King of Chinatown

Sixty years ago America's hospitals were already staffed by East Asians, if Anna May Wong's skill with a scalpel is anything to go by; and she is supported by two future Charlie Chans in the form of well known Hollywood Eurasians Sidney Toler (resembling Tony Randall as Dr.Lao as her father) and J.Carroll Naish.

Heaven knows what part of Europe or Latin America a young & suave Akim Tamiroff (actually Russian) is supposed to hail from in the title role as anti-hero Nick Baturin; but Zorba was mercifully many years in the future when Anthony Quinn was required simply to be smoothly villainous in a supporting role as an all-American gangster.

There are a lot of positives about the depiction of Chinatown in this film from 1939, which is more than I can say about many other films from the decades before and after. Rather than a den of iniquity, with subterranean chambers and evil schemers dealing in white slavery, it's a place of honest businessmen. There is organized crime, but it's imposed from the outside the community by a gangster, who in turn faces competition to be "King of Chinatown" from a disloyal lieutenant and a rival. They shake down shopkeepers, kill those who resist, and run the usual sorts of rackets. Providing dignified spiritual strength is a dealer in traditional medicine (Sidney Toler in yellowface), his daughter (Anna May Wong), and her boyfriend (Philip Ahn), all of whom are presented sans stereotypes. Wong plays a skilled surgeon which is incredibly refreshing in light of the number of servant roles she was relegated to her in her career. She's radiant, and Ahn's character, while a little flat, is sharp about the corruption going on around him. There are other little bits, like how one of the characters points out how chop suey is an Americanized version of Chinese food, and a pretty tough Chinese-American boxer in the ring.

It's a simple film and only 57 minutes long, but drama comes in two ways: the aforementioned vying to be top dog which results in a murder attempt, and the fact that it's Wong's character who then saves the gangster's life against long odds and tends to him. The rivals then scheme against one another and try to exert pressure on the doctor through her father. There are a couple of violent scenes and some backstabbing, but the plot is a constrained and not one you'll probably get too excited over. Watch it for Anna May Wong, Philp Ahn, and 24-year-old Anthony Quinn though. These actors, along with the film's feminism and progressive depiction of Chinese-Americans, make it worth seeing.

Before seeing this movie, I'd never heard of Anna May Wong, so seeing that a woman of Chinese extraction played a lead role in this movie in 1939 was a surprise. Seeing that she played the role without being shoehorned into a stereotype was even more of a surprise. Her English was like silk, but that was the most oriental thing about her voice. Her performance in this movie was serviceable, but it's understandable that she didn't cause more of a stir in Hollywood, regardless of ethnicity.

In contrast to the racial authenticity of the leading lady, the same occidental actor who played Charlie Chan played her father, working hard to be something other than Charlie Chan but to still be the older Chinese American man. Somehow, during the course of this move, his off-pitch monotone reminded me of Dan Ayckroyd's Conehead skits. Plus, he got to deliver some of the strangest attempts to praise the Chinese identity within the American community: "We do not eat American food. I do not think many Chinese have heard of your great American dish, chop suey." While this is a nice try, it sounds pretty odd, considering that the producers couldn't put a real Chinese American actor into the part. At least they got an oriental, albeit a Korean-American to portray the younger man.

Rounding out this multi-cultural cast is Armenian-Russian playing a Russian mafioso who operates in Chinatown. He's the king, but he eventually shows another side, thanks to the kindness Dr. Ling (Wong) shows to him. Of course, she has her own motives for the kindness, but it all makes sense eventually.

During the first 30 minutes of the movie, it seems there are two stories moving independently. Only slowly do they begin to move together, and the handling of the points they overlap and intersect could have been the source of more character drama. As it is, they are too abruptly shoved against each other as some unseen clock ticks away expected run time.

There's an interesting montage in the middle of the film, which doesn't further the story at all. I'm guessing that there was some gambling and extortion and someone was getting rich. This montage is interesting mainly for being a bit obtuse. As unreal as it seems, there was more story here than this movie could contain. I imagine they cut out some of the clues about what was really happening so that Ms. Wong could have more screen time. Maybe it was in her contract.

Some things aren't quite explained, just mentioned. Dr. Ling dotes on her recovering patient so heavily, and we are left to wonder how a newspaper could stress a man so much after a gunshot wound, but still, she takes no chances. Pretty devoted for a surgeon who becomes a nursemaid (with an assistant nursemaid to boot).

And then, the film wraps up. Yes, just like that. I think someone died in the end, but I really couldn't tell. Maybe it would be too stressful for us to know the truth about that.

As I watch a movie like this, I try to imagine its potential. The story isn't a bad outline and I could definitely see Michelle Yeoh bringing more to the main role. Without massive changes, the story would still need to take place in the 30s, and ironically, I doubt current movie- goers would believe the Chinese-American female surgeon could exist in that era.

Frank Baturin (Akim Tamiroff) is the "king of Chinatown", a benevolent gangster (!) who runs a lucrative gambling house in the area. Most of the neighborhood likes him, but aged herbalist Dr. Chang Ling (Sidney Toler) still thinks he's just a crook. When Baturin is shot in an assassination attempt, Ling's gifted surgeon daughter Mary (Anna May Wong) saves his life. The two become friends, but the violent underworld threatens to bring them all down,

Running less than an hour long, this minor gangster effort could have been something special with a fleshed out script and some fine tuning. Seeing an Asian woman depicted as not only a medical doctor but a gifted surgeon was very unusual for the time, and Wong imbues her role with grace and dignity. Philip Ahn plays a lawyer, and his character is treated with respect, and there's no cringe-worthy racial stereotyping going on. You would think with Tamiroff, J. Carrol Naish, and Anthony Quinn in the cast that there wouldn't be a single piece of scenery left unchewed, but they keep the ham in check. Toler had already appeared as Charlie Chan once by this point, and he adds a long white beard to his standard Chinese characterization. The story gets resolved too neatly and too quickly, which is a shame as the film had a lot of potential.

This is another of Paramount's Anna May Wong vehicles of B length with much of the same cast we see in her other efforts of that time. It will be of definite interest to her fans. On this occasion, the portrayal of a professional Chinese-American woman of principle and good heart is well handled. In fact, some recent films could play close attention to some of the details here in that regard and learn from them.

Chinese culture and most other issues are also handled in a progressive fashion and not overdone. The cast and the director knows their craft and delivers. All that is satisfying given this is a 30s B movie without the time or resources to develop a lot of deep characters and sub-plots.