Anna May Wong
Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress whose long career spanned both silent and sound films, television, stage, and radio. Apart from being recognized as the the first Chinese-American movie star, as well as the first Asian-American to become an international star, she was also seen as an acclaimed fashion icon due to her being the one of the early stars to embrace the flapper look. Born near the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with the movies at an early age and quit education to focus on beginning an acting career. After landing parts as uncredited extras in silent films, she had her first leading role in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first movies made in color. Her role in Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924) helped her achieve international stardom. Tired of being offered stereotypical supporting roles, she left Hollywood for Europe in the late 1920s, where she starred in several plays alongside notable names like Laurence Olivier. She made her final silent film in Britain titled Piccadilly (1929), which earned her wide praise. Her first talkie, The Flame of Love (1930), was recorded in three languages: English, French and German. She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937), and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express (1932). These films brought her more and more fame, which she used to express her staunch political views. Although she advocated for Chinese-American causes and criticized the stereotypical roles she played, Chinese press and critics continued to view her as a disgrace to the country. After experiencing the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading Chinese role in the film The Good Earth (1937), and instead chose a white German actress in yellowface, Wong spent the a year touring China, visiting her family's ancestral village, and studying Chinese culture. Returning to Hollywood, she starred in several B movies that portrayed Chinese-Americans in a positive light in the late-1930s. As World War II rolled around, she focused less on her film career and decided to devote her time and money in helping the Chinese against Japanese invasions. Returning to the public eye in the 1950s with several television appearances, she started her own detective mystery television show titled The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951), the first U.S. television show starring an Asian-American. She was scheduled to return to film in Flower Drum Song (1961) but she died of a heart attack. For decades after her death, Wong was remembered mostly for the stereotypical roles she was given although critics have begun to reevaluate her life and career. In 2022, Wong became the first Asian-American to be depicted on American coinage when the quarters with her image on them went into circulation. In 2023, Mattel released a Barbie doll modeled on Wong in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
The Thief of Bagdad
as The Mongol SlaveA recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
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Shanghai Express
as Hui FeiA beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a...
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Impact
as Su LinAfter surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the...
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Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
as (archive footage)A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
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The Savage Innocents
as HikuAn Eskimo who has had little contact with white men goes to a trading post where he accidentally...
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A Study in Scarlet
as Mrs. PykeIn London, a secret society led by lawyer Thaddeus Merrydew collects the assets of any of its...
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Peter Pan
as Tiger LilyPeter Pan enters the nursery of the Darling children and, with the help of fairy dust, leads...
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The Devil Dancer
as SadaAn English explorer disturbed by the practices of an isolated tribe attempts to rescue a native...
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The Toll of the Sea
as Lotus FlowerA young Chinese woman saves an American man washed up onto the shore and the two fall in love,...
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Mr. Wu
as Loo SongWhen Mandarin Wu's unmarried daughter becomes pregnant by a young Englishman, he seeks vengeance.
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Piccadilly
as ShoshoA young Chinese woman, working in the kitchen at a London dance club, is given the chance to...
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Old San Francisco
as A Flower of the OrientIn San Francisco, a villainous landowner with underworld connections seeks to steal the property...
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Island of Lost Men
as Kim LingA Chinese general's daughter tracks her father to a slave-labor tyrant's jungle empire.
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Across to Singapore
as Singapore Saloon Girl (uncredited)While Joel and his older ship's captain brother Mark are at sea, the latter is abandoned in...
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Elstree Calling
as Herself / Katherina in Taming of the ShrewA series of 19 musical and comedy "vaudeville" sketches presented in the form of a live...
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Daughter of the Dragon
as Ling MoyAt her Chinese father's bidding, a woman goes to murder an enemy and meets a Scotland Yard...
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Bombs Over Burma
as Lin YingThe film tells the story of Chinese guerrillas fighting for the Allied cause in Burma during...
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Shame
as Lotus BlossomWilliam Fielding, a young widower, is living in Shanghai with his little boy, David. A young...
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Chu Chin Chow
as ZahratMusical retelling of the "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale.
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Dangerous to Know
as Madame Lan YingRacketeer Steve Recka, art patron and political power-maker, rules his town and Madame Lan Ying,...
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When Were You Born
as Mei Lei MingA San Francisco astrologer correctly predicts a ship passenger's death and then helps the police...
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Bits of Life
as Toy Sing, Chin Chow's WifeThis film combines four short films under the title Bits Of Life. The Bad Samaritan is taken...
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Lady from Chungking
as Kwan MeiDuring World War II, Chinese guerrillas fight against the occupying Japanese forces. A young...
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Outside the Law
as Chinese Girl (uncredited)Silent Madden and his daughter Molly have left the criminal underworld of San Francisco thanks...
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Mary of the Movies
as Anna May Wong (uncredited)Mary's kid brother needs an operation and, in order to pay for it, Mary goes to a Hollywood...
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Portrait in Black
as TawnyA pair of lovers plot to kill the woman's rich husband.
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Lilies of the Field
as uncreditedA young mother, Mildred, doesn't know that her husband Walter is cheating on her. One night she...
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Why Girls Love Sailors
as Delamar (scenes deleted)Stan is a sailor whose girl gets kidnapped by a rough sea captain. Stan dresses in drag and...
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King of Chinatown
as Dr. Mary LingA Chinese-American surgeon faces a moral dilemma after operating on the mob boss in charge of...
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Just Joe
as Peach BlossomA shy detergent factory employee unexpectedly finds his feet.
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Drifting
as Rose LiIn Shanghai, an American girl who helps runs an opium ring meets an American agent disguised as...
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Dinty
as Half MoonDinty is a newsboy whose fight to care for his ailing mother leads him into conflicts with the...
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Daughter of Shanghai
as Lan Ying LinA Chinese-American woman tries to expose an illegal alien smuggling ring.
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The Red Lantern
as Eurasian woman (uncredited)Mahlee and Blanche Sackville are half-sisters, Blanche the daughter of an Englishman and his...
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The White Mouse
as uncreditedSergeant Blake of the Northwest Mounted Police is sent to the border to break up a ring of...
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His Supreme Moment
as Harem Girl in Play (uncredited)John Douglas, a down-on-his-luck engineer, takes his sweetheart, Sara Deeping, to a play...
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Hollywood Party
as HerselfElissa Landi and Charley Chase host an East Asian themed garden tea party in Hollywood. After...
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Limehouse Blues
as Tu TuanFresh from Chinatown in New York, Harry Young has taken over the illegal import business in the...
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Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
as Lois LingChinese ventriloquist Gordon Cobb is murdered by a gang of jewel thieves. Baffled by the...
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Tiger Bay
as Lui ChangMichael is a young Englishman abroad who deliberately visits a tough Chinese district of Tiger...
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The Crimson City
as SuGregory Kent is on the run for a crime he did not commit.
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The First Born
as uncreditedLoey Tsing, the first love of Chan Wang, is sold into slavery by her father. Although Chan...
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The Chinese Parrot
as Nautch DancerThe plot is motivated by a pearl necklace, which has caused the death and/or ruination of all...
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Forty Winks
as Annabelle WuThe Butterworth family attorney Gaspar Le Sage, and a suitor for the hand of Eleanor...
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Pavement Butterfly
as Hai-TangIn this, her second silent film with Eichberg, Wong plays Princess Butterfly, an exotic Parisian...
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Song
as SongAfter committing a murder for his lover, Gloria, the famous painter Jack is forced to go...
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The Silk Bouquet
as Dragon HorseThis obscure silent melodrama, directed by the veteran Harry J. Revier, was filmed entirely in...
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Flame of Love
as uncreditedFrench language version. A Chinese cabaret singer will do whatever it takes to save her brother...
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Java Head
as Princess Taou YuenThe port city of Bristol, England, in the 1800s is home to Java Head, a sailing ship line...
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Golden Gate Girls
as Self (archive footage)The film traces the life and times of Esther Eng, a San Francisco native known as Hong Kong’s...
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Driven from Home
as uncreditedA father throws his daughter out of the house when she marries a man he doesn't approve of. In...
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The Honorable Mr. Buggs
as Baroness StoloffMr. Buggs is an insect collector. A beautiful and mysterious Asian woman (the lovely Anna May...
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Chinatown Charlie
as Mandarin's SweetheartA likeable pickpocket happens to stumble onto a white slavery ring while plying his trade in...
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The Flame of Love
as Hai TangA Chinese troupe star and the Grand Duke's adjutant fall in love, to tensions from both sides'...
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A Tale of Two Worlds
as uncreditedA white child is adopted and raised by a Chinese citizen and brought to San Francisco, where no...
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The Fortieth Door
as ZiraAimee is a young girl betrothed to a rascal, Hamid Bey. An American archeologist, Jack Ryder,...
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Thundering Dawn
as Honky-Tonk GirlJack Standish feels responsible for the failure of the partnership with his father and goes to...
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A Trip to Chinatown
as OhatiA young hypochondriac who believes that he has only a week to live. His name, by the way, is...
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The Desert's Toll
as OnetaFrank Darwin needs to convince Muriel he didn't kill her Father, as claimed by Jasper and Oneta.
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Hollywood on Parade No. A-3
as SelfEddie Kane wanders round the studio back-lot, opening various doors to see which stars pop out.
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Fifth Avenue
as Nan LoWhen her cotton crop is burned, Barbara Pelham, a beautiful southern girl, comes to New York to...
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The Alaskan
as KeokAn Alaskan defies robber barons intent on corrupting the new state.
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Climax!
as ClerkClimax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was...
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Climax!
as MayliClimax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was...
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The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
as uncreditedThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a television western series loosely based on the life of...
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Danger Man
as uncreditedDanger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again...
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Adventures in Paradise
as Lu YangAdventures in Paradise is an American television series created by James Michener which ran on...
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The Barbara Stanwyck Show
as A-HsingThe Barbara Stanwyck Show is an American anthology drama television series which ran on NBC from...
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Asian Americans
as Self (archive footage)This five-part series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration,...
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