Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words

Earlier today I saw Yunah Hong's new documentary Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words (2010) at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. I deliberately went in with modest expectations after my tepid response a few years ago to Elaine Mae Woo's documentary, Anna May Wong: Frosted Yellow Willows (2007). Woo's documentary struck me as being a little too reverent for such a groundbreaking individual as Anna May. Besides some rare footage, there wasn't much to recommend for those already familiar with her work.

Hong's documentary also features similarly rare footage: a young Anna May doing the Charleston; her 1936 trip to China, including a shot with Shanghai movie queen Hu Die; and scenes from the rarely screened Song (1928), her first European film. There are lots of great still photos as well. My favorite — and one I've never seen before — shows Anna May in boxing gloves, shorts, and a tank top with the initials HR, which must have been taken when she was working for the Hal Roach Studio in 1927.

The talking heads include actor James Hong, biographers Graham Hodges and Karen Leong, and cinematographer Jack Cardiff. Most surprising were Conrad Doerr (who rented an apartment from Anna May during the 1950s) and Susan Ahn Cuddy (who, along with her brother, actor Philip Ahn, grew up in the same Los Angeles neighborhood as Anna May).

But the heart of Hong's film — although most reviewers so far emphatically regard it as a glaring distraction — is the reenactment of Anna May by actress Doan Ly. She performs, in interview fashion, excerpts from Anna May's voluminous correspondence (evidently, much of it taken from letters to her dear friend, the noted photographer Carl Van Vechten), as well as songs from her European stage shows (the Chinese folk song "Jasmine Flower", "Parlez-moi d'amour", and Noel Coward's "Half-Caste Woman"). At first, Doan Ly's lack of resemblance to Anna May proved a stumbling block for me, but as soon as I let go of that unrealistic expectation, I began to appreciate her sensitive performance and Hong's use of this technique.

Anna May Wong is such an icon that it's often difficult to get a sense of her as a flesh-and-blood person. The performance of her letters and songs gives Hong's documentary an emotional depth that is quite touching. Incidents that I'd read about, such as Wong's absence from her mother's funeral because of her decision to keep working during the Broadway run of On the Spot (1930-31), are brought to life with great poignancy.

Yunah Hong's Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words paints a remarkably vivid portrait of one of the 20th century's most fascinating icons and is highly recommended to fans and strangers alike. It is screening one last time at the SFIAFF this coming Wednesday evening and will undoubtedly be making the festival rounds. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a not-too-distant DVD release (with lots of extras, please!).

Ting Hung's Film Crush

 Hollywood star James Shigeta and Hong Kong star Pat Ting Hung

I was happy to find this little surprise in the May 1962 issue of Screenland. A scan of the original article is available here.

Pat Ting Hung Admits Admiration for American-Japanese Star

Pat Ting Hung, who doesn't have an intimate boyfriend yet, declares that she has found her ideal man. "But", she says, "it is a pity that I don't have the chance to meet him. I will try to find the chance."

Who is this man?

If you are a patron of American movies you may have seen "Bridge to the Sun", starring Carol Baker and James Shigeta. And James is the man Pat talks about. And he will appear on the Hollywood screen again in "Flower Drum Song".

Pat has seen "Bridge to the Sun" three times just to see James, and she says that she will do the same with "Flower Drum Song".

She also has learned, from different sources, that James is only twenty-five, unmarried, and doesn't even have an intimate girl friend. She herself is only twenty and doesn't have a boyfriend too.

But, the only thing is, does James know that he has such an admirer in Hong Kong?

To see why Ting Hung took such a fancy to James Shigeta, check out this video tribute which screened at the 2006 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

There's Something About Maylia

Here are a few pics that didn't make it into my previous post about Maylia, the striking beauty that Columbia Pictures was hoping to turn into the next Anna May Wong. The first two photos are publicity shots for her grand debut, To the Ends of the Earth (1948), and the last is from the April 1948 issue of Esquire.

Maylia: "Beautiful" in Cantonese

 "Hollywood's first Chinese starlet since Anna May Wong"

No, Maylia was not the "first Chinese starlet since Anna May Wong", as claimed by Columbia Pictures, but she did join the ranks of earlier Chinese American actresses misused and undervalued by Hollywood: such as Lotus Liu, who was twice promised the featured role in The Good Earth (1937) that eventually went to Austrian dancer Tilly Losch; charming Iris Wong, who provided a bouquet of freshness to Charlie Chan in Reno (1939) and Charlie Chan in Rio (1941) before disappearing into the thin air of uncredited bit parts; and Marianne Quon, who, after showing great promise in China (1943) and Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944), moved to Hong Kong, where she became one of the colony's top stars.

Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Maylia — real name: Gloria Chin — was just a 20-year-old coed vacationing in Hollywood when she was spotted in a restaurant by the wife of writer-producer Sidney Buchman. She was asked to audition for a role in Buchman's big-budget project, To the Ends of the Earth, and voilà! — a star was born. Of course, she would need to change her name to something more befitting the "first Chinese starlet since Anna May Wong", something a little more exotic. According to the studio publicity, "Maylia is her name, and in Cantonese it means beautiful" (The Huntingdon Daily News, March 3, 1947).* Around the same time, Gloria underwent another name change. Within days of signing her contract with Columbia Pictures, she had a fateful meeting with actor Benson Fong (best known at the time as Charlie Chan's "number three son"). It must have been love at first sight, because the two got hitched a few weeks later.

Although shooting for To the Ends of the Earth was completed in early 1947, the film wasn't released until the following year. In the meantime, Maylia played a small part in Universal's Singapore (1947), as Ava Gardner's servant. Unbeknownst to the public, she was also in "preproduction" for a role that would soon take her away from acting. Before her film debut even hit the screens that August, the "first Chinese starlet since Anna May Wong" was already pregnant with her first child and due for delivery in January of 1948 (which could have been why Columbia decided to delay the release of To the Ends of the Earth).

Maylia in Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture

Motherhood definitely threw a wrench in Columbia's plans for the "first Chinese starlet since Anna May Wong", and Maylia quietly rode out her contract with a couple of B-list Chinatown mysteries: Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture (1949) and Chinatown at Midnight (1949). In 1950, Maylia gave birth to her second child, which effectively marked the end of her brief film career (although she evidently made two uncredited appearances in the early 50s).

Luckily for us, we can at least glimpse the star that Maylia might have been in the following clip from To the Ends of the Earth. Let me set up the scene for you: Dick Powell plays an agent from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics who's been engaged in a round-the-world manhunt for the mysterious "Jean Hawks", leader of a global drug ring using opium as a "weapon to keep the world divided and its citizens slaves"; Swedish actress Signe Hasso plays an American philanthropist whom we are led to believe might actually be the nefarious "Jean Hawks"; and Maylia plays the Chinese war orphan who is unknowingly being used by "Jean Hawks" as part of her cover.



Talk about a twist! Who'd have thought that the leader of a global drug ring funding the Japanese war machine is a 19-year-old Chinese girl. I'm alternately wowed and appalled by the proposition. On the one hand, it makes for a pretty cool villain role, which Maylia clearly relished. On the other, such a blatant resurrection of "The Daughter of Fu Manchu" in a movie purporting to be "based on actual incidents from the files of the United States Department of Treasury" is, frankly, quite demented. But hey, that's Hollywood for you.

I must say that I found Dick Powell and his righteous speechifying quite annoying. In my fantasy version of the film, the pistol is loaded with real bullets instead of blanks, and Maylia has the last line. "Don't call me princess, gweilo."

* BTW, "beautiful" in Cantonese is more accurately rendered in English as "mei lai".

Beatrice Fung Oye: Brooklyn Swing Diva

I wish I could tell you more about Chinese American singer Beatrice Fung Oye, but I've only found a few scraps of information, mostly from Billboard and some of the New York gossip columns of the day.

I can't confirm when she started to sing professionally, but by June of 1942 Beatrice was performing at Louise's Monte Carlo in New York City. "Fung Oye, Chinese, is a cute, young thing who sings pops in a pleasant enough voice and with vivacity. In her 15th week here, her popularity continues to grow" (Billboard, October 3). Billboard listings indicate that she stayed on at the Monte Carlo through the rest of '42.

The following year she performed for a few months at the Ubangi — where she was "the first non-Negro" to sing at the club (Billboard, February 20) — before moving on to Leon & Eddie's in May. Beatrice was still playing at Leon & Eddie's a year later, although I've found no proof whether she sang there exclusively.

During this time her name popped up occasionally in the New York gossip columns, which were syndicated in newspapers across the country. Walter Winchell mentioned her as "the cute little Chinese girl soliciting funds for China Relief at 57th and 5th" (October 31, 1942), and according to Dorothy Kilgallen, the "chanteuse at Leon & Eddie's is mad about Mexican chili con carne — and what's more, she eats it with chopsticks!" (May 5, 1943).

In 1945 Beatrice got a big break when she was selected as one of the winners of ABC's On Stage Everybody talent contest (The Abilene Reporter-News, April 7). The prize was a role in the Universal musical based on ABC's popular radio show. Here's a photo of her with five of the ten winners. The movie opened in July, and that fall Beatrice toured the country with a vaudeville unit composed of performers from the cast.


Newspaper ad from The Salt Lake Tribune (October 21, 1945)

After her brush with national fame, Beatrice returned to New York City and sang at the China Doll, the East Coast equivalent of San Francisco's Forbidden City. She was evidently still newsworthy enough to appear on the Broadway gossip radar. Columnist Danton Walker revealed this amusing bit of trivia: "When Beatrice Fung Oye, the Brooklyn-born Chinese prima donna, goes to Dodgers games she yells at the umpire in Chinese" (December 1, 1947).


Newspaper ad from The New York Times (April 15, 1947)

In 1951–52, she hit the road with Tom Ball's China Doll Revue, performing alongside "Chop Suey" veterans Ming & Ling and Florence Hin Lowe. And that's the last trace of Beatrice I can find.

Luckily, I was able to track down a copy of On Stage Everybody, so let's end this post with a rare glimpse of Brooklyn swing diva Beatrice Fung Oye!

The Enigma of Olive Young

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Olive Young (杨爱立) went to Shanghai and became one of Chinese cinema's earliest film stars. She died in Bayonne, New Jersey, at the age of 37 after collapsing in the dressing room of the nightclub where she was performing as a blues singer. Stay tuned for my attempt to piece together her mysterious life.

When the King of Hollywood Met the Empress of Chinese Filmdom

Trust Clark Gable to find a stunner even in far-away Hong Kong. That girl behind the Hollywood-like dark glasses is Li Li-hwa, top glamour girl of the Chinese movie world. The stars took a cruise together around Hong Kong island, where Gable is starring in "Soldier of Fortune". — Associated Press, December 3, 1954

I really wish I could have been a fly on the wall during this historic meeting between Clark Gable and Li Lihua.





According to gossip columnist Walter Winchell, "Clark Gable left a Large Torch burning in Hong Kong. She is Li Li Hwa... Translation: Plum Blossom" (Syracuse Herald-Journal, January 3, 1955). Was there any truth to the rumor?





A previous news item suggests otherwise, reporting that "his press agents had started a story that he may marry Li Li-Hwa" (Fergus Falls Daily Journal, December 15, 1954). Evidently, it was one of many engagement rumors prior to Clark's marriage (his fifth) to actress Kay Williams in 1955.

Then again, Clark was a notorious ladies man. Were there actual sparks — and even flames — when the King of Hollywood met the Empress of Chinese Filmdom? Only the fly on the wall knows...

Anna May Wong's Painted Knees

Ever hear of painted knees? Nope? Me neither. Evidently it was quite the fashion accessory for flappers back in '25. Reminds me of the body painting of the sixties. I guess the flappers were the original mod girls.

The following headline and blurb accompanied this cute photo of Anna May, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 1, 1925:

Painted Monkey Graces Knee of Almond-Eyed Film Star
Anna May Wong, Chinese screen actress, who has adopted the fad of having her knees painted. The much-discussed evolution monkey adorns Anna May's limbs.

Pretty cool, huh! However, I'm of the opinion that it's not Scopes' monkey who's climbing Anna May's calf — but mischievous Sun Wukong, the Monkey King!

Charming Lovebirds: Victor Sen Yung and Iris Wong

I've been slowly making my way through the Charlie Chan DVD collection. After seeing Victor Sen Yung in a couple of other features, I decided to jump ahead a bit and check him out in the role that launched his career: as Jimmy Chan, the detective's number two son in the Sidney Toler films.

What a surprise it was to see him paired up with the equally charming Iris Wong in an all too brief romantic interlude in Charlie Chan in Reno (1939). I'll have more to say later about each of them, but for now just sit back and enjoy the wonderful chemistry between Victor and Iris. In this clip you can get a rare glimpse of regular Chinese Americans unburdened by the stereotypes of Hollywood.

The Lost World of Esther Eng

Mad Fire, Mad Love (1949)

The lost films of Esther Eng, the pioneering Chinese American female director, are as tantalizing as the above advertisement for her last movie, Mad Fire, Mad Love, a color feature set and shot in Hawaii.

A couple of weeks ago Frank Bren, co-author of Hong Kong Cinema: A Cross-Cultural View, wrote a wonderful tribute to Esther Eng in memory of her passing 40 years ago. Hers is a fascinating story that deserves to be better known. Unfortunately, none of the nine films she directed have survived. Frank and Hong Kong movie historian Law Kar have been trying to restore Esther to her proper place in film history. They've written about her in their book (mentioned above) and have created a website (that is, sorry to say, sorely in need of a redesign). Evidently, they are also developing a feature film about her life. All of which is a roundabout way of excusing myself from duplicating their research and encouraging you to read Frank's article, look for Hong Kong Cinema: A Cross-Cultural View at your local library, and visit the Esther Eng website.

Let me instead present some primary source materials that I've been able to dig up. First is a full page ad for Esther's first film project, Heartaches (1936). The ad comes from the January 31, 1936 issue of Chinese Digest, an English-language Chinese American news magazine published in San Francisco.


Heartaches (1936)

The production of the film was chronicled in Chinese Digest in the months leading up to its release. On December 6, 1935 it was reported that scenes were shot in San Francisco Chinatown before the crew left for Hollywood to finish filming the story. On December 13, 1935 it was revealed that Heartaches would include scenes shot in Technicolor, still a new process at that time (the first feature shot in Technicolor, Becky Sharp had just been released the previous summer). On December 20, 1935 it was reported that production had been completed and that the film would be released shortly. On December 27, 1935 it was announced that Heartaches would debut at the Mandarin Theatre in San Francisco Chinatown on New Year's Day. I've been unable to confirm if the premiere happened as planned, but the following news item from February 14, 1936 suggests that the screening may been postponed.

"Heartaches" to Be Shown This Week

Cathay Pictures' super singing and talking picture, "Heartaches", will be shown at the local Mandarin Theater this Saturday and Sunday, with Wei Kim Fong, stage star, in the leading role.

"Heartaches" is financed by Quon Yi Lum, and produced by Esther Eng and Bruce Wong, with Paul Ivano, formerly Gloria Swanson's best cameraman, doing the camera work. Story and direction are by Frank Tong and Henry Tung.

[NOTE: Frank Tong (Tang) worked in Hollywood as an actor and technical advisor for more than twenty years. He also provided the calligraphy for the the signs and banners in The Good Earth.]

The story concerns an aviation student in America, Ching, played by Beal Wong, who falls in love with an opera star, played by Wei Kim Fong. The manager of the opera company, jealous of Fong's constant rendezvous with Ching, threatens to discharge her and send her back to China.

[NOTE: Beal Wong was a bit player in Hollywood for some 30 years, appearing in nearly 50 films.]

Ching finishes his training, goes to war in China, and is separated from his loved one. While in China, he marries and Fong, hearing about it, is heartbroken.

Capacity audience is expected to witness this stirring film. All of the players in the cast, with the exception of the star, are American-Chinese. Miss Eng with Miss Fong, will journey shortly to China to seek prospective film stars for their coming productions. They will stay in China for two months.

The present picture will also be shown in Singapore in the near future.

In May 1936 Esther Eng and Wai Kim Fong did indeed sail to Hong Kong, where they screened Heartaches. Wai Kim Fong would star in Esther's next two films, her first as director: National Heroine (1937), a patriotic movie about a woman who joins the Chinese army to prove that the "weaker" sex is vital to the defense of China; and Ten Thousand Lovers (1938), a Grandview film produced by Joseph Sunn Jue.

Esther would return to the U.S. and work again with Grandview on several pictures, including Golden Gate Girl (1941), starring a young Bruce Lee, just three months old; and A Fair Lady by the Blue Lagoon (1947), a love story set in rural California.


A Fair Lady by the Blue Lagoon (1947), aka The Blue Jade

Esther Eng's final film was Mad Fire, Mad Love (1949). Later that year she moved to New York City and opened a Chinese restaurant: an inconspicuous ending to the story of a forgotten movie pioneer.

Let me leave you with one last interesting item about Esther from the May 8, 1936 issue of Chinese Digest, on the eve of her career as film director. In a column called "Lien Fa Saw You" talking about the latest hairstyles being worn in Chinatown, Esther — quite a fetching tomboy — is among the ladies mentioned (and, I might add, so is Li Tei Ming, future wife of Charlie Low and featured singer at Forbidden City).

As Miss Esther Eng favors sports clothes, her hair is fashioned "in tune". A sleeky boyish bob is worn with one very slight wave at the left side, which breaks the straightness. When attending a formal affair, more waves may be seen, a clever idea, and most charming on Miss Eng.

Thanks to The Chinese Mirror and Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver for the heads-up about Frank Bren's article!

* NOTE: the image of Mad Fire, Mad Love at the top of this post is not an actual artifact but a composite that I created from identical, but differently colored, versions of an ad that appeared in a Chinese movie magazine.

Toy and Wing: Turning On the Heat

Lately I've been trying to track down the movie appearances of various Forbidden City performers. Needless to say, they are few and far between, and often not what they promise to be.

Noel Toy, the most famous exotic dancer of the Chinese nightclub era, is the headline act at a San Francisco strip club in the Betty Grable movie How To Be Very, Very Popular (1955). I wasn't exactly surprised when I read in the movie synopsis that she plays the murder victim who sets the plot in motion, but I was pretty disappointed when I finally saw the movie. Can you believe that she doesn't even get to dance before she gets killed?!

Chinese Skyroom owner Andy Wong and exotic dancer Barbara Yung are listed as appearing in the Frank Sinatra film Pal Joey (1957), but when I watched the movie, they were nowhere to be seen, at least not on the DVD.

Dance team Jadin Wong and Li Sun allegedly appear in Around the World (1944), a musical comedy showcasing Kay Kiser and his band as they trot the globe entertaining U.S. troops. When the band stops in Chungking, you'd think it would be the perfect opportunity for Jadin Wong and Li Sun to strut their steps — but what the eff?! Where did they go?

Is this some kind of conspiracy? In a color-blind industry, some of these talented folks could have been stars. But in Hollywood, they simply disappeared.

Lucky for us, there are two performers who, by comparison, are well represented on celluloid: Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing. I won't bother telling their story, since it's readily available elsewhere.

You can read about Dorothy in Aging Artfully by Amy Gorman (available here on Google Books).

And don't miss this wonderful documentary made by Rick Quan (the first Chinese American sports anchor in the United States and a familiar face on Bay Area television for more than 20 years).

Okay, enough sour grapes. Let's enjoy the sizzling Toy and Wing in the musical short Deviled Ham (1937).


* The entire film is available here.

Li Lihua: Hong Kong Cowgirl

Here's some cool Hong Kong Americana from Oldflames and myself (top and bottom respectively). These photos were probably taken sometime in late 1957, when Li Lihua was in the U.S. shooting her first and last Hollywood film, China Doll (1958). The Empress of Hong Kong cinema certainly makes a plucky cowgirl. Too bad her American debut was a World War II film and not a Western!

Lotus Liu: Almost a Star

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the real Chinese players who appeared alongside the yellowface leads of The Good Earth (1937) and promised that I would profile some of these forgotten actors.

First up is Lotus Liu. Her story is a little sad. She was actually chosen to play Lotus, one of the film's featured roles, but in the end lost the part to a white actress. Let's follow her promising, but ill-fated, trajectory to stardom before it finally missed its mark.

LOTUS LIU OF SHANGHAI
GETS SCREEN START
Young Unknown Only Chinese-Born Lead
in "Good Earth"

By BARBARA MILLER
— HOLLYWOOD

Shanghai, which gave the world — and Hollywood — the impudent Lyda Roberti, has produced another potential prodigy.

Her name is Lotus Liu and she will play Lotus, the Soochow sing-song girl and home-wrecker, in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "The Good Earth". The 19-year-old unknown is the only China-born principal in a cast headed by Paul Muni (Austria) and Luise Rainer (Germany).

Unlike Roberti, product of Shanghai's famous cabaret system, Lotus comes to Hollywood with a French convent, English school background. Her father is Chinese, her mother American.

Seen on a Bus

Oriental in appearance, pleasantly English in accent, Lotus is strictly American in aspirations. Arriving here two years ago as a student, she probably would be fluttering masculine hearts on Southern California campuses if M-G-M's astute Billy Grady hadn't glimpsed her one afternoon on a bus.

Waiting for a bus does have its compensations after all. For since then, everything has been easy for Lotus. Though the studio tested thousands of girls for the part — American and European, as well as Chinese and Eurasian — her youth and vitality won the battle.

It's a break of a lifetime, this part, and Lotus knows it. Talking nineteen to the dozen, the other afternoon on the "Good Earth" set, she looked like one of the better college freshman in her military-minded gray suit and absurd scarlet handkerchief perched on her black curls. But her ambitions are adult. China's famous passiveness is conspicuously absent.

Father Not Told

Lotus is living in Beverly Hills, with her mother and two brothers. But her father, long in the service of the national government of China, is in Nanking. He hasn't been informed of his daughter's good fortune.

"You know how things are in China," she reminded me, wrinkling her pretty nose. After we had reminisced about our last meeting — on a windy Nanking road corner the day the Liu family left Shanghai for California — she continued, "It's so different being in pictures here. And government people are so conservative."

Originally the Nanking government didn't care a great deal for the Buck masterpiece. The poverty of China's peasantry is not the angle the younger, foreign-educated officials strive to present to the world. And the story of Wang Lung and his stolid, homely wife is the story of the soil: of mud huts and famine and marauding war lords sickeningly familiar outside the treaty ports.

Deleted by Experts

The film version, however, has been operated on by experts — for something like three years. Removal or modification of all episodes dealing with opium traffic, famine and banditry so pleased the powers at Nanking that the ill-fated George Hill and his technical experts shot exteriors all over China two years ago.

But the character of the predatory Lotus escaped unscathed, according to the girl who will play the part. Lotus is her real name. And she has a sister called Blossom.

"I'm just a so-and-so," she explained, with a characteristic shrug of her slim shoulders. "I get into Wang Lung's house as his second wife and live there in luxury. I even snatch his poor wife's favorite pearl earrings. But when the lord and master discovers that I'm getting too fond of his good-looking young son he rises up in his wrath and shouts "Go!" And that — I'm afraid — is the end of poor Lotus."

Such an ignominious end is all very well for Lotus, the Soochow charmer, a quaint little figure in her short silk jacket and baggy trousers, lotus flowers in her hair. But for Lotus Liu — with an American mother, a Chinese father and her own ideas of getting on in the world — it's only the beginning.

— San Antonio Express, May 10, 1936

More like the beginning of the end: it was soon reported in The San Antonio Light (June 20, 1936) that Lotus Liu was being replaced by Sidney Fox, best remembered today for her role as the damsel in distress in Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932). But then, just two weeks later (July 1, 1936), the paper followed up with the news that Lotus was back again for the role.

After signing Lotus Liu (an Eurasian beauty) for the role of Lotus in the picture, the powers-that-be suddenly had a brain storm and decided that Sidney Fox would make a better Lotus than a real Chinese girl so Miss Liu was out and Miss Fox was in. At least, temporarily. After two weeks of testing, Miss Fox was found unsatisfactory for the role and now Miss Liu is right back again and this time — she'll stay."

Well, no — not this time. Lotus was replaced once again by a white actress. This time it was Austrian dancer Tilly Losch, who ended up shooting the role. And here's the real kicker: according to one source I've found (Award-Winning Films of the 1930s by John Reid), Lotus Liu dubbed the lines for thick-accented Tilly Losch. Talk about sucks!

Alas, the "break of a lifetime" for this "potential prodigy" just disappeared into thin air. Nevertheless, even though Lotus Liu lost her chance to star in The Good Earth, she does appear briefly in the film. She's not listed in the cast credits on IMDB or the TCM movie database, but thanks to the Chinese Digest article (which I transcribed in my previous post), I was clued in to her 10 seconds of fame.

Here she is folks, making the absolute most of her meager screen time — the charming Miss Lotus Liu!

The Good Earth: Keeping It Real

Left to right: Roland Lui, Caroline Chew, Chingwah Lee, Mary Wong, James Z.M. Lee, Soo Yong, William Law, Lotus Liu, and Frank Tang

For the longest time I avoided watching The Good Earth (1937). For me it was always just that film for which Anna May Wong was passed over as leading lady in favor of a white actress. Because of its reputation today as a yellowface extravaganza, it's easy to overlook the importance of The Good Earth as a positive change in the way that Chinese were portrayed on the Hollywood screen.

Of course, it would have been an even more significant change if the roles had been played by Chinese actors. Pearl Buck evidently tried to convince MGM to do just this. At one point, there was talk about Shanghai movie queen Hu Die starring in the lead role of O-Lan and even about making the film with Chinese dialogue and English subtitles. Now, that would have been groundbreaking! But since this is Hollywood, the story ends disappointingly with Austrian actress Luise Rainer winning an Academy Award for her frankly mediocre portrayal of O-Lan.

Last year I finally decided to give The Good Earth a try after discovering the following article in the March 1937 issue of Chinese Digest. It alerted me to some of the real Chinese folks who starred in and worked on the film. Sadly, most of them were used — per the recommendation of casting director Albert Lewin — as "atmosphere" rather than as principal actors.

It's a shame, really. In my opinion, Chingwah Lee could have given a much more natural performance as Wang the farmer than Paul Muni. William Law, who appears briefly as a gate keeper, could have performed the role of Wang's uncle just as well as character actor Walter Connolly. Soo Yong could have easily replaced Jessie Ralph. Poor Lotus Liu was actually chosen for the role of Lotus (Wang's second wife), but it eventually fell into the hands of Austrian dancer Tilly Losch.

Anyway, it's no use playing "what if". Let us instead salute the real Chinese of The Good Earth, some of whom I'll be profiling in the coming weeks.

WHO'S WHO AMONG THE CHINESE
IN "THE GOOD EARTH"


Soo Yong is an A.B. from the University of Hawaii and an M.A. from Columbia University. Her major is botany, and she has taught in high schools. She made her bow to America when she served as curtain raiser for Mei Lan Fang, and America is still loud in praise of her fine English diction — "better than the best among the English and American". She made history again when she appeared as a Manchu princess in the picture "Painted Veil". After that performance MGM chained her by a "Good Earth" contract to play both the ancient mistress and the sloppy sharp-tongued aunt.


Mary Wong is the prettiest Chinese girl appearing in "The Good Earth". In San Francisco she is a buyer and expert sales manager at the China Emporium, of which she has a partnership. In "The Good Earth" she radiated so much charm as the Little Bride that no cutting of even an inch from her acting was possible without removing something of the uniqueness from the picture. However, they had to make her speechless for the simple reason that Chinese brides are supposed to be seen but not heard. "That's the most difficult thing for me to do — remaining silent", said Mary afterward.


Keye Luke is known to the world through his Charlie Chan series of thrillers, in which he plays the Chinese detective's son. But a new personality emerged in the Elder Son of "The Good Earth". The part being more in keeping his personality he did a very fine portrayal. Keye was an artist from Seattle before he took up acting. His painting has that subtle touch which characterizes a Sung. An intellectual of the first order, his vocabulary would put the average American to shame. An introvert, he likes a good smoke, a quiet conversation among friends, and a laugh at the antics of Sinclair Lewis's children.


Roland Lui is typical of the second generation Chinese — a good athlete, a high school graduate, the personification of health and pep. Plays football and basketball with relish. He received a year's training at the Motion Picture Academy (with pay) before participating in "The Good Earth".


William Law is a representative to the Chinese Six Companies; a Chinese division manager of the Pacific Coast Paper Company, and a career man at the Columbia Importing Company. A good singer, he was on the Orpheum Circuit in the good old days before the depression. He enjoys a good cigar and a good joke — and excels in these two fine arts.


Caroline Chew is a graduate of Mills College, a daughter of the late famous Chung Sa Yat Po publisher, Ng Poon Chew. She studied dancing under both European and Oriental masters and has given many concerts here and in the East. She plays the part of a dancer in "The Good Earth" tea house scene.


Lotus Liu is from Shanghai and was attending USC when signed by MGM to appear in "The Good Earth", moon mandolin and all. Originally, she was to play the part of "Lotus", but the studio executives considered her too sweet for so worldly a role.


Chingwah Lee is a zoologist, ethnologist, ceramic art authority, and one-time social worker. He is a University of California graduate — the alma mater of more California second-generation Chinese than can be counted by this time. He is director and manager of Chinatown Trade and Travel Bureau, active head of the oldest Chinese boy scout troop in the United States, a publisher and associate editor of the Chinese Digest.

A San Franciscan all his life, he is a fount of information on old Chinatown days. He possesses the best private collection of ceramic wares in Chinatown.

He bears a close resemblance to two of China's outstanding men — Dr. Wu Lien-teh and Dr. Hu Shih.

James Z.M. Lee was attending USC as a Shakespearean scholar when signed by MGM to be the technical advisor for "The Good Earth" company. For three long years he assisted with the production, joining the expedition to China for background shots and props. He is considered the most reliable expert on things Chinese in movieland today.

Frank Tang is a member of the art department. A graduate of Mission High of San Francisco and of the Sun Chung Academy, his calligraphy is second to none in southern California. The Chinese banners and other native writings in "The Good Earth" scenes are products of his fine brush.

Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection

Last week I had an opportunity to see Arthur Dong's fantastic collection of movie memorabilia at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles. Featuring more than 150 items, much of which was collected during the production of his award-winning documentary Hollywood Chinese (2007), the exhibit lays bare on a visceral level America's ambivalent and convoluted attitude towards the Chinese. It also shows how Chinese Americans have navigated, negotiated, and resisted the stereotypes placed upon them.

Of particular interest to me were the rare items concerning three pioneering filmmakers: Marion Wong, whose The Curse of Quon Gwon (1916) is the earliest known Chinese American feature; James B. Leong, whose film Lotus Blossom (1921) starred Chinese American actress and vaudeville singer Lady Tsen Mei; and Joseph Sunn Jue, whose San Francisco-based Grandview Film Company produced movies by, about, and for Chinese Americans during World War II and also helped keep Cantonese cinema alive during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

"Hollywood Chinese" is showing through the end of May next year. If you live in the area, you should definitely check it out. For those who can't make it, the 34-page, color catalog is the next best thing. Handsomely designed and featuring nearly half of the items from the exhibit, it also includes a great essay ("Yellow Peril Smackdown: A Night at the Chinese American Museum") by filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña. The catalog can be purchased at the museum gift shop, but unfortunately it's not for sale on their website. Try contacting them directly (office@camla.org) to see if it can be ordered by mail.

Lin Dai and Kirk Douglas

I found this photo when I was looking for material about Margaret Tu's early career at Shaw Brothers. It was taken during Lin Dai's 1958 trip to the United States. Here's the accompanying blurb as it appeared in Southern Screen No. 6 (May 1958).

LIN DAI WITH HOLLYWOOD STAR KIRK DOUGLAS

Taken at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where she dined with many famous stars. She was a guest of Bette Davis who entertained Lin Dai at her home in Beverly Hills. RAYMOND FRIEDGEN of Beverly Hills who has made several pictures in Hongkong is representing Lin Dai for her activities in Hollywood.

Linda was certainly wise to seek her fortunes back in Hong Kong rather than in Hollywood. I can't find any evidence that Raymond Friedgen was a mover or a shaker. In fact, it appears that he only produced one film in Hong Kong (and not much else of note): the decidedly "B"-looking Hong Kong Affair (1958), starring Jack Kelly, best known as James Garner's brother on the TV show "Maverick". Better to be a queen in Hong Kong than a "Suzie Wong" in Hollywood.

Helen Li Mei in the U.S.A.

Was Helen Li Mei deported from the United States in the wake of the Jantzen Swimsuit Affair? Did she immediately return to Hong Kong in defeat and shame? I don't think so... not our proud Helen!

Instead of being paraded around in a swimsuit, here's how Helen spent her four-month stay in the U.S.A.


Although she was dissed by Jantzen upon her arrival in the States, at least Helen got a little bit of aloha when she touched down in Hawaii on her way to New York.


In New York, Helen made personal appearances during screenings of A Girl Named Hong Hong (1956), a film that she financed and produced herself.


Here she is, signing photos for her young fans.


Hailed by Chinese Americans as the "most patriotic Chinese actress", Helen celebrated Double Ten Day in New York Chinatown.


She was even interviewed on WOR Radio. I'd love to hear this!


No visit to the Big Apple would be complete without meeting the mayor. Here she is with Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.


Helen was given a tour of the United Nations Headquarters by Dr. T. F. Tsiang (on her right), the Republic of China's chief delegate to the U.N., and Dr. Victor Hu (on her left), the delegation secretary. Check out that cheongsam!


She also dined with Dr. George Yeh, the Republic of China's Ambassador to the U.S. Are you surprised? Well, Helen did major in political science before she became a movie star.


Here she is on the steps of the Capitol.


Helen visited with fellow Hong Kong actresses Siu Yin Fei (second from left, front row) and Pearl Au Kar-wai (second from left, back row), who were in New York at the time.


She also met Broadway's "Suzie Wong", France Nuyen. Was it cordial cattiness or sisterly love?


Anthony Quinn asked Helen to play the leading role in a film that he was planning on directing. Look at the camera, Tony!


Out on the West Coast, Helen visited the Twentieth Century-Fox studios. Is that Danny Kaye who is the object of her admiring gaze?


Finally, here she is in San Francisco, standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

This wasn't Helen's only trip to the United States. After she retired from show business in 1967, she married Chinese American Robert Ruan, a CIA officer she met in Taiwan, and moved to his hometown of Portland, Oregon, where she lived until her death in 1994.