Dated, pointless and dull with one particularly fatal flaw; the leads have no chemistry. Jennifer Jones and William Holden are usually attractive and appealing, but they have no characters to play and their scenes together are dull, awkward and unpersuasive. The romance never ignites despite the ever present title tune. The dialog is too explanatory, the word Eurasian is used as insistently as the theme song and the supporting characters are waxworks. Jones and Holden keep going around and around the issue of their relationship with a great deal of running up to the hilltop and looking across the harbor. Filmed on location, the setting never really shapes or has any real effect on the story itself. Shockingly this banal film was nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture with film's score and song both winning. Films like this are made to promote understanding, but Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is more likely to promote a good night's sleep.
Review of Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
