Compliments
MOVIES
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Movie-goers remember France Nuyen from "South Pacific" (left), but she also won fame as a sultry temptress in
Broadway's "The World of Suzie Wong." Her career took a dip not long ago,
but France is on the rise again, playing the title role in the new film, "A Girl Named Tamiko" (right).
THE girl who leaned against the pump at a
gas station on the island of Oahu looked ex
hausted and unkempt. She wore shorts, a shirt
that looked slept in, and sneakers She was
munching a papaya she had picked from a tree
earlier that morning.
An old car, packed with a family of Hawaiian sugar
cane workers, pulled alongside her. As they waited for the
attendant to fill the tank, they glanced curiously at the
forlorn girl.
Shyly, one of the children waved to her, and the girl
waved back. The wife took pity and walked over.
"Do you have any money?" she asked.
"Less than a dollar," the girl answered.
"Had any breakfast yet?"
The girl shook her head. "No."
"Would you like to come along to our house for a bite?"
Gratefully, the girl accepted and squeezed into the back of
the car with the children.
A few minutes later they arrived at a weather-beaten
shack, where the girl gobbled down the breakfast the Ha
waiian family shared with her.
When she said good-bye, they gave her a big straw hat
to protect her from the sun. "Take care," the young wife
called after her.
There were tears in the girl's eyes as she left. "I will,"
she promised.
It would have come as a shock to the family had they
known that the girl they assisted wag really France Nuyen,
one of Hollywood's most promising young actresses, who
had just completed starring parts in two important pic
tures, "A Girl Named Tamiko," opposite Laurence Harvey,
and "Diamond Head," opposite Charlton Heston.
France later told me about her trek around the eastern
tip of Oahu.
"I walked for six and a half days, 180 miles in all, with
only $1 in my pocket. The only possessions I carried were a
blanket and the clothes I wore. Thanks to people along the
way, I never went hungry, and three nights out of six I
was invited into homes to spend the night. The rest of the
time I slept on the beach. No one ever asked me for an
explanation ; no one tried to take advantage of me."
Asked why she attempted this strange journey in the first
place, France insisted: "I wanted to find out whether peo
ple would like me if I were just another girl. I found out
they did. This gave me a peace of mind and a feeling of
security that I had never known before."
In the past, France had been obsessed with two ideas:
people were nice to her only because she was a movie star,
and almost everyone wanted to take advantage of her.
Her state of mind sprang from her childhood. She was
born in Marseilles 23 years ago of a Chinese father she
seldom saw and a French mother who taught her to be dis
trustful of everyone.
When she wag barely 17, she came to America with her
mother. Having been a model in France, she decided to
enroll at the Conover School in New York City. She never
got a job out of it because she was always too small, but
one of the pictures Mrs. Conover sent to 20th Century-Fox
attracted director Joshua Logan and led to the part of Liat
in "South Pacific."
France's suspiciousness increased with fame. By the time
she played the title role in "The World of Suzie Wong" on
Broadway, she had earned the reputation of being the sea
son's most antisocial actress in the theater.
MQjHYNESs and fear on my part were taken for snobbish
ness," France explains. "It wasn't until people got to
know me better that they felt differently about me."
Yet her own misgivings, particularly in her personal life,
proved a constant stumbling block to lasting relationships.
When she was working as a photographer's model in France,
she was engaged to a boy in her home town. She returned
to him as soon as she had finished "South Pacific," eager
for a reunion and marriage. Instead, she ended up break
ing their engagement.
"Because I had made one picture, he expected me to act,
talk, dress, and make up like a star. I wanted to be myself,
just as I was before. I wore pedal pushers, no make-up, no
frills. He didn't appreciate that. Obviously he wanted to
marry a movie star. So he wasn't the right man for me."
But France now believes that she has at last overcome
her apprehensions and she has a man to prove it
A few weeks ago, a girl friend arranged a blind date for
her with a handsome, 30-year-old New York jewelry man
ufacturer, Ralph Destine When he picked her up for their
second date, he proposed even before saying "hello." France
accepted, and they plan to marry this spring.
It seems that France's six-and-a-half-day trek around the
island of Oahu has convinced her that she could be liked
and loved for herself alone.
Alone and almost penniless, this lovely star
trekked 180 miles on foot to find out if her darjt suspicions about
human nature were true By PEER J. OPPENHEIMER
Family Wttkly, February 24, 1W1
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