Satan Never Sleeps

Satan Never Sleeps

DVD Cover
Directed by Leo McCarey
Produced by Leo McCarey
Screenplay by Claude Binyon
Story by Pearl S. Buck
Starring William Holden
Clifton Webb
France Nuyen
Athene Seyler
Martin Benson
Music by Richard Rodney Bennett
Cinematography Oswald Morris
Edited by Gordon Pilkington
Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Release dates
  • March 23, 1962 (1962-03-23) (United States)
Running time
 125 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2,885,000[1]

Satan Never Sleeps (also known as The Devil Never Sleeps) is a 1962 film directed by Leo McCarey, his final film, in which he returns to the religious themes of his classics Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945). It also is the final screen appearance of actor Clifton Webb.

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 (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 girl and impregnates her, but later abandons his political beliefs. In the end, the foursome flee to the border, but are pursued by Communist forces along the way.[2]

Plot

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 Siu Lan, 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.[3]

Cast

Production

The film was based on an original screenplay by Pearl S. Buck called China Story which had been sold to 20th Century Fox; her novel, Satan Never Sleeps, would come out in 1962. In 1950, Hal B. Wallis acquired it; then in 1960 it came to Leo McCarey. Father O'Banion was meant to die at the end but William Holden refused so the ending was changed. The movie was shot in England and Wales.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p. 253
  2. ↑ Bosley Crowther: Satan Never Sleeps (1962). The New York Times February 22, 1962.
  3. ↑ Overview for Satan Never Sleeps (1962) Turner Classic Movies.
  4. ↑ John Howard Reid (January 2006). Cinemascope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge. Lulu.com. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-4116-7188-1. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Nat Segaloff, Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors, Bear Manor Media 2013 p 195-200
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