ANNA MAY WONG  
(1905–1961, b. Los Angeles Chinatown) 

Anna May Wong remains the most recognizable Chinese American Hollywood actor of her time. Her unparalleled film career spanned four decades, beginning in the silent era, and included work in Europe, on worldwide stages, and into the early days of television. The films programmed here show two of Wong’s contrasting on-screen personas: deceitful dragon lady and upright Chinese American citizen. 
 

Daughter of the Dragon 

After Anna May Wong’s breakthrough romantic role in The Toll of the Sea (1922), Hollywood relegated her to mostly stereotypical villainous parts, including the sadistic daughter of the evil Fu Manchu in Daughter of the Dragon. Wong stars opposite silent film idol Sessue Hayakawa, both in their first American sound film, with both speaking standard English at a time before Hollywood latched on to the common practice of directing Asian characters to deliver dialogue in overblown, accented broken English.  

King of Chinatown 

Under contract with Paramount, Anna May Wong embarked on a series of films upon which she exercised more input, starting with Daughter of Shanghai (1938), about which Wong declared, “We have the sympathetic parts for a change.” King of Chinatown casts Wong as a prominent Chinese American doctor raising funds for the Red Cross in war-torn China, inspired by the real-life Chinese American physician Dr. Margaret Chung. This fictionalized crime drama features Korean American actor Philip Ahn as Wong’s romantic interest, playing a lawyer out to expose corruption in the underbelly of Chinatown.  
 

Make It Dinner and a Movie

Fanny's Restaurant & Café

All guests who present a ticket for a film screening, Tuesday through Saturday (and the first Sunday of every month), receive 10% off all food and non-alcoholic beverages at Fanny's. Discount only applicable on the same day as the screening and cannot be redeemed for another screening or date. Dinner reservations can be made on OpenTable or Resy.