A small woman arrived in China in 1930, a Christian missionary from Great Britain. She had almost no money or possessions -- she had a deep faith in God. She did not speak Chinese -- she had a willing heart and mind to learn the ways and customs of the Shansi mountain people. Gladys learned all she could from her mentor Jeannie Lawson. Together they established the Inn of Eight Happinesses and began to tell the stories of Jesus to any muleteers who lodged there. Just as they were having success and Gladys was getting her bearings, Jeannie was gone. The small woman, they began calling her Ai-weh-deh, "the virtuous one," was on her own. Somehow her assertiveness, her audacity to speak out as a woman, didn't get her killed. She became the foot inspector, with authority to eliminate the practice of foot-binding in the area. She built relationships with leaders who could help her make a difference. She taught truth and saved lives. With global conflict reaching the boiling point of WWII, Japanese occupation threatened the survival of all remaining Chinese in the Shansi region. This woman's life was in grave danger, but so were the lives of the orphans she had taken in as her own. Gladys Aylward took it upon herself to transport over 100 children across the mountains, a perilous journey, to safety in Sian. He stated: “Up to a week ago we were making wonderful progress, but the recent bad weather has upset all our plans.” She is truly an inspiration - showing how persistence and not letting anything get in your way will get you your hearts desire. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" is a wonderful and engaging epic based on the true story of the enlightened Gladys Aylward. Her biography romanticized by Hollywood is awesome, and the movie is fantastic. Ingrid Bergman is stunning in the role of a servant in a period of class struggle in London determined to go to China where she believes she belongs and has a mission from God to be accomplished. The colors and the landscapes are impressive, but the cast of Ingrid Bergman as a woman not gorgeous; Curt Jurgens as a Chinese-Caucasian; and Robert Donat as a Chinese is weird, but they have perfect performances and I believe that is what matters in a film. My vote is nine. One of the children brought to the Snowdonia village was Perry Lee, now a 51-year-old housing manager.

This is a story of a real English woman (Gladys Aylward) who gave her life for the Chinese people as a missionary with surprisingly strong will. In 1958 after being refused entry to China by the Communists, she settled in Taiwan, opened an orphanage and worked there until she died in 1970. She is buried there.At first, the locals aren't thrilled to see her. After all, it's rural China circa 1932 and they are wary of foreigners. However, over time, her winning ways and bravery endear her to the people and she's accepted as one of them. This 'an interfering woman' not only ran the inn but was appointed foot inspector, ran a school, was a prison reformer and ultimately saved many children's lives when war with Japan broke out a few years later. One thing I didn't find out until years later was that our voices when we were singing had been dubbed over by Chinese kids from London because our accents sounded too Scouse." My daughter recently participated in a 4th grade living wax museum. The students chose a famous person to learn about and then presented information about what made this person special in history. If I were asked to do this right now, I would choose to represent Gladys Aylward and this would be my rough draft 20 second speech. *SPOILER ALERT* A sensitive and agreeable flm set in China during the Japanese invasion , concerning love , religion , battles and sacrifice . Superb interpretation marks this touching biography of China missionary Gladys Aylward , based on real events . Follwing her tumultuous life , wishes , fights , and love during previous years leading up to the Second World War . There are attractive incidents , adventures and perilous situations , such as in negotiating with incarcerated men who have started a prison riot , and with marauding bandits , among others . The highlight of the movie is her cross-crounty adventure as she leads a group of orphans , away from the war zone , as she goes across the mountains along with 100 children to save them from death , being mercilessly harassed and pursued by Japanese military . Ingrid Bergman is top-drawer as the obstinate and sweet missionary . While Robert Donat is especially excellent as a Mandarin Lord , and acceptable Curt Jurgens as a half Chinese/half Caucasian Chinese military officer who chose to live in China since he knew he would always be considered second-class in the western world . Furthermore , other notorious secondaries as Ronald Squire , Tsai Chin of Fumanchu series and Burt Kwouk of Blake Edwards' Pink Panther films.

Mr Kwouk is best known as Cato, the Chinese manservant of Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films, but Inn of the Sixth Happiness was the film that launched his career. She never married and became a parlour maid in West End houses before finding Christianity and becoming a missionary. The Wales Screen Commission's film manager for the region Richard Coombs said, "We're trying to link tourism and filming and show off to potential incoming film companies the range of film and television programmes that have been made here already." The film tells the story of how Gladys happily runs an inn at the town of Yang Cheng after being rejected as a missionary. Japan's invasion of China soon interrupts the life she has built, and Gladys finds herself leading a group of orphans to safety by embarking on a dangerous mountain journey with the help of Captain Lin Nan, played by Curt Jürgens.The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is based on the true story of Gladys Aylward, played by Bergman. Gladys was a British woman who became a missionary in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Ingrid Bergman said of Robert Donat after he died: “I think that not having worked for five years and having been an actor all his life, he was very happy that he had this film and that he was with people he knew loved him and with his own crowd again, that his last days were working days.” I'm sure if the film were remade today, we'd have real oriental players like Russell Wong for the Colonel and James Shigeta for the mandarin and maybe someone like Kate Winslet for Gladys Aylward. But would it be as good as this film? In 1940 she was wounded by Japanese soldiers before leading the children over the mountain. She was ejected from China when the Communists took over in the late 1940s. The children left first. The vans, lorries and buses went home. The casual goodbyes of constant travellers were said and the film makers slipped out of our lives.

A gold Buddha statue which features in the movie now stands proudly in the village of Portmeirion. Most of the child actors in the film were from Liverpool. The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness tells the story of Gladys Aylward, her fight to become a missionary in China and the events after her arrival. It is a moving, inspirational and wholesome tale of determination, charity, endurance and love, told in a typical 1950's Hollywood style. My parents would refer to this type of movie as a "Sunday afternoon matinee". The story is a good one, deserves to be told and Gladys was an amazing woman. During this period, China was experiencing some of the biggest cultural shifts and changes in its history and Gladys was a big part of it. Called Wang Cheng, it is being built by 20th Century Fox for the film “ The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.” Shooting will begin after Whitsun and during the holiday Ingrid Bergman, Curt Jurgens, and other stars of the production and hundreds of Chinese extras will travel on location to the Beddgelert area. Two brothers from Beddgelert, Harry and Robert Williams, both of whom are stonemasons, are doing specialised work on the walls at Peh Chu. A Chinese fort was built at Nantmor near Beddgelert, and a Chinese village appeared on the terraced working of an old copper mine near Beddgelert.Some four miles from Nantmor, too, in the Sygyn Fawr, a disused copper mine, a Chinese village called Peh Chu is coming to life. Here a temple, a market place, a village square and ornamental gates will be put up and to give the scene a real true-to-nature touch, ditches have been opened up and small ponds made.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is a 1958 20th Century Fox film based on the true story of Gladys Aylward, a tenacious British woman, who became a missionary in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Directed by Mark Robson, who received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director, the film stars Ingrid Bergman as Aylward and Curt Jürgens as her love interest, Captain Lin Nan, a Chinese Army officer with a Dutch father. Robert Donat, who played the mandarin of the town in which Aylward lived, died before the film was released. The musical score was composed and conducted by Malcolm Arnold. The cinematography was by Freddie Young. Fairly good transfer from book to screen. Ms. Bergman brings vitality to the portrayal, if not a bit showier than I would expect Ms. Aylward to have been. I suppose there's more interest in that posture than accomplishing in a more self-effacing manner. While Ms. Aylward developed strength and leadership ability, I can't see her being so much the center of attention. One of her gifts was the ability to promote others and involve them in her vision. The film Inn of the Sixth Happiness starred Ingrid Bergman as real-life heroine Gladys Aylward, who led 100 orphans across the mountains of war-torn China in 1940. Initially an "outsider" she gains acceptance by the people and the Mandrian where she settles and when war comes she leads an incredible march of over 100 orphans over mountains to safety.

Rate And Review

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) is a prime example of the movie industry taking a factual story involving real people and historical incidents and giving it the full ‘Hollywood’ treatment; an exercise in convolution that upset many individuals, not least of all Gladys Aylward, the lady about whose work in China it purports to represent. 20 th Century Fox rented space at MGM British Studios in Borehamwood for interior shots, and location scenes were filmed in North Wales. Most of the children were Chinese children from Liverpool, home to one of the oldest Chinese communities in Europe. After watching The Inn of the Sixth Happiness I wanted to read the book upon which it was based. As is so often the case, it was much better than the movie it begat. She soon inherits the whole mission when Athene Sayler dies. And she supports it by working as a foot inspector for the local mandarin. In those days of the twenties among other things the Kuomintang government was trying to do was undo the Chinese custom of footbinding females at a young age so they would have petite feet. It met with a lot of local resistance, but she proves up to the task. So the years passed. Sometimes Gladys did not see the Davieses for months at a time, for it was a long journey from Yangcheng, and her work took her out mainly to the lonelier regions. That she left a mark in those places there is little doubt; even today, if one walked through some of those isolated villages, the songs the men and women would be singing as they worked in the fields would be Christian hymns. She made many converts amongst them and Christianity altered the lives of those who embraced it completely. (108) Numerous books, short stories, and films have been developed about the life and work of Gladys Aylward.