The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness is a classic Ingrid Bergman flick based on the life of a missionary to China. At the beginning of the film you’ll see the intro: “This story is based upon the life of Gladys Aylward, a woman of our time, who was, and is dedicated to the simple, joyful and rare belief that we are all responsible for each other.” The producer was Buddy Adler. The movie was based on the novel, A Small Woman, by Alan Burgess. Music was composed and conducted by Malcolm Arnold.
The first scene is at the train station in London. Gladys gets off the train and goes to the office of Dr. Robinson. She asks to be sent to China as a missionary but is told she’s not qualified. He says there are too many hardships, filth, and squalor and that it would be “frightfully difficult” for her. She has no formal education; she works as a servant.
Dr. Robinson refers her to “Sir Frances” who has been an explorer. On the way to his home she stops in at a travel agency to ask the cost of fare to China. She’s told it is 90 pounds by boat, but that the Trans Siberian railway could take her there for only 41 pounds. The travel agent warns her it is a long, dangerous, difficult trip. She is not frightened because she feels a calling to go to China. She arranges to make payments, and takes on the housekeeping job as well as lots of extra work.
She starts “borrowing” Sir Frances’ books on China. When caught he forgives her and refers her to a friend of his, Jenny Lawson, who is a missionary in China.
Despite her lack of “qualification” she’s achieved her goal, saved money on her own, and made some friends. She’s seen off at the station by Mr. Murphy, the travel agent, Sir Frances, and the head housekeeper; they’re all very sad to see her go yet pleased that she’s going to live out her dream.
After an arduous and difficult train journey she arrives at Tientsin and leaves the city on a donkey heading for Jenny Lawson’s home in the Chinese wilderness town of Yangchen. Jenny Lawson is very welcoming, overjoyed to meet Gladys. She has recently purchased an old inn and is hoping to reach the heart of someone on a mule caravan, with her teachings about Jesus.
Yang is the cook. Though he’s been Jenny’s cook for twenty years, he still isn’t a Christian but stays with her because, he says, he thinks foreigners are funny.
Gladys goes out into the town and makes the mistake of touching a child. She is cursed and chased, then stupidly hides in a den for men only, then is taken to a place where a murderer is beheaded. She returns to the inn, traumatized. Jenny Lawson explains what she did wrong, and that the executed man was a murderer.
Jenny says, “It’s a hard life for a young woman, but it won’t seem hard when you’re my age and look back. It will only seem beautiful.”
The inn is named, “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness”. The five well-known happinesses are wealth, longevity, good health, virtue, and a peaceful death in old age. But what is the sixth happiness? “That you must find for yourself,” Jenny says. “Everyone decides for themselves.”
Soon the inn is opened although they haven’t been able to fully renovate it. Yang teaches Gladys to stand outside and say, “We have no bugs, we have no fleas, we have stories, come!” Eventually she’s able to grab some mules and coax a group of travelers into the inn’s courtyard.
About that time a man comes to town to speak the the Mandarin, the town’s governor. He is a uniformed public servant there to inform the Mandarin of a new law abolishing the practice of foot binding. When the Mandarin tries to hire foot inspectors they are all beaten by inhabitants of the little mountain villages surrounding Yangchen. Finally the Mandarin decides to hire Gladys as foot inspector because she is a woman, and won’t get beaten.
I don’t want to give a lot of spoilers so I won’t continue telling about everything that happened in this story. About 98% of it is totally based on the facts of Gladys Aylward’s life. She lived in China from about 1932 to 1945 when she had to leave for health reasons. She was very much loved by the people she lived among, and many of them became Christians because of her example of loving kindness and selfless service.
This movie is touching, at times amusing, and very much recommended. Ingrid Bergman’s performance, of course, was flawless.
Buy it at Amazon: The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
A documentary about the life of Gladys Aylward was released in 2008!
You can buy it at Amazon: Gladys Aylward: The Small Woman With A Great God
You can still find used copies of the Alan Burgess book about Gladys Aylward: The Small Woman (The Inn of the Sixth Happiness)
In 1980 Gladys Aylward’s autobiography was published: Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman
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