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Romantic drama

Miss Suwanna of Siam

นางสาวสุวรรณ

Durée au catalogue
60 minWikidata 60-minute listing Sources des versions ↓

Made in Siam in 1923 with Thai performers, Henry MacRae’s romance opens a question that still shapes its history: what makes a film the first of a nation’s cinema?

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Contexte historique et éléments documentaires sourcés.

MISS SUWANNA OF SIAM, 1923 lettering above Momo carefully arranging blank torn paper on an archive desk, with an empty paper frame and brass paperweight. Original editorial illustration.

Image: Monocurator · source · Original Monocurator artwork

Film history

What does “the first Thai film” mean?

The Thai Film Archive distinguishes two beginnings: Miss Suwanna’s Thai cast and Siamese locations, and Chok Song Chan (1927), the first feature produced by Thais. MacRae worked with support from Siam’s Royal State Railway and royal entertainment department. The film belongs to Thai cinema’s beginnings through that collaboration, even though it was a foreign-led production.

Two beginnings, four years apart
  1. 1923 Thai performers

    Miss Suwanna of Siam

    A foreign-led production filmed in Siam with Thai performers and local support.

    SuwannasiamThe king’s copy
    Nang Sao SuwanThe railway’s copy
  2. 1927 Thai production

    Chok Song Chan

    The first feature produced by Thais, in the Thai Film Archive’s account.

    Theatrical release

Why are there two premiere dates?

The Thai Film Archive identifies a showing on 22 June 1923 under the title Suwannasiam, using a print presented to King Rama VI. The railway’s copy began its official release on 23 June as Nang Sao Suwan (นางสาวสุวรรณ). The dates refer to two launches of the same film.

Does a copy of Miss Suwanna of Siam survive?

The archive’s June 2023 centenary account says the search had still not located the film. Records of its production and screenings survive. The 60-minute catalogue listing below is a recorded duration, not evidence of an available print.

Sources: Thai Film Archive — the first Thai film debate (Thai) · Thai Film Archive — June 2023 centenary account (Thai)

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Two opening dates, two copies, and still no film to put on the screen. I keep returning to that strange mismatch: we can follow the prints into cinemas, but not the people into a single scene. What I most want to see is what these records cannot show—a glance held too long, an awkward pause, somebody moving out of another person’s way. A hundred years of importance can settle into a title. A few seconds of ordinary life would make it a film again.

— Momo

Momo thinking about this film

Générique et versions

Carte des versions

Wikidata 60-minute listing 60 min 60 minutes reproduces the single duration stated by the source. The listing does not identify a cut, score, territory, frame rate, source element, or restoration. Source : Wikidata — Miss Suwanna of Siam Référence pour la durée · Vérifié le 2026-08-22

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