While the film is entertaining enough, of more interest (dare I say fun?) was listening to the commentary about, not just the performers and the making of the film, but the feisty little pitbull (unlike the vulnerable, demure `milkmaid` Ingrid Bergman portrays) that was the REAL Gladys Aylward. Three Stars for the film. The FOURTH for, hopefully, inspiring people to research and discover the real story and the remarkable characters who lived it.

This is an interesting movie about the life of Gladys Aylward. The film depicts some things accurately such as Gladys's desire to serve in China and her struggle to become a missionary. However the romance depicted in the movie could have been left out. It does show what one can accomplish if you follow God even in the face of adversity.

Good except for the romance and historical inaccuracies (for the real story, read Gladys Aylward's The Little Woman).

This film is some 2hr 40 min long, and has many shortcomings. For example, the use of westerners to depict Chinese characters, and the plot was only 'loosely' based on facts during the screen adaption process. Still, as a stand-alone film it is an enjoyable one to watch. The fictitious love-story in there helps, and Bergman's acting is great. The ending is very moving as well. All in all, it succeeds in depicting the determination and mindset of a courageous, blue-collar English woman.

I love this movie!!! This was one of the first movies that made me started tearing up while I watched it. The story plot is intriguing and the acting is decent for the time that it was filmed. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves adventure, courage and a little bit of romance.

Nice enough, but nothing special ...

Overall it was good, except the major flaw of a British guy impersonating a Chinese leader -too distracting as one of the main characters. I get that it was made in the 1950s....

i love this film. I don't know anything about the real Gladys Aylward, so any historical inaccuracies were unnoticed and did not affect my viewing of the film, which I think is excellent. Ingrid really threw herself into this role and does a great job as Aylward. i even liked Robert Donat as the Chinese man, I think he is hilarious. i also didn't think the love story interfered too much. Also the children are adorable!!My sister and i are Chinese and were picking which one looked the most like us.

Although the “Description” states it was “Based on the true-life story of Gladys Aylward,” it was actually very loosely and mostly inaccurately inspired by that great woman’s life. Starting with the basics, Ingrid Bergman was tall and blond while Gladys Aylward was 5”2” and dark. One of the movie’s many sins was to simplify her very difficult and extremely dangerous and long journey from England to China. Among the many problems that befell her, she once had to get off the train and walk to the next station—through snow and wolf-packed forests, when clearly her belief in God gave strength and kept her going. While in “The Small Woman” by Alan Burgess, Miss Aylward describes the Russian people she met as looking sad, miserable, squalid, oppressed, the movie shows them as a merry, healthy, well-fed lot. Another inaccuracy is the scene of the Russians asking for her passport in the train. In reality she was forced to stay in Russia a few days, her passport confiscated; when she finally got it back and was able to escape from Russia in a Japanese boat, her passport had been altered to read “machinist” instead of the original “missionary.” Also while in Russia the book mentions a moment when she was going to be raped in a hotel she was forced to stay. From “The Little Woman,” by Gladys Aylward: “You may not believe in God, but He is here. Touch me and you will see. Between you and me God has put a barrier. Go!”; and the man turned on his heels and left. (Of course the fact that the movie screenplay was by Isobel Lennart, once a member of the communist party is of no relevance... But I imagine Hollywood wouldn’t want to portray diminish their Russian tovarish and portray them in a negative light, no matter how truthful!) FOR THE REST OF THE REVIEW CHECK "A REVIEWS XVIII"

The movie also omits some of the real story, such as how the children crossed the river and a few other details, and focuses too much on the love story, however, I enjoyed the film. I read the book, The Small Woman, which has so much more detail about the things that God enabled her to do. It is amazing. I wish the movie had more of those stories also.