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Anna May Wong
[1905-61]
![publicity photograph of Anna May Wong [1905-61] in yellow dress, with fan](images/AnnaMayWong-portraitphoto-yellowdress.jpg "publicity photograph of Anna May Wong [1905-61] in yellow dress, with fan") |
here on Page 1:
movie & TV career of Anna May Wong
movie & TV career {cont'd}
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"There seems [to be] little for me in Hollywood, because, rather than real Chinese, "Success is not a jewel that you can purchase and keep for your entire life. On the contrary, "The harder the work, the greater the satisfaction in accomplishing it."
— Anna May Wong
producers prefer Hungarians, Mexicans, [and] American Indians for Chinese roles."
the brightest star can fall down at any time and fade away into dust."
B I O
t e x t
h e r e
Anna May Wong created her own production company in 1924 to fight against typecasting but her partner was a crook and the company soon collapsed.
Peking University awarded the actress an honorary doctorate in 1932.
In 1934, the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York voted her "the World's best-dressed woman" and in 1938 LOOK Magazine named her "the World's most beautiful Chinese girl"
On a bright June day in 1938, Anna May Wong turned the first shovel of dirt in the grounds of Los Angeles Chinatown’s Central Plaza, planting a ceremonial willow tree.
AMW signed up with Civil Defense in December 1942, partly as political statement and partly as publicity photo op.
1960 Star on the Walk of Fame (Motion Pictures) inaugural ceremony 8 February 1960.. at 1708 Vine Street
Anna May Wong became the first Asian-American on U.S. currency with the release of a quarter-dollar coin in October 2022.
Anna May Wong entry at Wikipedia
list of 'Anna May Wong on film & TV' at Wikipedia
Anna May Wong credits [1919-61] at Internet Movie Database
search for DVDs on keywords 'Anna+May+Wong' {returns 50+ items} at Amazon
 | "Anna May Wong: A Complete Guide To Her Film, Stage, Radio, and Television Work" [2003] by Philip Leibfried & Chei Mi Lane McFarland & Co. 10x7 pb [8/2010] for $29.95 McFarland Publng 10x7¼ hardcover [11/2003] out of print/used |
Movie & Television Career
Anna May Wong credits [1919-61] at Internet Movie Database
Anna May Wong entry at Wikipedia
list of 'Anna May Wong on film & TV' at Wikipedia
search for DVDs on keywords 'Anna+May+Wong' {returns 50+ items} at Amazon
"The Red Lantern" silent feature [Metro Pictures Corp. May 1919]
  | Following her avaricious Peking grandmother's death, the Eurasian Mahlee falls in love with Andrew Templeton, whose father runs the American mission, and she embraces Protestantism. Mahlee is introduced to Sir Philip Sackville and his daughter, Blanche, whom she discovers are her birth father and half-sister. Andrew falls in love with Blanche and shuns Mahlee because of her Chinese heritage. The dejected Mahlee collaborates with another Eurasian, Sam Wang, in bringing the Boxer Rebellion to Peking. During the Feast of the Red Lantern, Mahlee dresses as a celestial goddess and is paraded through the streets on a litter, blessing the Boxers and encouraging the people to join the rebellion. She then learns that the American mission is in danger and warns the occupants, but Sir Philip will not take her with them as they escape. Mahlee has lost the trust of the Boxers, and Wang dies protecting her. After the rebels are defeated by the Western Allies, Mahlee drinks poison and dies • Presented by Richard A. Rowland; supervising producer Maxwell Karger; co-written & directed by Albert Capellani; co-written by June Mathis, based on the famous novel by Edith Wherry; starring Alla Nazimova {dual role as Mahlee & Blanche}, Darrell Foss, Margaret McWade, Virginia Ross, Frank Currier, Winter Hall, Amy Veness, Noah Beery {as Dr. Sam Wang}, Harry Mann, Yukio Aoyama, Edward Connelly, Anna May Wong (uncredited film debut at age 14); the single existing print was restored in 1996 by the Royal Belgian Film Archive; YouTube version is tinted, with mostly piano music, some strings + recorded singing • full credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia
Cinematex Belgian PAL import b&w DVD + book [2015] for $37.98 in PAL format only Cinematex PAL b&w DVD + book [8/00] for €46,99 via Amazon France PAL format - via Amazon.FR watch full movie [9/2019 upload; 1:22:13] online at YouTube |
 | "The Red Lantern: Being The Story of The Goddess of The Red Lantern Light" [1911] by Edith Margaret Wherry {Muckleston} [1876-1961] author Wherry was born in the USA but raised in China by her missionary parents; she wrote such celebrated novels as "The Red Lantern" [1911], "The Wanderer On A Thousand Hills" [1917], and "The Jade Mountain" [1925], all set in China Wentworth Press 9¼x6 pb [2/2019] for $15.95 Palala Press 9¼x6 hardcover [5/2016] for $26.95 available as free online flip-book at Internet Archive etext available online at Library of Congress {as .PDF pages in sequence} |
"Dinty" [studio Nov 1920]
 | Dinty is a newsboy whose fight to care for his ailing mother leads him into conflicts with the other boys on the street and then with drug smugglers in Chinatown • Produced, co-written & co-directed by Marshall Neilan; co-directed by John McDermott; co-written by Marion Fairfax; starring Wesley Barry {as Dinty}, Noah Beery, Colleen Moore, Aaron Mitchell, J. Barney Sherry, Marjorie Daw, Walter Chung, Tom Gallery, Anna May Wong {as Half Moon, uncredited}, Newton Hall, Young Hipp, Pat O'Malley, Kate Price, Hal Wilson, Tom Wilson
Grapevine Video b&w Blu-ray [8/00] for $19.95 Grapevine Video b&w DVD [2/2021] for $12.32 watch full movie with Swedish intertitles [9/2017 upload; 1:12:08] online at YouTube |
"Outside The Law" [1920] Chinese Girl (uncredited) /tt0012538/
http://www.archive.org/details/OutsideTheLaw by Tod Browning 1920 silent 1.15.16
"The First Born" [1921] /tt0012172/
"Shame" [1921] Lotus Blossom /tt0012672/
"Bits of Life" [1921] /tt0011972/ starring lon chaney
"Mother O' Mine" [1921] produced by Thomas Ince /tt0012480/
"The Toll of The Sea" silent feature
[Technicolor / Metro Pictures Corp. Nov 1922]
 | Hollywood's first color feature film, in luscious two-strip Technicolor; restored in 1985 from original camera negative • A young girl in China rescues a foreigner from the sea; they fall in love and he promises to take her with him when he returns to America, but he leaves without her . . . • Co-produced by Herbert T. Kalmus; directed by Chester M. Franklin; script by Frances Marion; starring Anna May Wong, Kenneth Harlan, Beatrice Bentley, Priscilla Moran, Etta Lee, Ming Young
full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia Alpha Video Double Feature DVD [8/2011] for $6.98 with "Shifting Sands" [1918] starring Gloria Swanson watch full movie [3/2011 upload; 54:33] online at Internet Archive also available among the 50 films & clips on "Treasures From American Film Archives: Encore Edition" [2005] Image Ent. DVD [5/2005] 4 disks - out of prodn/used |
"Mary of The Movies" silent feature
[Columbia Pictures/Robertson-Cole/F.B.O. May 1923]
 | Partly filmed at Columbia's Sunset-Gower Studios; film considered lost until a partial print was found in New Zealand in 2010; girl from Iowa wants to be a famous actress; she gets a job as a waitress at the studio commissary, but the stars are not big tippers . . . • Co-written & produced by Louis Lewyn; directed by John McDermott; co-written by Joseph Farnham; starring {co-writer} Marion Mack, Florence Lee, Mary Kane, Harry Cornelli, John Geough, Raymond Cannon, Rosemary Cooper, Jack Perrin, Creighton Hale, Francis McDonald, John McDermott {as The Director}, Ray Hanford, Henry A. Barrows; with cameo appearances as themselves by then-stars David Butler, Marjorie Daw, Elliott Dexter, Louise Fazenda, Alec B. Francis, Wanda Hawley, Rex Ingram, J. Warren Kerrigan, Barbara La Marr, Edward LeSaint, Bessie Love, Douglas MacLean, Tom Moore, Carmel Myers, Zasu Pitts, Herbert Rawlinson, Anita Stewart, Estelle Taylor, Rosemary Theby, director Maurice Tourneur, Richard Travers, Johnnie Walker, Bryant Washburn, Anna May Wong, and many others
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Drifting" silent feature [Universal Pictures Jewel Aug 1923]
 | Underworld melodrama set in Shanghai, China; an American girl smuggling opium is put under surveillance by an American agent disguised as a mining engineer; the two fall in love, and she determines to get out of the drug business, but is afraid of the man who is the head of the drug ring that she worked for • Presented by Carl Laemmle; co-written & directed by Tod Browning; co-written by Gardner Bradford & A.P. (Andrew Percival) Younger, based on the hit Broadway stageplay by John Colton & Daisy H. Andrews; starring Matt Moore, Wallace Beery, Anna May Wong (at age 17), Priscilla Dean (dual role), J. Farrell MacDonald, Rose Dione, Edna Tichenor, Bruce Guerin, Bessie Wong, William V. Mong, Marie De Albert, William F. Moran, Frank Lanning, Bynunsky Hyman; prints exist at three film archives in Europe • VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Thundering Dawn" [1923] /tt0014545/
"Lilies of The Field" [Feb 1924] /tt0015071/
"The Thief of Bagdad"
[United Artists March 1924 silent feature]
"The Fortieth Door" [1924] /tt0014927/
"The Alaskan" [1924] /tt0014655/
cinematography by James Wong Howe
"Peter Pan" silent feature film [Paramount Pictures Dec 1924]
  | 105-minute b&w silent movie filmed on Santa Catalina Island near Los Angeles; Peter Pan and fairy Tinkerbell enter the Darling home in search of Peter's shadow; he takes the Darling children back with him to Neverland where they fight against Capt. Hook and his pirate crew before being returned to their warm beds in London • Authorized adaptation produced by Herbert Brenon, Jesse L. Lasky & Adolph Zukor; directed by Herbert Brenon; scenario by Willis Goldbeck, with intertitle dialogue by J.M. Barrie; cinema-tography by James Wong Howe; starring Betty Bronson {as Peter Pan}, Mary Brian {as Wendy}, Ernest Torrence {as Hook}, Virginia Brown Faire {as Tinker Bell}, Esther Ralston, Cyril Chadwick, Jack Murphy, Philippe De Lacy, George Ali {as Nana the Dog}, Anna May Wong {as Tiger Lily}, Maurice Murphy, Mickey McBan, George Crane Jr., Winston & Weston Doty, Terence McMillan, Louis Morrison, Edward Kipling, Ralph Yearsley, Ed Jones, Percy Barbat, Richard Frazier, Maurice de Canonge, Robert Milasch & Charles A. Stevenson; listed on National Film Registry (2000)
Kino Video b&w DVD [11/99] for $17.44 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia • watch excerpt [2:15] at YouTube watch full movie [1:40:12] online at Internet Archive |
"Forty Winks" [1925] /tt0015835/
"His Supreme Moment" [1925] as harem girl in play (uncredited) /tt0015920/
"Fifth Avenue" [1926] /tt0016853/
"A Trip To Chinatown" [1926] /tt0017484/
"The Silk Bouquet" [1926] aka "Dragon Horse" /tt0017390/
"The Desert's Toll" [1926] /tt0016777/
"Driven From Home" [1927] /tt0017831/
"Mr. Wu" [1927] as Loo Song /tt0018179/
"The Honorable Mr. Buggs" short [1927] as Baroness Stoloff /tt0018008/
"Old San Francisco" [1927] /tt0018218/
"Why Girls Love Sailors" short [1927] as Delamar (scenes deleted) /tt0018573/
"The Chinese Parrot" [Universal Oct 1927 silent feature]
A wealthy eccentric in the California desert buys a string of pearls, and Charlie Chan helps transport them to him. After the killing of a parrot
and of the Chinese houseboy, Charlie masquerades as a pidgin-speaking Chinese cook •
Directed by Paul Leni; starring Sôjin Kamiyama {as Chan},
Anna May Wong • considered to be a 'lost' film, video/DVD not available
full credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia
"The Devil Dancer" [1927] /tt0017806/
"Streets of Shanghai" [1927] /tt0019432/
"Souvenirs" short [1928] /tt1027746/
"The Crimson City" silent feature [Warner Bros. March 1928]
 | An Asian woman is rescued from slavery by a fugitive of European ancestry; they fall in love, but prevailing mores about race doom the romance; she leaves him so that he may marry a Caucasian; released with a Vitaphone soundtrack of a music score and sound effects. The only known surviving copy is kept at the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducros Hicken in Buenos Aires, Argentina; a trailer for the film survives among the holdings of the Library of Congress • Directed by Archie Mayo; story & scenario by Anthony Coldeway; intertitles by James A./Jimmy Starr; starring Myrna Loy, John Miljan, Leila Hyams, Sôjin (Kamiyama), Matthew Betz, Anders Randolf, Anna May Wong, Richard Tucker
DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Across To Singapore" [1928] /tt0018618/
"Chinatown Charlie" [1928] /tt0018766/
"Song" [British Intl. Pictures/Süd-Film Aug 1928, USA Dec 1929]
 | original title: "Schmutziges Geld (Dirty Money)"; filmed at Studio Babelsberg in Germany; 'A tense drama in which the soul of a little dancing girl shines like a beacon light in a sea of hate, greed, lust, and revenge'; a famous painter commits a murder for his lover and is forced to go underground in the seedy harbor district; he saves a poor Malaysian girl and she loves him for it; together they appear at the popular cabaret of the port, he as a knife artist, she as a dancer • Produced & directed by Richard Eichberg; written by Helen Gosewish & Adolf Lantz, based on a novel by Karl Vollmöller; starring Anna May Wong {title role}, Heinrich George, Mary Kid, Hans Adalbert von Schlettow, Paul Hörbiger, Julius E. Herrmann
DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia the only extant footage of this film is reel 5 of 5 of a Canadian 9.5mm Pathé-Baby print with notched titles watch 5th reel with French intertitles [2/2016 upload; 10:18] online at YouTube |
"Piccadilly" silent feature [British Intl. Pictures U.K. Feb 1929, USA June 1929]
 | "Bold, beautifully crafted . . . one of the truly great films of the silent era." – Martin Scorsese • A young Chinese woman working in the kitchen at a London dance club is given the chance to become the club's main act which unfortunately leads to betrayal, forbidden love, and murder • Produced & directed by E.A. (Ewald André) Dupont; original screenplay by Arnold Bennett; starring Gilda Gray, Anna May Wong, Jameson Thomas, Cyril Ritchard, King Hou Chang, Hannah Jones, Gordon Begg, Harry Terry, Debroy Somers and His Band, Vi Kaley, Charles Laughton, John Longden, Ray Milland, Charles Paton, Ellen Pollock, Jack Raine; both DVDs are the version restored by British Film Institute, with new? orchestral score by Neil Brand
Milestone/Image Ent. b&w DVD [3/2005] out of prodn/used British Film Institute Region 2 b&w DVD [3/2005] out of prodn/used in PAL format only full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia Shosho's seduction of the cabaret audience with her dance is a triumph watch dance sequence [7/2010 upload; 2:58] online at YouTube |
 | "Piccadilly Revisited" film & stage performance [Royal Opera House, London UK 2010] Film and video, dance, music, and drama performance inspired by the life of Hollywood’s first Chinese-American film star, Anna May Wong, and by the classic British silent movie "Piccadilly" [1929] directed by E.A. Dupont, in which she had a starring role • Presented by Chinatown Arts Space at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London UK; featuring dancers Yuyu Rau & Quang Van, and Calita Rainford playing Anna May Wong; written by David Tse Ka-Shing & Alice Lee; music composed and per-formed by Suki Mok & Ruth Chan; choreography by Sin-Man Yue & Anh Nguyen; short film sequences by Shan Ng & O Zhang • { online excerpt videos coded below } |
audio from "David Bradley Presents" [Sept 1982] screening at Berkeley {BAMPFA}
moderator Bradley: intro for "Blue Bottles" [1928 short]; piano score for showing of "Blue Bottles short to 28:55; post-film Q&A to abrupt end
listen to first audio recording [7/2020 upload; 31:36] online at Internet Archive
moderator Bradley: intro for "Piccadilly" to 9:00, post-film Q&A to 15:00, then intro for Colleen Moore's "Twinkletoes [1926], post-film Q&A from 19:00
listen to second audio recording [7/2020 upload; 24:20] online at Internet Archive
"Pavement Butterfly" [Süd-Film Germany April 1929, U.K. Dec 1929] /tt0019952/
"Elstree Calling" musical sound feature [British Intl. Pictures Feb 1930]
 | Very successful early talkie; filmed at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England; a series of nineteen musical & comedy vaudeville/music hall sketches presented in the form of a live TV broadcast to movie theaters; there are two running gags which connect the sketches: in one, an actor wants to perform Shakespeare, but is repeatedly denied air-time; the other gag has an inventor trying to view the broadcast on television. Four of the sketches are in Pathécolor (in shades of yellow & brown only) • Produced by John Maxwell; co-written & directed by Adrian Brunel; sketches directed by André Charlot, Jack Hulbert, Paul Murray & Alfred Hitchcock; co-written by Walter C. Mycroft, Val Valentine; cinematography by Claude Friese-Greene; sound recording by R.C.A. Photophone; hosted by Tommy Handley; featuring The Aldelphi Girls, The Balalaika Choral Orchestra, Gordon Begg {as Shakespeare}, The Berkoffs, Teddy Brown on xylophone & on snaredrum, Helen Burnell singing & dancing {in color}, Donald Calthrop, The Charlot Girls singing & dancing {in color}, Bobbie Comber, Cicely Courtneidge singing & dancing {in color}, Scottish comedian Will Fyffe, Lawrence Green, Gordon Harker, {co-director} Jack Hulbert {several sketches}, Hannah Jones, John Longden, Ivor McLaren, Lily Morris singing & dancing, Nathan Shacknovsky, John Stuart, Jameson Thomas, The Three Eddies blackface tap-dance trio, Anna May Wong {as pie-throwing Katherina in 'Taming of The Shrew' spoof}
Region 1 Blu-ray/DVD not available • Network b&w/color DVD [4/2014] for $9.10 in PAL format only full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia • watch full movie [11/2020 upload; 1:27:01] online at YouTube |
"The Flame of Love" [British Intl. Pictures March 1930]
 | Filmed at Elstree Studios in England; U.K. title "Road To Dishonour", also released as "Hai-Tang"; a Chinese dancer gives herself to a Russian duke to save her brother's life • Directed by (producer) Richard Eichberg & Walter Summers; starring Anna May Wong {as Hai-Tang}, John Longden, Georg H. Schnell, Mona Goya, Percy Standing, Fred Schwartz & Ley On • not available on Region 1 DVD
Network Region 2 b&w DVD [6/2014] import/scarce - PAL format Network Region 2 b&w DVD [6/2014] for £44.74 - PAL format via Amazon.co.UK full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia watch full movie [8/2020 upload; 1:15:06] online at Internet Archive AMW acted in three versions, an example of Simultaneous Bilingual Film Production
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"Daughter of The Dragon" [Paramount Pictures Sept 1931]
 | A young Chinese princess living in London is unaware of three things: she lives next door to evil genius Fu Manchu, her boyfriend is a federal agent sworn to thwart Fu Manchu, and Fu Manchu is her biological father . . . Co-produced by Robert Harris; co-written & directed by Lloyd Corrigan; co-written by Monte M. Katterjohn & Sidney Buchman; based on the novel "The Daughter of Fu Manchu" by Sax Rohmer; starring Anna May Wong, Warner Oland {as Fu Manchu}, Sessue Hayakawa, Bramwell Fletcher, Frances Dade, Lawrence Grant, Holmes Herbert, Harold Minjir, Nicholas Soussanin, E. Alyn Warren, Oie Chan, Wong Chung, Olaf Hytten, Tetsu Komai, George Kuwa, Harrington Reynolds, Nella Walker full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia unbranded all regions b&w DVD-R [undated] out of prodn/scarce watch full b&w movie [1/2013 upload; 1:10:22] online at YouTube |
"Shanghai Express" [Paramount Feb 1932]
    | Marlene Dietrich plays 'the notorious White Flower of the Chinese coast', who seeks to protect fellow 'coaster' Anna May Wong and ex-lover Clive Brook from ruthless rebel leader Warner Oland; the highest-grossing film of 1932 in both the USA and Canada; location filming in Southern California; the screenplay for "Shanghai Express" was adapted twice for remakes "Night Plane From Chungking" [May 1943] and "Peking Express" [July 1951] • Produced by Adolph Zukor; directed by Josef von Sternberg; screenplay by Jules Furthman, based on the story by Harry Hervey; music by W. Franke Harling; cinematography by Lee Garmes {cinematographer James Wong Howe [1899-1976] created only the rear-projection plates (seen through the train windows}; starring Marlene Dietrich {as Shanghai Lily}, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong {as Hui Fei}, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, Lawrence Grant, Louise Closser Hale, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Emile Chautard, Leonard Carey, George Chung, Wong Chung, Jack Deery, Herbert Evans, Willie Fung, Tom Gubbins, Forrester Harvey, Claude King, James B. Leong, Miki Morita, Minoru Nishida, Mrs. Sojin, Victor Wong; Oscar-nominated for Best Picture & Best Director, won Oscar for Best Cinematography • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia Cinema Master Class Blu-ray combo with French subtitles [3/2019] 2 disks for $23.99 Cinema Master Class b&w DVD with French subtitles [3/2019] for $39.99 Turner Classic Movies b&w DVD-R [11/2012] out of prodn/used Universal Studios Home Ent. b&w VHS [10/93] out of prodn/used watch 3/2019 French-language promo/trailer [1:55] online at YouTube watch original trailer [2/2015 upload; 1:40] online at YouTube "The Legacy of Shanghai Express" fan-made video [2019] watch 5/2019 video [15:47] online at YouTube |
"Hollywood On Parade #A-3" short film [Paramount Pictures Oct 1932]
 | 10-minute b&w docufilm; Eddie Kane goes on a tour of the Paramount studio backlot, popping in on the dressing rooms of movie stars of the time • Produced & directed by Louis Lewyn; hosted by Eddie Kane; featuring Dorothy & Roscoe Ates, Jackie Cooper, Bebe Daniels, Frankie Darro, Billie Dove, Jimmy Durante, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Helen Kane, Ben Lyon, Tom Mix, Anna May Wong, Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey
credits at IMDb • 'Hollywood On Parade' entry at Wikipedia available on DVD with 8 other "Hollywood On Parade" short films Filmchest Archive Collection b&w DVD [9/2014] for $9.99 Synergy Ent. b&w DVD [11/2010] out of prodn/used |
"The Son-Daughter" [M.G.M. Dec 1932]
Anna May Wong was very eager for the role of Lian Wha, but was turned down: she said it was because of the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules, others suggest that it was a matter of Helen Hayes's greater box-office appeal; the prior stageplay opened on Broadway in November 1919 and had 223 performances thru June 1920; movie produced & directed by Clarence Brown; co-directed by Robert Z. Leonard; based on the stageplay by George Scarborough & David Belasco; screenplay by John F. Goodrich, Claudine West & Leon Gordon; starring Helen Hayes, Ramon Novarro, Lewis Stone, Warner Oland, Ralph Morgan, Louise Closser Hale, H.B. Warner {note that all principal cast members are Caucasian}.
full credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia
"A Study In Scarlet" [K.B.S./World Wide Pictures/Fox May 1933]
 | The story bears no relation to the novel of the same name: Members of a secret trust (tontine) that meets in Limehouse are being murdered; a victim's widow enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes; the atmospheric doings involve coded messages, a pretty heiress, sinister villains, and a country mansion with a secret passage. {Doyle's 1887 novel begins with Sherlock Holmes solving a murder and arresting Jefferson Hope, an American; the second half is the backstory in Mormon Utah and a clever resolution.} • Directed by Edwin L. Marin; screenplay by Robert Florey, with dialogue by Reginald Owen; starring Reginald Owen {as Holmes}, Warburton Gamble {as Watson}, Anna May Wong, June Clyde, Alan Dinehart, John Warburton, Alan Mowbray, J.M. Kerrigan, Doris Lloyd, Billy Bevan, Leila Bennett, Wyndham Standing, Halliwell Hobbes, Hobart Cavanaugh, Olaf Hytten, Tetsu Komai, Tempe Pigott, Cecil Reynolds •
full credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia
Alpha Video b&w DVD [3/2003] for $6.98 Alpha Video b&w VHS [3/2004] out of prodn/used watch full movie [11/2006 upload; 1:11:18] online at Internet Archive watch full movie [5/2018 upload; 1:11:18] online at YouTube |
"Chu Chin Chow" aka "Ali Baba Nights"
[Gainsborough Pictures/Gaumont British May 1934]
  | Musical retelling of the "Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale; Ali Baba discovers the secret treasure cave of robber-baron Abu Hasan, and tells his greedy brother Kasim Baba where the cache is hidden. Zahrat, acting as a spy for Hasan, is blamed when the robber is almost caught, and Kasim is killed. Zahrat then decides to join Ali and his son, Nor-al-din. During a party, Zahrat kills the disguised Hasan, and his men are boiled in oil • Produced by Michael Balcon & Phil C. Samuel; directed by Walter Forde; screenplay by L. du Garde Peach, Edward Knoblock, Sidney Gilliat; based on the stageplay by Oscar Asche; starring Anna May Wong {as Zahrat}, George Robey {as Ali Baba}, Lawrence Hanray {as Kasim Baba}, Fritz Kortner {as Abu Hasan}, John Garrick, Pearl Argyle, Malcolm 'Mr. Jetsam' McEachern, Dennis Hoey, Sydney Fair-brother, Frank Cochrane, Thelma Tuson, Francis L. Sullivan, Gibb McLaughlin, Kiyoshi Takase; the DVD box set includes restored 102-minute U.K. version, 78-minute American version, and the rare 1935 film "Abdul The Damned" starring Fritz Kortner •
full credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia
V.C.I. Video DVD set [6/2005] 3 disks for $13.99 |
  | "Chu Chin Chow: A Musical Tale of The East" musical stageplay [U.K. 1916] musical stage comedy based on the "Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale; premièred at His Majesty's Theatre in London in August 1916 and ran for five years and a total of 2,238 performances; written, produced & directed by Oscar Asche [1871-1936], with music by Frederic Norton [1869-1946]; the first American production was at the Manhattan Opera House on 34th Street in New York City, which ran for 208 performances in 1917-1918 and starred Henry Dixey as Ali Baba, Tyrone Power Sr. [1869-1931] as Abu Hassan, and Florence Reed as Zahrat-Al-Huda. The stageplay was adapted in 1923 as a non-musical silent film and in 1934 as a musical sound film starring Anna May Wong • stageplay entry at Wikipedia Complete Book & Lyrics: Theatre Arts Press 9x6 pb [1/2016] for $14.95 Forgotten Books 9x6 hardcover [2/2018] for $22.27 |
"Tiger Bay" [Sept 1934] /tt0025896/ 
"Java Head" [Oct 1934] /tt0025326/
based on the novel by Joseph Hergesheimer
"Limehouse Blues" [Dec 1934] /tt0025399/
starring George Raft, Jean Parker, Anna May Wong
watch full movie [6/2010 upload; 1:05:33] online at Internet Archive
Friends & Family
Wong Liu Tsong was born in January 1905 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of a successful laundryman; obsessed with movies, at age 11 she chose her stage name
of Anna May Wong; for most of her life & career, she bounced back & forth between Hollywood and Europe, and between motion pictures and various stage venues;
she suffered an internal hemorrhage in 1953, recovered enough to continue acting, and died in her sleep of a heart attack in February 1961 at age 56.
father Wong Sam Sing [-1949] - died in Los Angeles at the age of 91
stepmother - married in China 1890; also stepbrother
mother Toy Li Wong [1886-11/1930] - married 1901
older sister Lew Ying (Lulu) Wong [1902-??]
Liu Tsong/Anna May was born second
sister Mary Liu Heung Wong
brother Richard Wong
three more siblings
she was a cousin of cinematographer James Wong Howe [1899-1976]
he was in charge of the camera on three of her pictures: "The Alaskan" [Sept 1924], "Peter Pan" [Dec 1924], and "Hollywood Party" [April 1937]
Lee Garmes is the credited cinematographer on "Shanghai Express" [Feb 1932]; JWH created only the rear-projection plates (seen through the train windows).
affair with the director Tod Browning, circa 1924
close friendships with Marlene Dietrich, Cecil Cunningham & director Leni Riefenstahl while in Berlin, circa 1928
affair circa 1930 with London-based writer & broadcasting executive Eric Maschwitz, OBE [1901-69]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Maschwitz
actress Anna May Wong never married
not to be confused with the ingenue actress named Anna May Wong, active in Britain circa 1959-62
{credits at Internet Movie Database}
who was the younger sister of actress Barbara Jean Wong [1924-99], active 1934-72 {credits at Internet Movie Database}
L i n k s
defunct Anna May Wong Society website [circa 2010] at Internet Archive
defunct Anna May Wong Society on Facebook [last entry 2010]
Anna May Wong entry at Wikipedia
list of 'Anna May Wong on film & TV' at Wikipedia
Anna May Wong credits [1919-61] at Internet Movie Database
search for DVDs on keywords 'Anna+May+Wong' {returns 50+ items} at Amazon
Cinema of Asia Page at Magic Lantern
Cinema of China Page at Magic Lantern
'Goddess Anna May Wong' Facebook fansite [est. 2018]
SO's 'Gods and Foolish Grandeur' weblog - 2018 post about AMW
here on the actress Anna May Wong [1905-61] Pages at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
on Page 1: top of page • • short profile • • movie & TV career, silents to 1935 • • friends & family • • links
on Page 2: top of page • • movie & TV career, from 1936 • • vaudeville /stage career • • other media • image gallery
on Page 3: top of page • • works about Anna May Wong
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