Satan Never Sleeps * (1962, Clifton Webb, William Holden, France Nuyen, Athene Seyler) – Classic Movie Review 8124

Satan Never Sleeps…but you may. Director Leo McCarey bows out on a real low spot in 1962 with this gobsmackingly boring tale about two priests (Clifton Webb as Father Bovard, William Holden as Father O’Banion) who stay put when the communist Chinese invade and take over their remote Catholic mission outpost during the Chinese Civil War of 1949.

The movie seems interminable at 126 minutes. It is terribly long, ponderous and tedious, and McCarey handles it at snail’s pace, while good players Holden and Webb are completely at a loss in their roles. Based on the novel The China Story by Pearl Buck, it is well meant but, as so often in the movies, the way to hell is paved with good intentions.

France Nuyen also stars as Siu Lan, with Athene Seyler notable as Sister Agness. Also in the cast are Weaver Levy [Weaver Lee], Martin Benson, Edith Sharpe, Robert Lee, Marie Yang, Andy Ho, Burt Kwouk, Lin Chen, Ronald Adam and Noel Hood.

Satan Never Sleeps was also known as The Devil Never Sleeps in GB.

Satan Never Sleeps [The Devil Never Sleeps] is directed by Leo McCarey, runs 126 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Claude Binyon and Leo McCarey, based on the novel The China Story by Pearl Buck, is shot in colour and widescreen by Oswald Morris, is produced by Leo McCarey and is scored by Richard Rodney Bennett. It is shot in England and Wales, UK.

McCarey disliked working on the film so much that he quit five days before it was to wrap and his assistant, David W Orton, finished the shoot.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8124

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