ASIAN-AMERICAN CINEMA
Before the dominance of Hollywood, most Asian-American actors roles were limited to the background and in offensive roles. Two APA actors, Anna May Wong and Sessue Hayakawa, nonetheless became superstars. They and a few other pioneers attempted to produce a genuinely Asian-American Cinema in the silent era. By the dawn of the studio era, Hollywood was the dominant voice in American film and Asian-American actors were once again limited to stereotypical roles, often in supporting roles for white actors in yellowface. Largely due to the influence of Asian-American theater and the efforts of those APA players involved, an authentic Asian-American Cinema was reborn in the '70s and '80s, ultimately expanding and diversifying in the 1990s and 2000s.
In the 1950s, an overwhelming majority of Hollywood films with Asians focused on interracial romance, mostly with women as war trophies. On the stage, musicals about the Far East like The King and I, South Pacific and Flower Drum Song were in vogue. Those, along with TV series like Hawaiian Eye, encouraged many Asians to pursue acting as a career. Anna May Wong's The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong became the first TV show to star an Asian American.
Aki Aleong Beulah Quo Chang Tseng
Dale Ishimoto France Nuyen George Takei
Ginny Tiu James Hong James Shigeta
Jaqui Chan Jerry Fujikawa Judy Dan
Kam Fong Lisa Lu Lucille Soong
Not pictured: Bill Saito, Candace Lee, Chang Tseng, Cherylene Lee, Edo Mita, Fuji, George Matsui, George Shibata, Gerald Jann, Guy Lee, Harry Chang, Henry Nakamura, Hideo Inamura, James Yagi, Jane Chang, Mai Tai Sing, Mako, May Takasugi, Michael Chow, Miyoshi Jingu, Miyoshi Umeki, Patrick Adiarte, Reiko Sato, Robert Kino, Robert W. Lee, Tsai Chin, Warren Hsieh, William Yokota and Willie Soo Hoo.
Asian American Related Films of the 1950s:
Go for Broke, I Was an American Spy, Korea Patrol, Peking Express (all 1951), Feng ye qing, Japanese War Bride, A Yank in Indo-China (all 1952), China Venture, Forbidden, Target Hong Kong (all 1953), Hell's Half Acre (1954), House of Bamboo, The Left Hand of God, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (all 1955), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956), Battle Hymn, China Gate, Sayonara (all 1957), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, China Doll, The Geisha Boy, Ghost of the China Sea, The Quiet American, South Pacific (all 1958), Blood and Steel and The Crimson Kimono, Tokyo After Dark (all 1959)
The 1960s also the growth of minority-minded civil rights like AIM, the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets and the Yellow Brotherhood. With Asian-themed musicals no longer in vogue, Asian actors struggled to find work in the entertainment industry. As a result, Asian theatre blossomed, beginning in earnest with Los Angeles' East West Players in 1965 and followed by San Francisco’s Asian American Theatre Workshop, New York’s Oriental Actors of America and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, and Seattle’s Theatrical Ensemble. The theater groups performed Asian-created works by the likes of Edward Sakamoto, Frank Chin, Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Momoko Iko and Wakako Yamauchi.
On TV, Asian American actors continued to be nearly non-existent with Green Hornet, Hawaii Five-O, Hong Kong, I Spy and Star Trek being exceptions.
In film, the fetishization of Asian women continued. More shocking was the way films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Thoroughly Modern Millie still represented Asian men in the most hateful ways.
Bill M. Rusaki Brian Tochi Chao Li Ch
Gina Alajar Harold Sakata Irene Tsu
Jack Soo Joanne Miya John Fujioka
June Kyoto Lu Kieu Chinh Lloyd Kino
Lynne Sue Moon Miko Mayama Nancy Kwan
Pat Morita Soon-Tek Oh
Not pictured: Alicia Li, Arthur Song, Brian Fong, Hans William Lee, James Shen, Lee Kolima, Linda Ho, Marc Marno, Reiko Sato, Tiko Ling, Tina Chen, Tsuruko Kobayashi, Willard Lee and Yoshio Yoda
Asian American Related Films of the 1960s:
Hell to Eternity, The Mountain Road, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, Walk Like a Dragon, The World of Suzie Wong (all 1960), Bridge to the Sun, Cry For Happy, Flower Drum Song, Operation Bottleneck, Seven Women from Hell, Visa to Canton (all 1961), A Girl Named Tamiko, Confessions of an Opium Eater, Girls! Girls! Girls!, The Horizontal Lieutenant, The Road to Hong Kong, Satan Never Sleeps, Womanhunt (all 1962), Diamond Head, Donovan's Feef, Tamahine, The Ugly American (all 1963), Man in the Middle (1964), Dimenson 5, Paradise, Hawaiian style, 7 Women, Walk Don't Run (all 1966), The Final War of Olly Winter, Kill a Dragon, The Mystery of the Chinese Junk, The Sweet and the Bitter, Thoroughly Modern Millie (all 1967), The Green Berets, Nobody's Perfect (both 1968) and The Wrecking Crew (1969)
Before the dominance of Hollywood, most Asian-American actors roles were limited to the background and in offensive roles. Two APA actors, Anna May Wong and Sessue Hayakawa, nonetheless became superstars. They and a few other pioneers attempted to produce a genuinely Asian-American Cinema in the silent era. By the dawn of the studio era, Hollywood was the dominant voice in American film and Asian-American actors were once again limited to stereotypical roles, often in supporting roles for white actors in yellowface. Largely due to the influence of Asian-American theater and the efforts of those APA players involved, an authentic Asian-American Cinema was reborn in the '70s and '80s, ultimately expanding and diversifying in the 1990s and 2000s.
In the 1950s, an overwhelming majority of Hollywood films with Asians focused on interracial romance, mostly with women as war trophies. On the stage, musicals about the Far East like The King and I, South Pacific and Flower Drum Song were in vogue. Those, along with TV series like Hawaiian Eye, encouraged many Asians to pursue acting as a career. Anna May Wong's The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong became the first TV show to star an Asian American.
Aki Aleong Beulah Quo Chang Tseng
Dale Ishimoto France Nuyen George Takei
Ginny Tiu James Hong James Shigeta
Jaqui Chan Jerry Fujikawa Judy Dan
Kam Fong Lisa Lu Lucille Soong
Mako
Michi Kobi Miiko Taka
Pat Suzuki Paul Togawa Tsai Chin
Victor Wong Virginia Ann Lee Yuki Shimoda
Pat Suzuki Paul Togawa Tsai Chin
Victor Wong Virginia Ann Lee Yuki Shimoda
Not pictured: Bill Saito, Candace Lee, Chang Tseng, Cherylene Lee, Edo Mita, Fuji, George Matsui, George Shibata, Gerald Jann, Guy Lee, Harry Chang, Henry Nakamura, Hideo Inamura, James Yagi, Jane Chang, Mai Tai Sing, Mako, May Takasugi, Michael Chow, Miyoshi Jingu, Miyoshi Umeki, Patrick Adiarte, Reiko Sato, Robert Kino, Robert W. Lee, Tsai Chin, Warren Hsieh, William Yokota and Willie Soo Hoo.
Asian American Related Films of the 1950s:
Go for Broke, I Was an American Spy, Korea Patrol, Peking Express (all 1951), Feng ye qing, Japanese War Bride, A Yank in Indo-China (all 1952), China Venture, Forbidden, Target Hong Kong (all 1953), Hell's Half Acre (1954), House of Bamboo, The Left Hand of God, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (all 1955), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956), Battle Hymn, China Gate, Sayonara (all 1957), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, China Doll, The Geisha Boy, Ghost of the China Sea, The Quiet American, South Pacific (all 1958), Blood and Steel and The Crimson Kimono, Tokyo After Dark (all 1959)
The 1960s also the growth of minority-minded civil rights like AIM, the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets and the Yellow Brotherhood. With Asian-themed musicals no longer in vogue, Asian actors struggled to find work in the entertainment industry. As a result, Asian theatre blossomed, beginning in earnest with Los Angeles' East West Players in 1965 and followed by San Francisco’s Asian American Theatre Workshop, New York’s Oriental Actors of America and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, and Seattle’s Theatrical Ensemble. The theater groups performed Asian-created works by the likes of Edward Sakamoto, Frank Chin, Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Momoko Iko and Wakako Yamauchi.
In film, the fetishization of Asian women continued. More shocking was the way films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Thoroughly Modern Millie still represented Asian men in the most hateful ways.
Bill M. Rusaki Brian Tochi Chao Li Ch
Gina Alajar Harold Sakata Irene Tsu
Jack Soo Joanne Miya John Fujioka
June Kyoto Lu Kieu Chinh Lloyd Kino
Lynne Sue Moon Miko Mayama Nancy Kwan
Pat Morita Soon-Tek Oh
Not pictured: Alicia Li, Arthur Song, Brian Fong, Hans William Lee, James Shen, Lee Kolima, Linda Ho, Marc Marno, Reiko Sato, Tiko Ling, Tina Chen, Tsuruko Kobayashi, Willard Lee and Yoshio Yoda
Asian American Related Films of the 1960s:
Hell to Eternity, The Mountain Road, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, Walk Like a Dragon, The World of Suzie Wong (all 1960), Bridge to the Sun, Cry For Happy, Flower Drum Song, Operation Bottleneck, Seven Women from Hell, Visa to Canton (all 1961), A Girl Named Tamiko, Confessions of an Opium Eater, Girls! Girls! Girls!, The Horizontal Lieutenant, The Road to Hong Kong, Satan Never Sleeps, Womanhunt (all 1962), Diamond Head, Donovan's Feef, Tamahine, The Ugly American (all 1963), Man in the Middle (1964), Dimenson 5, Paradise, Hawaiian style, 7 Women, Walk Don't Run (all 1966), The Final War of Olly Winter, Kill a Dragon, The Mystery of the Chinese Junk, The Sweet and the Bitter, Thoroughly Modern Millie (all 1967), The Green Berets, Nobody's Perfect (both 1968) and The Wrecking Crew (1969)
Relevant Tags
Independent Film (4), Japanese-americans (12), Television (38), Civil Rights (9), 1960s (40), 1950s (22), Asian-americans (32), Asian-american Cinema (10), Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (47), Hollywood (66), Asian-american Theater (4), Minorities (6), Chinese-americans (13), Korean-americans (14), Asian-americans (32)Recent Posts From Eric Brightwell
Comments
Most of the images don't even work. Disappointing.
"Anna May Wong: Chinese American Movie Star's Career was Derailed by Racism" http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/613225/anna_may_wong_chinese_american_movie.html?cat=37