The World of Suzie Wong

The World of Suzie Wong was directed by Richard Quine in 1960. It starts off with character Robert Lomax whom is tired of working in an office and wants to be an artist. He decides to move to Hong Kong to try his hand at painting. Robert Lomax played by William Holden is a struggling American artist, who moves to Hong Kong to learn if he can really paint. He meets Mee Ling played by the beautiful Nancy Kwan, a tycoon's daughter on Hong Kong's Star Ferry. After departing and never expecting to find each other again, Robert checks into a cheap and local Wan Chai hotel. He learns that the hotel is actually a brothel, and Mee Ling is actually Suzie Wong, the most popular prostitute in the place. This classes "East-meets-West" romance made Nancy Kwan an international star. Refusing to accept Suzie because of her way of life, and surrounded by the prejudice of the local British colonials, he hires her to model for him and they end up falling in love. Because he is on a limited budget and wants her just for himself he doesn’t want to share her. He then meets Kay O’Neil, a respectable banker's daughter who begins to have feelings for him. Ben, a besotted British businessman separated from his wife, takes an interest in Suzie. In the film, Robert’s relationship with Suzie starts off as an artistic one, then becomes a friendship, then anger and hidden jealousy and internal conflict are involved, then passionate love, and finally he accepts her for who she is. In the process, Suzie transforms him and is transformed by him. When the monsoon rains come to Hong Kong, they are finally united. 

The film captures the colorful busy streets of Hong Kong, before it became the gleaming commercial capital that it is today. The film also made the cheongsam popular which is a high-collared form-fitting Chinese silk dress which afterwards became known as the Suzie Wong dress in America. William Holden’s charisma as the leading man shows real chemistry with Nancy Kwan. The supporting cast were also great with their performances. However, Nancy Kwan's wonderful portrayal of Suzie Wong which is her  first screen role really makes this film. The film combines genuine sex appeal with girlish innocence and courage in the face of adversity. Nancy Kwan’s performance was a success and she was awarded a Golden Globe. Watching the film, I really appreciated Nancy’s performance and her beautiful presence drove the film. Also, her and William Holden had great chemistry and that’s important when it comes to a love story on the big screen.

Sayonara (1957)

“Sayonara” was based on a novel by James Michener. It is about an Air Force pilot, Lloyd 'Ace' Gruvin played by Marlon Brando, and one of his friends, Airman Kelly played by Red Buttons, who get transferred to Japan after the Korean War. Kelly is excited about the move because he's getting married to a Japanese girl .The military don’t like that their men are getting involved with Japanese women but Kelly doesn't care. Ace agrees to be his best man. Ace is engaged to a General's daughter who meets him in Japan, but after a fight the engagement and the relationship is over. 

After seeing a show Ace falls in love with a Japanese actress, Hanah, who resists him at first, but eventually grows to love him too. Because it’s not allowed by the military or the Japanese officials to be with one another, they're forced to sneak around.  Ace informs his fiancé and her family that he plans to ask Hanah to marry him. Trying to intervene, the military transfers Ace. Kelly is also transferred to end his marriage. Unwilling to be separated, Kelly and his wife commit suicide. On a layover in Tokyo, Ace meets up with Hanah, who's show is traveling through. Forgetting about the the military's feelings, Ace asks Hanah to marry him and she says yes.

Sayonara has everything you could hope for in a love story which includes excellent performances, passionate love scenes, drama, desperation, conflict, and heartbreaking tragedy. I also loved the beautiful scenery in the film and it has a good soundtrack. It is captivating to watch as an audience member as well because of the beautiful men and women cast in the film. The film is directed by Joshua Logan in 1957 and it won 4 oscars including best actor in a supporting role:Red Buttons, best actress in a supporting role: Miyoshi Umeki, best art direction and best sound. Miyoshi Umeki’s Academy Award win made her the first asian actor to win an Oscar. Marlon Brando is one of my favorite actors and I love that they chose him for the role. If it was me I would have given him the Oscar for best actor. "Sayonara" is a worthwhile film to see. It offers a glimpse into the American forces that occupied Japan in the years following WW2. It also offers a compelling story about people connecting across cultures and it gives a taste of what life may be like on the other side of the world. 

The Toll of the Sea

The Toll Of The Sea is a silent film directed by Chester M. Franklin in 1922. It was produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation and features Anna May Wong in her first leading role as Lotus Flower. The story sounds like a familiar one. It's about a Chinese woman who meets a seaman, Allen Carver and they fall in love. They end up getting married but then he receives a notice that he has to return back to America immediately. Lotus Flower is devastated and insists that he come back for her; she wont forget him and she will be waiting. Days turn into months, months turn into years, and Allen has not returned. Lotus Flower has a son that he doesn't even know is his. As if it can't get any worse, Allen has married someone else, an American woman. She insists that Allen and her return back to China to tell Lotus Flower what has happened and that he is no longer with her. When Lotus Flower finds  out about her “husband” arriving, she is ecstatic. She doesn’t know that he is married to someone else. She makes sure her and her son are well pampered and dressed nice for his arrival. Once she meets Allen again, she hugs him and tells him that she missed him so much and her heart is bursting with tears of happiness. He begins to tell her that he is not her honorable husband and that he returned with his wife. Lotus flower is very upset, but she is kind and invites Allen and his wife to tea. At that time she presents her son but doesn’t say at the moment that it is Allen’s. Elsie, Allen’s wife, and Lotus Flower sit down together and she tells the whole story. Lotus Flower tells her to take her son so that he could have a good life in America with his father. The film was very easy to understand even though it was silent. The story was realistic as well. I am not fond of silent films that much but this one I really liked. I was captivated by the romance story, but felt really bad for Lotus Flower in the end. I do wish Allen ended up with her. 

Lady From Chungking

Lady From Chungking is an American war film directed by William Nigh in 1943. This is a black and white film by PRC pictures which is one of the two that Anna May Wong was in. Even though is was a low budget film, it was very well done and is a classic among her work. Anna May Wong was popular at the time because she was the first Chinese American movie star. She is a natural actress and her tone of voice is sincere and calming at the same time. In this film, she plays the role of Kwan Mei, who is the leader of a resistance organization in a rural village. She works at slave labor with a village of coolies under Japanese military control. The film takes place during WW2 after the Japanese invade China. The film gets interesting when two American pilots are shot down by the Japanese air force. The Chinese save one pilot, but the Japanese capture the other one and they keep him imprisoned in a hotel basement where the Japanese general in the region is staying. Kwan Mei makes plans to have them help her organization. The general, Kaimura, arrives in the village and she decides to disguise herself as an aristocrat in order to get close to him and learn what his plans are. She gets all dolled up to try and distract him. She is part of a plan to assassinate the general and mess up Japanese operations in the area. At the end of the film, she accomplishes her goal of saving the coolies and killing the general, but sacrifices her own life in doing so.

There is something in the film that I didn’t really understand and that was the reason for the presence of the blonde character. She speaks like she’s from Brooklyn but says she’s Russian. This is the character played by Mae Clarke. After realizing the time of when the film was made, I think the reason for this was because at that time every film had to have at least one blonde character even if the film took place in the middle of wartime China. Despite this, the film brought up situations that were true. There was a scene that was my favorite and it was when Anna May Wong was wearing her gorgeous Chinese gown and she acted noble against the nasty Japanese to help save the coolies as they were about to be gunned down. She didn’t want to blow her cover so she had to watch the old men be murdered and she shed tears as this happened. The film is only 68 minutes but it gets its point across quickly and painlessly.