King of Chinatown

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.

Akim Tamiroff is King of Chinatown. At least, he's head of the gang that is currently setting up a protective agency, which everyone knows and no one says. Lawyer Philip Ahn asks him to use his 'influence' to protective loved pharmacist and herbalist Sidney Toler, whose daughter, Anna May Wong, is a newly minted doctor, about to head off to work for the Red Cross in China. Tamiroff is considering the impact, when a gang war catches him in the crossfire. He's wounded, and nursed privately by Miss Wong.

It's a very interesting little programmer from Paramount that looks like it might have been planned at some stage for Josef von Sternberg, but its handling is far too conventional for Von. Tamiroff plays his usual tough mobster, but under the dignified ministrations of Miss Wong, he falls in love, and becomes more thoughtful. Meanwhile, his underlings, led by J. Carroll Naish and Anthony Quinn, take advantage of Tamiroff's absence to push him off.

It's the conflict between these two threads that make the story, and that looks pretty standard. What is not standard is the redemption thread, which humanizes both the leads very nicely in interesting variations of their usual roles.

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.

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.