EPISODE 232: Anna Mae Wong
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CLIP The boss is about to offer you a real treat… daughter of Shanghai
Hollywood tried to stereotype Chinese American actress Anna May Wong but she had other plans…
CLIP Look into my eyes, my vengeance is inspired tonight
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BETH ACCOMANDO Welcome back to listener supported KPBS Cinema Junkie, I'm Beth Accomando.
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BETH ACCOMANDO Born into a Chinese laundry in Los Angeles, Anna May Wong became Hollywood’s most famous Asian American actress and a global fashion icon in the early 20th century. But Hollywood deemed this screen siren and stunning beauty too white to play traditional Chinese roles and too Chinese to play white lead roles. Throughout her career she fought against the racial stereotyopes of the “Dragon Lady,” “Madame Butterfly,” or “China Doll.” Even when forced to take on those roles she often managed to transcend them. Author Yunte Huang’s new biography Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s rendezvous with American History, chronicles not just her life and career but also the racism, sexism, and ageism that she faced in her all too brief life. (:38)
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CLIP Were you looking for someone lieutenant?... I might have been looking for you… I had hopes.
BETH ACCOMANDO Hollywood was looking for exotic beauty and they found it in Anna May Wong. But she was not willing to passively accept the stereotypes the studios wanted her to play. She seemed aware from early on that she was representing Asian culture and had to offer something different from what studios wanted her to be and what audiences might be expecting.
CLIP Do you know what you want to perform?... Yes, a Chinese poem…
BETH ACCOMANDO I need to take one quick break before talking about Anna May Wong with her biographer Yunte Huang.
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BETH ACCOMANDO Welcome back to Cinema Junkie. Actress Anna May Wong has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and her face on the U.S. quarter. She was a trailblazer in many ways for both women and Asian Americans. But because of the attitudes of her times that forbade an Asian actress from kissing a white man on screen, she was never really allowed to be a leading lady in the popular romantic sense. Some of her roles were severely criticized by the media in China and some remain problematic for Asian Americans today.
CLIP I see doubt in your eyes and the thought that I am a traitor… if I did not show the pain in my face, it was in my heart.
BETH ACCOMANDO As someone of Chinese descent, I love Wong and appreciate her struggles and triumphs. Watching her films, you can see a radiance and defiance even in her most limited roles. And when a rare film lets her shine like the silent Picadilly or the classic Shanghai Express, you wonder what she might have been able to achieve if cut loose from the social restrictions of her times. To discuss her career and films, I spoke with Yunte Huang whose biography Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s rendezvous with American History was just published. I began my interview by asking Huang to remind people who Anna May Wong was.
YUNTE HUANGShe was really the only Chinese face, genuine Chinese face on the screen for almost half a century, especially in the early days of Hollywood. So she was born in 1905 in her father's laundry in Los Angeles, just a few blocks outside Chinatown. And so she literally rose from laundry Man's daughter to be a global icon. She became a big film star. She was the only one really Chinese face. Because as you know, in the early years, most of the films, whenever they are China themed or Asia related, we also always have this called yellow face, right? So earlier I wrote this book on Charlie Chan. And Charlie Chan is a very famous example that white actors have heavy makeups playing Asian roles. So anyone was in the middle of all that kind of outrageous racism against Asians. But somehow, despite all the obstacles and hurdles, she managed to make a name for herself. And so my book was really about that experience. But know her struggles, despite her talent, her beauty and her tenacity, somehow her career came up, I would say somewhat short. Right? So that's the story.
BETH ACCOMANDO And she was born in Los Angeles. And tell us about how she kind of got interested in film because it seemed like from a very early age, she kind of was fascinated by that world of film.
YUNTE HUANGSo to draw analogy, for instance, today all my students have a phone in class. They play with phone, make teaching extremely difficult and challenging. So film technology was sort of like cell phones in those years. And so I think almost every American girl or boy would dream of becoming a big star, right? A generation of people who will come from any place in Ohio, Midwest, Illinois, you buy a one way train ticket and get off central station later on Union Station, La. And dreaming of becoming a big star on the screen. Fortunately for Anna May Wong, she didn't need to buy a train ticket. Hollywood actually came to her. I mean, not personally, but as I describe in the book, it turns out Chinatown, given the kind of supposed exoticism, the people, the shops and the decor and everything, it was a ready made set for early films. And so Hollywood just need to go across town and we'll shoot a lot of scenes in Chinatown. And so growing up in that generation, Anna May Wang unsurprisingly was totally enamored, fascinated by the new technology and the dream of the career. So she started hanging out around film shoots and everything until one day she got a little kind of extra kind of big part in a film. And that's really set off her career.
BETH ACCOMANDO And also remind people of the challenges that she did face. Because it was not only trying to fight the images that Hollywood wanted to see on the screen, but there were laws against interracial marriage. I mean, there were real societal prejudices that existed at the time in the she had to deal with as well as just Hollywood stereotypes.
YUNTE HUANGOh, absolutely. So if America fell in love with Anna May Wang because of her looks, and she's stunningly, beautiful and talented, I would say that romance became a taboo also because of her looks, because she was Chinese. And as I said earlier, she was living at a time when yellowface was the predominant mode of performance. Just one example, anti misagination law, not just in terms of marriage, but also on screen. So a non white actress will not be allowed to kiss or be kissed by a white man. And that, of course, doomed her career in many ways that she won't be able to get a lead role in a romantic film, for instance. So she always had to play second fiddle. So we are talking about a time when Chinese will be considered as being too Chinese to play a Chinese role. I mean, forgive the tongue twister, but it was a sad reality at the time, but especially for Anna May Wang. And that was a big challenge she had to overcome. So, as you see, she later on, after her career had the great beginning in Hollywood, she was at the age of 16, she was able to play elite role, actually in Tall the Sea. This is like first technicolor film. And she did have a big part in an elite role. But then after that, she was never able to get another lead part again because of these racist practices. So she had to leave for Europe and there her career really took off. I'm not saying Europe didn't have any racial problem, far from it. But she somehow freed from Hollywood restrictions, she was able to take advantage of some of the cultural environment in Europe available. And she made a big name for herself and returned to Hollywood. And again, so it's the up and down of her career and this is really her story.
BETH ACCOMANDO And what do you think it was about her that allowed her to become this first kind of icon of Asian American beauty and talent on the screen? Do you think it was about her beauty, about her personality, about her tenacity? I mean, what do you think it was that allowed her to get as much success as she did have?
YUNTE HUANGWell, it's a combination of everything. Just like any dish you cook. It's the ingredients, it's the temperature, it's the timing and everything. I think in that way, she's really remarkable. And that was really for many years, she was really the only one. So despite all the stereotypical roles Hollywood imposed upon her that she had no choice but to play as if you look into her life, then you will see how remarkable she was in terms of doing this kind of very delicate dance between a Madame Butterfly kind of stereotype, a self sacrificing Asian woman and Dragon lady. This kind of daunting, threatening dragon lady stereotype. She was doing this dance in between and able to carve out a space for herself and a kind of creative space, but especially for the later generations of Asian American artists as well. And so in that way, she was really it's a combination of a talent, her beauty and her tenacity, certainly.
BETH ACCOMANDO And your book is not what I would call a conventional biography. It's not just a story of her life. So explain to people kind of what they can expect from this and what you bring into this story.
YUNTE HUANGWhen I was in graduate school, I studied with an anthropologist and a great anthropologist who did field work with Zunis. And what he taught me was that stories come with their own telling. As you said, my book is not a typical biography, is that I would try to bring not just the stories, but their tellings. For instance, Anna May Wang's trip to China when she was very disappointed. Once again, the biggest disappointment in her life was her inability to get this big part in The Good Earth. And that was like the biggest China film at the time. When Pearl Buck won the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize, everybody knew that Good Earth will be the biggest China film of those years. And Anna May Wang, given her status, her talent, everything, she'll be perfect for the lead role, a female lead. Once again, Hollywood's addiction to yellowface led to casting Louise Reyna, the Austrian actress. I mean, to her credit, Louise Reyna was very good. She actually won an Oscar for that role. And Paul Mooney, the male lead, was also very talented. Again, it's yellow face. So when Anna May one was utterly disappointed, and so she took off for China, unlike last time she went to Europe, but this time, 1936, Europe was in a you know, the war was coming. It was not just not possible. So she went to China. And so I grew up in China. I know all those places. So one of the things I wanted to do in my book was not simply to retrace her footsteps in Shanghai, Hong Kong, or in, you know, I went to college in Beijing. But I really want to have a lot of emotional investment in telling her story, is to figure out how she will feel during her soul searching China trip. How would she feel about her ancestral village where she had never seen, although she have heard a great deal about her father, came from there, all her ancestors. In order to convey those feelings, merely kind of telling. The biographical fact is certainly not enough. I need to bring the scene of telling as well. I guess that's kind of how differently I will approach these narratives.
BETH ACCOMANDO And you've written about other iconic Asians. You did a book on the Siamese twins, the famous Siamese twins, and you mentioned Charlie Chan. And all of your books bear the subtitle of rendezvous with American history. And what's important to you about including that in the titles?
YUNTE HUANGWell, I'm a mystery. See, Rendezvous sounds know casing the joint, and there's a mystery about it. This is a trilogy, as you said. This trilogy is called Rendezvous With America. I'm interested in describing the epic journey of Asian Americans in the making of American history. Three or four, depending how you count the Siamese twins. Right? Because they're joined, but there's one icon, but actually two human beings. And so these cultural icons, they are very complicated, complex. For instance, Charlie Chan is an obvious example. Right. The first of my trilogy. It's a very controversial figure, and a lot of Asian Americans still feel quite ambivalent about it because it's a yellow face and demeaning character of Asians.
CLIP Mr. Charlie Chan. Humbly acknowledged name. I'm Philip Nash, sir. Stanley Woodland secretary. Almost happy to make acquaintances. This is Sir Stanley's niece, Miss Diana Woodland from Canada. Sir Stanley asked me to apologize for not meeting you himself, but he was detained on business. You will see him, of course, at the banquet tonight. There is banquet? Oh, why of course? The arrival in Shanghai so distinguished a visitor can't go unnoticed, much flattered by unexpected acknowledgement of humble efforts. You'll have to make a the idea of making speech bring goose pimples. Much scared.
YUNTE HUANGOn the other hand, there's also the very funny side, a funny and creative side. That's something I found interesting kind of paradox in American culture. On the one hand, racial imagination, mimicry, is realized at the heart of American history and culture. The founding of this great nation was started with Palestine Tea Party. And of course, who are the partygoers? These are Bostonians dress up as Mohawk Indians and threw chests of tea into the harbor. So it's racial mimicry. So I would say that racism, racial imagination is fundamental to American culture. So when people argue that the Chinese young films should be banned, I will disagree. I ran away from China because I look for this kind of freedom of imagination and everything. So to look at American culture this way, I think Charlie Chang is a complex figure. We need to untangle it's like a Chinese box or one layer. There's another layer and another layer. So the same way with Anna May Wong, her legacy is really somewhat ambivalent. People are still very ambivalent about her because of the stereotypical roles she were forced to play because she had no choice. And so people are not happy, including a lot of Chinese from China. In China. So that China trip she took in 1936, for instance. Yeah. I mean, she was welcomed as the global star. People are happy about it, proud. But on the other hand, some critics were pretty kind of negative or nasty toward her for doing those roles. So I think I've chosen these cultural icons who are kind of complex, not easy to interpret. And through them I came to understand American culture. In a much better way.
BETH ACCOMANDO And you brought up the fact that some people would like to ban some of these films that don't represent Asians in a positive light. And we're at this point where it feels like people want to censor the past to make it more palatable for the present. And I really hate that idea because for multiple reasons. But, I mean, I feel like we can't appreciate where we are if we don't know where we've come from and we can't see how far we've come and how far we still need to go. So kind of address that. I mean, why is it important for us to see some of these films of Anna May Wong, some of them where she really kind of transcends a role, some of them where she's really kind of boxed in by it? But I feel like we need to see these films maybe with a context, but we need to see these films.
YUNTE HUANGOh, absolutely. I mean, I'm not saying cancel culture or anything. I think that's kind of empty slogan. People use their label to get whatever they want. But once again, if you understand racial mimicry lies at the heart of American culture, then you have to understand, yeah, yellowface is racist. But on the other hand, racial imagination was really the driving force of American culture. So today, for instance, we are celebrating the phenomenal success of not just in literature in a Chinatown by Charles Yu, win major prizes, and we have squid game on Netflix from Korea, and, of course, Michelle Yeoh winning Oscar, as if we're celebrating all these phenomenal successes. But you have to understand how far we have traveled. Only about 50 or 60 years ago, Anna May Wong, one of the most beautiful Chinese actress talented, was not able to play a Chinese role because she was considered not Chinese enough in some ways according to American stereotype. Understand that. And today, Michelle yeo can win Oscar. So when I saw that, I felt as if animal Wong had come back alive to reclaim the title that she deserved. So you're absolutely right. Without understanding where we have been through, we won't be able to understand what the hell is going on. What does this mean? So everybody, of course, is drawn to glamour and the spectacle and the spectacle success and everything. But I'm really trying to look underneath to find out what lies underneath all that glitter. And so that's really the Anna May wang story.
BETH ACCOMANDO And also, I have to say that even when she was kind of boxed into these stereotypical roles, there is something about her that is really kind of transcendent above the role.
YUNTE HUANGOh, yes. Her ability to pull it off, just to understand she survived. Not just survived, but thrived in the moment of key transitions in Hollywood, right from silent to talkie and then from film to television, she survived all of them. So people ask me, like, what is my favorite Anna May Wong film in the silent era. It's a no brainer. It's piccadilly she made in UK. This is like the swan song of the silent era. And away from Hollywood, she was able to play with a lot of kind of artistic freedom, and she was cast in the most provocative and erotic role. But despite the success, or maybe because of the success, she was invited. She was given this lead part on British theater on stage. British stage, right. In Shakespeare's Town. And the moment she spoke, critics were still fascinated by her performance and talent. But when she spoke, they were appalled by the California Valley girl accent. And she realized and that, of course, as you know, that's the moment when film transitioned from silent to talkie. And a lot of big stars fell by the wayside the moment they spoke. Right. And Annie Mung immediately realized she needed to work on her accent. And so she spent a lot of money, hired a tutor, a coach from Oxford. So she left America in 1928 as, like, this kind of flapper in chic clothing. When she returned two years later, she was wearing European fashion design clothes and sporting an upper class British accent. So, as you see, that kind of was able to transcend, not just survive the moment. And it came up. And just to give you another example, she was also on top of a film icon. She was also a fashion icon. Right. And that's still part of her charm in American popular imagination today, is Anna May one, the clothes. So she had this uncanny ability, for instance, to turn working class symbols, such as cooley hat, a coolie jacket right? And turn them into high class fashion.
CLIP General Kaimura is a very fastidious man who prefers the company of cultured women, ladies of high estate. You think you can assume such a role? I am Madam Huang Tai from the great house of Huang. My father's wealth was confiscated. Not confiscated. Lost. Lost? Good. You are an apt pupil. Meda. General Chimura would never know that you are not a lady of highest bay. Except for these. We must get rid of them. I own nothing else. Well, then, follow me to the hotel. That can easily be arranged. But do not walk too closely. It would not do for me to be seen walking with a coolie woman.
YUNTE HUANGI mean, imagine that. So that unique ability to transcend, as you say, is totally admirable.
BETH ACCOMANDO And I have not seen all of her films, but I've seen quite a few. And I appreciated that she never allowed the studios to make her speak in that kind of broken English that a lot of those stereotypes had. And I'm just wondering if she had battles to say, like, no, I'm not going to do that.
YUNTE HUANGOh, definitely. I think so. That's part of the reason she wasn't able to get everything she wanted, in some ways, the pushback. And so one time, for instance, when making the Shanghai Express again, that's one of my favorite in the talkie era. She was co starring with Marina Dietrich.
CLIP I don't know if I ought to be grateful to you or not. It's of no consequence. I didn't do it for you. Death cancel is dead tomorrow.
YUNTE HUANGAnd she was great despite the fact she was playing second fiddle. And this kind of noir-ish film in which she will speak, actually, I will argue, the best kind of deadpans. And so at one know, the director from Austria was very inventive and he actually hand painted himself the train. He kind of created China out of these cardboards. So anyone went over and said, well, this train does not look like the train we see in China. And Joseph Wang Sternberg, he said, well, that's what a train is supposed to look. By my standard, I mean, it's a great film, but if you look at a train, that's kind of almost like a surreal in a sense, in China. So it's a toggle war between reality and imagination, with fantasy and Anna May Wong caught in the between that tug of war between Hollywood's fantasy and the reality was out there, what China looks like, what Chinese Americans really were. And so she was given caught in this space, as you can see, this kind of struggle and the suffering. And in the book I call know, she suffered this kind of virtual form of foot binding, right? Hollywood imposed the rules and everything. And so having your feet bound, but still able to walk and not to jog, at least to travel and to take the steps. And that's the essence of enemy one story.
CLIP You cannot kill me. You cannot kill China. Not even a million deaths could crush the soul of China. For the soul of China is eternal. When I die, a million will take my place, and nothing can stop them. Neither hunger nor torture nor the firing squad. We shall live on until the enemy is driven back over scorched land and hurled into the sea. That time will come soon, for the armies of decency and liberty are on the march. For China's, destiny is victory. It will live because human freedom will not perish.
BETH ACCOMANDO And she seemed to be very much aware of kind of being this person to represent I mean, it's a big burden, but to kind of represent Asian Americans. And she seemed to be kind of aware of that in the sense of resisting some of those stereotypes that Hollywood was pushing on her and to make a statement with some of her films and some of her work.
YUNTE HUANGOh, yes, that's why I said, who can really best represent the Asian American experience all those years better than Anna May one? I mean, no one else, really. So she's not just the face on the screen in reality, in the war years, she was also the face of China when it comes to China relief, wartime relief and everything. She devoted herself wholeheartedly to this. So she's also her know, to her family. So she's really performing all this kind of multitasking in some ways, multiple roles, the demand and the restrictions and all that. In some sense she's not alone. For instance, just to give you an analogy, for instance, James Wang Hao, a very famous photographer, cinematographer, he won Oscar twice. So he was a good friend of Anna May Wong. He married a Caucasian woman, James Wang Howe. And the marriage was recognized. And when James Howe made a lot of money, he was very successful. And one time he bought a very expensive car. And when he drove it down to Sunset boulevard, the strip, people stared wondering which family will allow their Chinese houseboy drive around in such expensive car? And that's the kind of reality, right? So anyone will look at James Wanghao's career in their life, the illegal marriage, it became a cautionary tale for her. So she's not alone. She's orbiting in this Chinese community in Hollywood. She had a handful of friends, but they all share the same kind of prejudice, suffer from same kind of prejudice. Finding another example, Philip Ang. So in my book I describe the making of daughter of Shanghai when Anna May Wong finally her character was giving a romantic ending. But this time, of course, with an Asian man played by Philip Ang.
CLIP How would you like to live in Washington? Perhaps a change of climate is just what I need. Then it's settled. Does that mean you're asking me to marry you?
YUNTE HUANGAt the time, Hollywood rumor mill was going crazy over Philip An and Anna May Wang. Maybe they are romantically involved. But of course, turns out Philip Ang was gay and Anna May Wang is I think she's bisexual as well. So they're actually using each other as so called proverbial beard to fend off the prying eyes of the public. So she was living in a community, not alone. She's transcendent. I totally understand what she's standing for and representing as well.
BETH ACCOMANDO And what was it about her that made you want to write this book? Why this particular Asian American icon versus something else?
YUNTE HUANGWell, what's not alike? We are talking about one of the most charming, beautiful, talented and tenacious Chinese actress around in this trilogy. I wrote Charlie Chiang book first. And that was a surprise because I wasn't prepared to write that story. And until one day, for whatever reason, I wrote that. But writing about Charlie Chan the early I go once again, early days of Hollywood and annual one was right there, okay? It's inevitable. And she was also good friends with Warner Olin, who was the big yellow face actor of Charlie Chan. And they're know best friends and kind of ironic like this Swedish guy boy coming from America, dropping the oomlaoud in her family name became Eulan from Olin Americanizer himself. And became the big star of Chinese characters. He played Dr. Fu Mang Chu and Charlie Chan. The good and bad China Man. And so Mi Wang playing along on the side of Warner Oland befriending him in some ways. It's inevitable. I have to describe her and research her career. So for that reason, it's kind of almost no brainer when I was done with Charlie Chang book and then with the Siamese twins the second installment of my trilogy taking us back to the early, earlier century, 19th century American culture, the freak show and everything the attitude toward Asians using the Siamese twins as an example. And now back to Anna May Wong. It sort of kind of makes sense.
BETH ACCOMANDO What films would you recommend for people to seek out? And when I ask this, I also want you to recommend films that can be found because some of her work is hard to track down. But what would you give people as kind of a primer on Anna May? Wong on the screen?
YUNTE HUANGThe first one, I would say, is definitely Piccadilly 1929. It's a swan song of the silent era. And she was really, like I said earlier, enjoyed the artistic freedom to do things that she always wanted to do or not allowed to do in Hollywood. And the second one up will definitely be Shanghai Express with Marlena Dietrich. And it's really a well made film. And what I especially like about it, like I said earlier, despite the fact she was playing second fiddle to Marlena Dietrich she really pulled it off and stood her ground. And she was really the driving engine behind Shanghai Express, the train in some ways. And so if you look at that, you understand how talented she was given the small part of the role she played.
CLIPI heard your gramephone, ladies and thought I'd come in and get acquainted, if you don't mind. Not at all. Come in. It's a bit lonely on the train, isn't it? I'm used to having people around. I have a boarding house in Shanghai. Yorkshire pudding is my specialty and I only take the most respectable people. Don't you find respectable people terribly dull? You're joking, aren't you? I've only known the most respectable people. You see, I keep a boarding house. What kind of a house did you say? A boarding house. I'm sure you're very respectable, madam. I must confess I don't quite know the standard of respectability that you demand in your boring house. Mrs. Haggerton, I've made a terrible mistake. I'd better look after my dog.
YUNTE HUANGAnd after that, The Daughter of the Dragon, from which my book took to its title. It's really vintage and definitive. Anna May one.
CLIP Only one of the house of Foo can redeem our honor. The blood is mine. The hate is mine. The vengeance shall be mine. My flower daughter. The knife would wither your petal fingers gods of my ancestors if only thou had granted me another son. Father. Father. I will be your son. I will be your son. Swear man daughter to deliver the soul of Ronald Petrie to me, to our ancestors. I swear.
YUNTE HUANGAnd many people actually don't like it because of this kind of theatrical performance. And this is a vintage Anna May one, because that's the film that sealed her reputation as the Dragon Lady. But despite all that, you kind of have to watch that to understand the torture she had to go through to perform to do this role and to perform this. And these are like a three. I think it's a good starter and they are easily available.
BETH ACCOMANDO And another thing that was impressive about your book was the illustrations. I mean, there are some great images in there. So what kind of research did you do or how did you kind of uncover some of these images and decide what to include?
YUNTE HUANGOh, yeah, well, first of all, they are expensive to get. Imagine the copyright and everything. Yes. Anyone images that are all over the place. It's hard to choose, certainly. And I had to let go some of the images. I really wanted it, but they're just too expensive or it's impossible to track down the copyright holders. And unfortunately so one of my favorite of all the images, and fortunately it is included in the book, is Anna May one, wearing this coolie hat, sporting this kind of ten inch long nail guards, kind of gem studded nail guards. Right. As a college professor, I always had the fantasy I can wear these kind of ten inch long nail guards when I teach. They will make me a formidable teacher. Apparently, when I speak to my students, pointing at them, well, I mean, it's sort of a joke, but not really. And that image captures her charm in many ways as a fashion icon, a unique ability to working class symbols into fashion, but also the Dragon Lady like nail gods. So she's very multi. Her charm is kind of multifaceted.
BETH ACCOMANDO Well, I like the way she would kind of slyly take the stereotype and then twist it a bit so that she was playing into it, but also against it at the same time.
YUNTE HUANGOh, absolutely. Visually, she will do that. Really? She wear this Chinese robe, ship hao, as like her second skin. Visually, yes, but also verbally. One of the things I found out writing this book is that she actually barely graduated from high school, but she's actually very talented writer. She had more than 200 letters to her friends, but especially she has serialized newspaper articles she wrote when she was traveling in China. If you read her writing, she's actually very talented. So once again, going back to the tease and the humor and everything. So some of her Pet phrases are, know, orientally yours. So she will sign her publicity photo, say, orientally yours. And that phrase itself, as you see, is tongue in cheek. You can say she's accepting this. Kind of Orientalism people's attitude toward her. Although, on the other hand, she was also teasing Oriental New York. And the other paraphrase is like, Confucius didn't say this before. She kind of set her own kind of dead pen, right?
CLIP I possess everything within my reach, so I've stopped wanting. Mr. Confucius. No Len Ying.
YUNTE HUANGShe totally understood the Charlie Chanish stereotype people have that as if Chinese always, like, all Charlie Chan spouting off Confucian aphorisms. And so she would know Confucius didn't say this, so she totally at ease, I think, with this kind of how people look at her and how she can maneuver, at least challenge people a little bit, not kind of in your face, but she will do this in a very interesting way. And that's really part of her charm as well.
BETH ACCOMANDO
That was author Yunte Huang.
His new book is Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s rendezvous with American History.
That wraps up another edition of KPBS listener supported Cinema Junkie. If you enjoy the podcast then please share it with a friend because your recommendation is the best way to build an addicted audience. You can also help by leaving a review.
Till our next film fix, I’m Beth Accomando your resident Cinema Junkie.
Yunte Huang Questions
To start with, remind people who Anna Mae Wong is?
And also remind people of the challenges she faced trying to be a star in the 20s, 30s and 40s – not just Hollywood’s resistance to an Asian leading lady but also the social climate in which laws actually forbade interracial marriages
Your book is not a conventional biography so what can people expect from it
You call it Daughter of the Dragon, which was a title of one of her films. Why did you want to bring that stereotype into the forefront
You have written about other iconic Asians like the famous Siamese twins and Charlie Chan in addition to Anna Mae Wong, all three books bear the subtitle Rendez Vous with American History, why?
What attracted you to writing about Anna Mae Wong?
She seemed to know early on that she wanted to act, tell us about her youth and obsession with film
What impact did she have in Hollywood and on the American public?
She seemed to be aware of the important role she had representing Asian Americans.
She was forced to play stereotyped roles yet she often transcends them
What impressed you most about her? What did you want people to know about her?
She lost the lead role in Pearl S Buck’s The Good Earth to a white actress – a role she desperately wanted, how did this affect her?
What films would you recommend people seek out?
She remains an icon ever today, why?
Amazing illustrations, how did you select the images and how did you find some of these
A lot of people now want to cancel, censor or pull from distribution films that do not meet today’s standards of political correctness. I feel these films need context to be shown but that we need to see them to appreciate how far we have come and maybe how far we still need to go. Some of Wong’s films do not depict Asians in a favorable light but should we erase these?
