Taglines: Seven who defied what no man dared, each for a reason that was hers alone!
7 Women movie storyline. It’s 1935 on the Chinese side of the China-Mongolia border, a region of lawlessness due to the fighting between and amongst the feuding war lords and marauding bandits. American Christian missionaries, led by unbending and strict Agatha Andrews (Margaret Leighton), have set up a mission in the area. She believes because they are doing God’s work, and because they are American, the war lords and bandits will leave them unharmed with the potential bloodshed staying outside of their mission walls.
They have had troubles trying to recruit a doctor, especially needed as one of their own, the constantly worried Florrie Pether (Betty Field), wife of the only male teacher in the camp, mama’s boy Charles Pether (Eddie Albert), is at an advanced stage of pregnancy, compounded with the fact that this pregnancy is Florrie’s first and she is near menopause.
They do eventually recruit a doctor, who they don’t realize is a non-religious emancipated female until she arrives. She is Dr. D.R. Cartwright (Anne Bancroft), who has her own reasons for taking the job despite her secular background. She and Andrews are immediately at odds with each other, even more so as time goes on as Cartwright does things in the name of preserving life which may be against Christian morals.
The missionaries and Cartwright end up battling potential disease entering the camp and protecting themselves against one specifically ruthless Mongolian bandit named Tunga Khan (Mike Mazurki), who has already destroyed the British mission in the area. But the eternal battle may be for the soul of Emma Clark (Sue Lyon), the youngest and most inexperienced missionary who is fascinated by Cartwright against the warnings of Andrews of she being the devil incarnate.
7 Women, also known as Seven Women, is a 1966 Panavision drama film directed by John Ford and starring Anne Bancroft, Sue Lyon, Margaret Leighton, Flora Robson, Mildred Dunnock, Betty Field, Anna Lee, with Eddie Albert, Mike Mazurki and Woody Strode. Made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was produced by Bernard Smith and John Ford, from a screenplay by Janet Green and John McCormick, based on the short story “Chinese Finale” by Norah Lofts. The music score was by Elmer Bernstein and the cinematography by Joseph LaShelle. This was the last feature film directed by Ford, ending a career that spanned approximately fifty three years.
The original story, Chinese Finale, was presented as an episode of Alcoa Theatre in March 1960 with Hilda Plowright as Miss Andrews and Jan Sterling as Dr. Mary Cartwright. John Ford considered both Katharine Hepburn and Jennifer Jones for the role of Dr. Cartwright, and Rosalind Russell lobbied for the part, but eventually Patricia Neal was cast.
Ford began the film on 8 February 1965 on the MGM backlot, but after three days of filming, Neal had a stroke. Anne Bancroft took over the role of Dr. Cartwright but Ford was unhappy with Bancroft and called her “the mistress of monotone”. Ford originally considered Carol Lynley for the role played in the film by MGM contract star Sue Lyon, whom the studio insisted on. Shooting finished on April 12, only six days behind schedule.
Ford chose Otho Lovering to edit the film; they had first worked together on Stagecoach (1939). Lovering edited most of Ford’s feature films in the 1960s. The film was not released until 1966.
7 Women (1966)
Directed by: John Ford
Starring: Anne Bancroft, Margaret Leighton, Flora Robson, Sue Lyon, Mike Mazurki, Mildred Dunnock, Betty Field, Anna Lee, Hans William Lee, Woody Strode, Irene Tsu, Eddie Albert
Screenplay by: Janet Green, John McCormick,
Cinematography by: Joseph LaShelle
Film Editing by: Otho Lovering
Costume Design by: Walter Plunkett
Set Decoration by: Henry Grace, Jack Mills
Art Direction by: George W. Davis, Eddie Imazu
Music by: Elmer Bernstein
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: January 5, 1966 (Los Angeles)
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