7 Women (1966)

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Norah Lofts (short story "Chinese Finale")
Janet Green (writer) ...

Release Date:

24 March 1966 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A Story of Flame and Fury, Faith and Fear, Love and Adventure

Plot:

Legendary director John Ford's final film involving seven dedicated missionary women in China circa 1935 trying to protect themselves from the advances of a Mongolian barbaric warlord and his cut-throat gang of warriors.

Plot Keywords:

Mission | Missionary | Warlord | China | Sacrifice

Cast

Anne Bancroft	...	Dr. D.R. Cartwright
Sue Lyon	...	Emma Clark, Mission Staff
Margaret Leighton	...	Agatha Andrews, Head of Mission
Flora Robson	...	Miss Binns, Head of British Mission
Mildred Dunnock	...	Jane Argent, Andrews' Assistant
Betty Field	...	Mrs. Florrie Pether, Charles' pregnant wife
Anna Lee	...	Mrs. Russell, Mission Staff
Eddie Albert	...	Charles Pether, Mission Teacher
Mike Mazurki	...	Tunga Khan, Bandit Leader
Woody Strode	...	Lean Warrior
Jane Chang	...	Miss Ling, Mission Staff
Hans William Lee	...	Kim, Mission Staff
H.W. Gim	...	Coolie
Irene Tsu	...	Chinese Girl

Also Known As:

Chinese Finale (USA) (working title)
Seven Women (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:18 (f) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Originally titled "Chinese Finale" according to an M-G-M 40th anniversary short.

Quotes:

Dr. D.R. Cartwright: [to Tunga Khan, Bandit Leader] So long, ya bastard!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le fantôme d'Henri Langlois (2004)

A great swansong from Ford

I wonder what feminists feel about this film. I found this work to be a fascinating look at women by a male director that can compare with two other cinematic works: Paul Mazursky's "The Unmarried Woman" and Muzaffar Ali's "Umrao Jaan". Strong women, weak women, lesbians, and immature girls, are contrasted with cardboard male characters that are never fully developed and are obviously no match to the array of women portrayed in the film. The men are painted so negatively that one begins to wonder if Ford thought Asian men had more brawn than brain--a strange view that has gained currency in Hollywood cinema.

I applaud Ford's decision to cast Anne Bancroft in this role. This is one of her strong performances. She makes even the most vapid films look elegant with her roles ("Lipstick", "Little Nikita", to name just two). Ford develops her role "7 women" on the lines of a Western gunslinger--only there are no gunfights. The woman has a weapon: sex. That weapon can down all the bad guys faster than it takes to down Mexicans, Red Indians, rustlers, bank-robbers. In this film these bad men are Chinese/Mongolian thugs. Established thespians Dame Flora Robson and Margaret Leighton are totally eclipsed by Bancroft's riveting performance.

What Ford wanted I guess was to stun the viewer with the ending--the twist preceded by the gradual softening of the Bancroft in men's clothes to the Bancroft in women's clothes and the acceptance of male superiority. Most critics have found the end facile but I found the end was powerful as it makes you review and reconsider the strength of the lead character.

The film questions established views on religion; evidently Ford was old enough to have seen enough to choose to make this film in the evening of his life. In his films, Ford's women are as interesting as any other aspect of his cinema and this film provides ample fodder for those interested in studying this element of Ford's work.

However, for a 1966 film, the studio sets for the film look too artificial for the serious cinema the film offers. If anything, the film makes the viewer think!