
Anna May Wong
Actor · 1905 – 1961 · Los Angeles, California, USA
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.
Movies23
Movie7.3RomanceAdventureA recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
The Thief of Bagdad
1924 · 189 votes
Movie7.0DramaRomanceA beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Shanghai Express
1932 · 245 votes
Movie5.7DramaThrillerA pair of lovers plot to kill the woman's rich husband.
Portrait in Black
1960 · 26 votes
Movie6.1ThrillerDramaAfter surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the crime.
Impact
1949 · 67 votes
Movie6.8DramaAdventureAn Eskimo who has had little contact with white men goes to a trading post where he accidentally kills a missionary and finds himself being pursued by the police.
The Savage Innocents
1960 · 45 votes
Movie5.6CrimeMysteryIn London, a secret society led by lawyer Thaddeus Merrydew collects the assets of any of its deceased members and divides them among the remaining members. Society members start dropping like flies. Sherlock Holmes is approached by member James Murphy's widow, who is miffed at being left penniless by her husband. When Captain Pyke is shot, Holmes keys in on his mysterious Chinese widow as well as the shady Merrydew. Other members keep dying: Malcom Dearing first, then Mr. Baker. There is also an attempt on the life of young Eileen Forrester, who became a reluctant society member upon the death of her father. Holmes' uncanny observations and insights are put to the test.
A Study in Scarlet
1933 · 32 votes
Movie7.3DramaAfter committing a murder for his lover, Gloria, the famous painter Jack is forced to go underground. In the harbor district, he saves the poor Malaysian girl Song in front of two intrusive sailors. She loves him for it, and together Song and Jack appear in the tingle dungeon of the port, he as a knife artist, she as a dancer.
Movie5.3CrimeDramaAt her Chinese father's bidding, a woman goes to murder an enemy and meets a Scotland Yard detective.
Daughter of the Dragon
1931 · 23 votes
Movie5.7DocumentaryA history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019 · 7 votes
Movie5.3ActionThe film tells the story of Chinese guerrillas fighting for the Allied cause in Burma during Early in World War II, Chungking schoolteacher Lin Yang is recruited to help with the dangerous mission of protecting the Allied supply line from Burma into China. In spite of the danger involved, her determination to help is strengthened when one of her young students is killed in a Japanese air raid. Some time later, she is part of a group of Allied representatives departing from Lashio, on a bus traveling the Burma Road back to China. A bridge outage forces them to spend the night in a monastery along the way, and during the night they watch in horror as a supply convoy of trucks is bombed by Japanese planes. The timing and accuracy of the raid brings them to realize that either one of their group, or perhaps the priest in the monastery, is really an enemy agent
Bombs Over Burma
1942 · 8 votes
Movie6.5MysteryVentriloquist and world traveler Gordon Cobb is murdered by a gang of jewel thieves. Baffled by the contradictory clues, Inspector Queen asks his son, Ellery, to help out.
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
1941 · 4 votes
Movie5.4CrimeDramaA Chinese-American woman tries to expose an illegal alien smuggling ring.
Daughter of Shanghai
1937 · 16 votes
Movie6.8ComedyMusicElissa Landi and Charley Chase host an East Asian themed garden tea party in Hollywood. After introducing a few Hollywood luminaries who are attending the party, they present a number of musical and/or dance performances to entertain the crowd. This set of performances also includes ethnic Chinese actress Anna May Wong modeling some fashions she brought back from her first ever trip to China. Through it all, one of the guests, already inebriated, is having a few problems mixing and serving the cocktails he wants.
Hollywood Party
1937 · 5 votes
Movie7.0DramaIn Shanghai, an American girl who helps run an opium ring meets an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she has to determine where her loyalties lie.
Drifting
1923 · 5 votes
Movie7.0AdventureDramaWhile Joel and his older ship's captain brother Mark are at sea, the latter is abandoned in Singapore by devious ship's mate Finch who, upon their return, convinces the townspeople that Joel abandoned his brother. Joel, determined to not only find Mark but to see justice done, returns the ship to Singapore.
Across to Singapore
1928 · 12 votes
Movie10.0DramaFrench language version. A Chinese cabaret singer will do whatever it takes to save her brother when he is sentenced to death for trying to save her from a lecherous Duke.
Movie5.6CrimeDramaA Chinese general's daughter tracks her father to a slave-labor tyrant's jungle empire.
Island of Lost Men
1939 · 9 votes
Movie6.9FamilyAdventurePeter Pan enters the nursery of the Darling children and, with the help of fairy dust, leads them off to Never Never Land, where they meet the nefarious Captain Hook.
Peter Pan
1924 · 49 votes
Movie6.3DramaRomanceA young Chinese woman saves an American man washed up onto the shore and the two fall in love, only for him to have second thoughts.
The Toll of the Sea
1923 · 31 votes
Movie6.6CrimeDramaRacketeer Steve Recka, art patron and political power-maker, rules his town and Madame Lan Ying, his beautiful friend and hostess (read:mistress), with an iron hand. He meets Margaret Van Kase, a socialite not impressed by his power nor his wealth, having no money herself, and Steve makes frantic efforts to win her and turns away from the loyal Lin Yang.
Dangerous to Know
1938 · 9 votes
Movie5.6ComedyStan is a sailor whose girl gets kidnapped by a rough sea captain. Stan dresses in drag and seduces the captain but the captain's wife catches him. Stan and his girl beat a hasty retreat as the captain's wife fires off a parting shot.
Why Girls Love Sailors
1927 · 23 votes
Movie6.2CrimeDramaSilent Madden and his daughter Molly have left the criminal underworld of San Francisco thanks to the wise teachings of Chang Low, a Confucian master. But the evil Black Mike Sylva is determined to frame Madden to avenge a mistake from the past…
Outside the Law
1921 · 21 votes
Movie6.5DramaCrimeA young Chinese woman, working in the kitchen at a London dance club, is given the chance to become the club's main act.
Piccadilly
1929 · 35 votes
Series8
TV3.8DramaMysteryClimax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
Climax!
1954 · 12 votes
TV6.8DramaWesternThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a television western series loosely based on the life of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black-and-white program aired for 229 episodes on ABC from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian in the title role.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955 · 21 votes
TV6.1Action & AdventureDramaAdventures in Paradise is an American television series created by James Michener which ran on ABC from 1959 until 1962, starring Gardner McKay as Adam Troy, the captain of the schooner Tiki III, which sailed the South Pacific looking for passengers and adventure. USA Network aired reruns of this series between 1984 and 1988. The plots deal with the romantic and detective stories of Korean War veteran Troy. The supporting cast, varying from season to season, features George Tobias, Guy Stockwell, and Linda Lawson.
Adventures in Paradise
1959 · 7 votes
TV7.3Action & AdventureDramaDanger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.
Danger Man
1960 · 25 votes
TV6.4DramaAn American anthology drama television series hosted by Barbara Stanwyck served.
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
1960 · 5 votes
- TV6.8ComedyDrama
Producers' Showcase is an American anthology television series that was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth Monday at 8 p.m. ET for three seasons, beginning October 18, 1954. The final episode, the last of 37, was broadcast May 27, 1957. Showcase Productions, Inc., packaged and produced the series, which received seven Emmy Awards, including the 1956 award for Best Dramatic Series.
Producers' Showcase
1954 · 5 votes
TV10.0DocumentaryWar & PoliticsThis five-part series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, international relations, and cultural innovation. It is a timely, clear-eyed look at the vital role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation. Their stories are a celebration of the grit and resilience of a people that reflects the experience of all Americans.
Asian Americans
2020 · 1 votes
- TV8.0Mystery
The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong was an American television series which aired on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. It starred Chinese American silent film and talkie star Anna May Wong, who played a detective in a role written specifically for her. The Gallery of Madame Liu Tsong was the first U.S. television series starring an Asian-American series lead.
The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong
1951 · 1 votes