The Good Earth is a 1937 American drama film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the 1932 play by Owen Davis and Donald Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck. The film was directed by Sidney Franklin, with uncredited contributions by Victor Fleming and Gustav Machaty.
Wong Liu Tsong, known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American film star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain international recognition. Her varied career spanned silent film, sound film, television, stage, and radio.
Dragon Seed is a 1944 American war drama film, about Japan's WWII-era actions in China.The movie directed by Jack Conway and Harold S. Bucquet, based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Pearl S. Buck. The film stars Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon, Akim Tamiroff, and Turhan Bey. It portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors, but the headstrong Jade (Hepburn) stands up to the Japanese.
The Hatchet Man (1932) is a pre-Code film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Edward G. Robinson. Warner Bros. had purchased the David Belasco/Achmed Abdullah play The Honorable Mr. Wong about the Tong gang wars. Made during the few years before strict enforcement of the Production Code, The Hatchet Man has elements that would not be allowed later, such as adultery, narcotics, and a somewhat graphic use of a flying hatchet.
Marjorie Reynolds was an American film and television actress who appeared in more than 50 films, including the 1942 musical Holiday Inn, in which she and Bing Crosby introduced the song "White Christmas" in a duet, albeit with her singing dubbed.
Daughter of the Dragon is a 1931 American pre-Code crime mystery film directed by Lloyd Corrigan, released by Paramount Pictures, and starring Anna May Wong as Princess Ling Moy, Sessue Hayakawa as Ah Kee, and Warner Oland as Dr. Fu Manchu. The film was made to capitalize on Sax Rohmer's then current book, Daughter of Fu Manchu, which Paramount did not own the rights to adapt. Despite being the starring lead and having top billing in this film, Wong was paid only $6,000, half the money for her role that Oland was paid for his, even though Oland had less screen time than Wong. In a 2020 article about Wong, O, The Oprah Magazine linked this discrepancy to racism.
Blood and Sand is a 1941 American romantic Technicolor film starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth, and Nazimova. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian, it was produced by 20th Century Fox and was based on the 1908 Spanish novel, which was critical of bullfighting, Blood and Sand, by Vicente Blasco Ibanez. The supporting cast features Anthony Quinn, Lynn Bari, Laird Cregar, J. Carrol Naish, John Carradine and George Reeves. Rita Hayworth's singing voice was dubbed by Gracilla Pirraga.
Daughter of Shanghai is a 1937 American crime film directed by Robert Florey and starring Anna May Wong,Charles Bickford and Buster Crabbe. Unusually for the time, East Asian American actors played the lead roles. It was also one of the first films in which Anthony Quinn appeared. In 2006, Daughter of Shanghai was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Anna May Wong was an American actress of Chinese heritage, who grew up in a culturally diverse neighborhood adjacent to Chinatown, Los Angeles. Her father believed in exposing his family to the creative arts, and often took them to see traditional Chinese stage productions. Young Anna, however, was fascinated by the emerging film industry in the area, and would fantasize herself as a movie actress like Pearl White or Mary Pickford. Her daydreams began to look like an achievable goal when local Baptist minister James Wang, who often worked with the film productions, recommended her as an extra in the Alla Nazimova silent production of The Red Lantern. Wong was only 14 years old, and eventually left school before graduating. While still a teenager, she was cast in the lead role of Lotus Flower in The Toll of the Sea.
His Supreme Moment is a 1925 American silent drama film with sequences filmed in Technicolor, starring Blanche Sweet and Ronald Colman, directed by George Fitzmaurice, and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Anna May Wong has a small role as a harem girl appearing in a play. The film is now considered lost.
The Alaskan is a 1924 American silent adventure drama film based on a novel by James Oliver Curwood set in northwoods country, as his novels tend to be, in this case Alaska. The film was produced and released by Paramount Pictures and directed by Herbert Brenon. The picture stars Thomas Meighan, Estelle Taylor and an early role by Anna May Wong.
White Woman is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Stuart Walker and starring Carole Lombard, Charles Laughton, and Charles Bickford. The screenplay concerns a young widow who remarries and accompanies her husband to his remote jungle rubber plantation. It is based on the 1933 Broadway play Hangman's Whip, written by Norman Reilly Raine and Frank Butler.
Kick In is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film, based on the 1914 Broadway play by Willard Mack which had starred John Barrymore, was directed by Richard Wallace and starred the legendary Clara Bow in her last film for Paramount Pictures.
East of Suez is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Pola Negri. It is based on a play, East of Suez (1922), by W. Somerset Maugham. The film was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Illegal Traffic is a 1938 American crime film directed by Louis King and written by Robert Yost, Lewis R. Foster and Stuart Anthony. The film stars J. Carrol Naish, Mary Carlisle, Robert Preston, Judith Barrett, Pierre Watkin, Buster Crabbe and George McKay. The film was released on November 4, 1938, by Paramount Pictures.
King of Chinatown is a 1939 American crime film directed by Nick Grinde and written by Lillie Hayward and Irving Reis. The film stars Anna May Wong, Akim Tamiroff, J. Carrol Naish, Sidney Toler, Philip Ahn, Anthony Quinn and Bernadene Hayes. The film was released on March 17, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.
Tip-Off Girls is a 1938 American crime film directed by Louis King, written by Maxwell Shane, Robert Yost and Stuart Anthony, and starring Mary Carlisle, Lloyd Nolan, Roscoe Karns, Buster Crabbe, J. Carrol Naish, Evelyn Brent and Anthony Quinn. It was released on April 1, 1938, by Paramount Pictures.
Undercover Doctor is a 1939 American crime film directed by Louis King, written by William R. Lipman and Horace McCoy. The film stars Lloyd Nolan, Janice Logan, J. Carrol Naish, Heather Angel, Broderick Crawford and Robert Wilcox. It was released on June 9, 1939 by Paramount Pictures.
Persons in Hiding is a 1939 American crime film directed by Louis King and written by William R. Lipman and Horace McCoy. The film stars Lynne Overman, Patricia Morison, J. Carrol Naish, William "Bill" Henry, Helen Twelvetrees and William Frawley. The film was released on February 10, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.
Thunder Trail is a 1937 American Western film directed by Charles Barton, written by Robert Yost and Stuart Anthony, and starring Gilbert Roland, Charles Bickford, Marsha Hunt, J. Carrol Naish, James Craig and Monte Blue. The film, based on the Zane Grey story Arizona Ames, was released on October 22, 1937, by Paramount Pictures.
