If opportunities for Asian Americans in silent films were decidedly limited, they may’ve actually worsened with the coming of sound. Several actors with Asian origins returned home, no doubt frustrated by the lack of work available in American films. The attempts by Marion Wong, Sessue Hawakaya and Anna May Wong to create an alternative to the degrading roles and yellowface of Hollywood had failed. For most of the Hollywood studio era, there were no works made by Asian filmmakers and Hollywood controlled depictions of Asians.

In the 1930s, series' like Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu, Mr. Moto and Mr. Wong furthered perceptions of Asian mysteriousness, whilst films like The Bitter Tea of General Yen, The Good Earth and others suggested that America’s taste for minstrelsy had simply taken on a new shade. Some Asian American actors nonetheless attempted to start careers. Merle Oberon was able to get starring roles after concocting a phony story about her origins and using skin whitening make-up. Philip Ahn, after rejection for speaking English too well, braved death threats after playing Japanese villains. Meanwhile, Anna May Wong worked abroad in less degrading roles.

         

Allen Jung, Barbara Jean Wong, Beal Wong, Benson Fong, Bo Ling, Bruce Wong, Ching Wah Lee, Clarence Lung, Eddie Lee, Frances Chan, Frank Tang, George Chan, H.W. Gim, Hayward Soo Hoo, Honorable Wu, Iris Wong, Kam Tong, Keye Luke, Lal Chand Mehra, Lee Tung Foo, Lotus Liu, Lotus Long, Maurice Liu, Moy Ming, Oie Chan, Paul Fung, Philip Ahn, Richard Loo, Roland Got, Soo Yong, Suzanna Kim, Teru Shimada, Victor Sen Yung, Walter Soo Hoo and Wing Foo all began their film careers in the 1930s.

 

 

Asian American Related Films of the 1930s:

The Flame of Love, Hai-Tang (both 1930), Daughter of the Dragon (1931), Secrets of Wu Sin (1932), The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), Chu Chin Chow, Limehouse Blues (both 1934), Captured in Chinatown (1935), The General Died at Dawn,The Leathernecks Have Landed, Shadow of Chinatown (all 1936), Daughter of Shanghai, The Good Earth, The Rainbow Pass, West of Shanghai (all 1937), Barricade, King of Chinatown, North of Shanghai (all 1939)

In the 1940s, a host of films were set in Asia. In many, Asian actors still only worked in background roles. With World War II, many men played Japanese villians and women were often cast as Chinese damsels in distress.



Aen-Ling Chow, Bob Okazaki, David Chow, Duckie Louie, Frances Chung, Frank Kumagai, H.T. Tsiang, Jean Wong, Jessie Tai Sing, Joseph Kim, Kei Thin Chung, Keye Chang, Lane Nakano, Leslie Fong, Marianne Quon, Maylia, Napua Wood and William Yip all began work in Hollywood.        

Asian American Related Films of the 1940s:

Phantom of Chinatown (1940), Secret of the Wastelands (1941), Across the Pacific, Bombs Over Burma, China Girl, Little Tokyo, U.S.A. (all 1942), China, Headin' for God's Country, Lady from Chunking, Night Plane from Chungking, We've Never Been Licked (all 1943), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), Back to Bataan, Betrayal from the East, China Sky, China's Little Devils, First Yank into Tokyo, Samurai, Secret Agent X-9 (all 1945), Tokyo Rose (1946), Intrigue (1947), Half Past Midnight, Women in the Night (both 1948), Chinatown at Midnight, State Department: File 649 (both 1949)

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.

  

Beulah Quo, Bill Saito, Candace Lee, Cherylene Lee, Dale Ishimoto, Edo Mita, France Nuyen, Fuji, George Matsui, George Shibata, George Takei, Gerald Jann, Ginny Tiu, Guy Lee, Harry Chang, Henry Nakamura, Hideo Inamura, James Hong, James Shigeta, James Yagi, Jane Chang, Jaqui Chan, Jerry Fujikawa, Judy Dan, Kam Fong, Mai Tai Sing, Mako, May Takasugi, Michael Chow, Michi Kobi, Miiko Taka, Miyoshi Jingu, Miyoshi Umeki, Pat Suzuki, Patrick Adiarte, Paul Togawa, Robert Kino, Robert Lee, Tsai Chin, Virginia Lee, Warren Hsieh, William Yokota, Willie Soo Hoo and Yuki Shimoda all began film careers.


               

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, 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' The 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.