First a novel, then a successful play, THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG seems to have lost something on the screen, and the overuse of lush Hong Kong location footage couldn't have helped, or Richard Quine's direction, both of which contribute to the sluggish pace--at 126 minutes, it's a good 20 minutes overlong. It does look good, though, and the solid acting and scripting show the story's inherent potential. William Holden is good, as is Nancy Kwan--in a better film she would've had a tour de force.

The only reason I would recommend this film is for the abundance of footage of 1960 Hong Kong. If it were honest, this would be a dark, dark film. Lomax treats Suzie--an illiterate teenage prostitute--terribly at times, and she's vengeful and duplicitous, like literally every single woman in the film. It's a big mess, and the filmmakers have attempted to reshape that story into a charming romance. So that part--the movie part I mean--is sort of pathetic and gross.