholicism and anti-Communism -- in Satan Never Sleeps, but what could have been an incisive and thoughtful commentary turns out to be overlong, oversimplified, and often ridiculous. The screenplay is certainly a primary culprit, being more interested in potboiler melodramatics than in believable dramatics, in stereotyped characters rather than living and breathing human beings. But McCarey's insistence on trying to add a layer of light Going My Way-style "church charm" over too much of the proceedings works against the heavy-going melodramatic flourishes at the story's core. Understandably, McCarey didn't have the option of shooting in China, but the locations chosen to substitute are poor, and the matte shots involving those locations are often inexcusably hokey. Fortunately, Satan does have the benefit of a talented cast that works very hard to make the film work. Clifton Webb is not ideally cast as a priest; his sophistication works against him, but his talent overcomes this obstacle. William Holden's innate appreciation of sensuality also is problematic; the script pays lip service to it, but never really comes to terms with it. Holden's sheer star power more than makes up for this problem, however. Weaver Lee and France Nuyen do very well with poorly written parts, and the supporting cast is generally fine. Overall, Satan Never Sleeps is unsatisfactory, but the cast keeps it afloat. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Weaver Lee - Ho San; Edith Sharpe - Sister Theresa; Robbie Lee - Chung Ren; Marie Yang - Ho San's mother; Andy Ho - Ho San's father; Burt Kwouk - Ah Wang; Lin Chen - Sister Mary; Anthony Chinn - Ho San's driver; Ronald Adam - Father Lemay; Noel Hood - Sister Justine; Eric Young - Junior Officer
Credit
John Hoesli - Art Director, Jim Jorahan - Art Director, Leo McCarey - Director, Gordon Pilkington - Editor, Richard Rodney Bennett - Composer (Music Score), Muir Mathieson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Harold Adamson - Songwriter, Leo McCarey - Songwriter, Harry Warren - Songwriter, George Frost - Makeup, Tom Morahan - Production Designer, Oswald Morris - Cinematographer, Leo McCarey - Producer, Jack Stephens - Set Designer, Claude Binyon - Screenwriter, Leo McCarey - Screenwriter, Pearl S. Buck - Book Author
Satan Never Sleeps (1962), a film directed by Leo McCarey (returning to the religious themes of his classics Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)), is his final film. It is about a priest, Father O'Banion (William Holden), who arrives at a mission-post in China accompanied by a young native girl, Siu Lan (France Nuyen), who has joined him along the way. His job is to relieve the incumbent priest Father Bovard (Clifton Webb), who is now too old and weak to continue with the upkeep of the church. However, Mao's 1949 Communist soldiers, who arrive at the mission before Bovard can depart, seize it as a command post. Their leader, Ho San (Weaver Lee), rapes the native girl and impregnates her, only later to realise that Communism is no good for him. In the end, the foursome flee to the border, but are pursued by Communist forces along the way.[1]
In 1949 Catholic priests O'Banion (William Holden) and Bovard (Clifton Webb) are constantly harassed by the Communist People's Party at their remote mission outpost in China. Adding to Father O'Banion's troubles is the mission's cook, Siu Lan (France Nuyen), an attractive Chinese girl who makes no secret of her love for him.
Under the leadership of Ho San (Weaver Lee), the Communists wreck the mission dispensary and desecrate the chapel. Ho San straps O'Banion to a chair and rapes Siu Lan; later, when she gives birth to a son, Ho San displays paternal pride but refuses to stop persecuting the priests.
Only after the villagers revolt and his superiors order the killing of all Christians, including his parents, does Ho San become convinced that Communism will never solve China's problems. He decides to smuggle Ho San , his son, and the two priests out of the compound, but their journey is halted within a few miles of freedom by a helicopter sent to prevent Ho San's defection. Before he can be restrained, the aged Father Bovard dons Ho San's military cap and coat and drives away in the colonel's car. He dies in a spray of bullets from the helicopter, but his sacrifice enables the others to escape. Later, at mission headquarters in Hong Kong, O'Banion officiates at the wedding of Siu Lan and Ho San and baptizes their child.[2]
