Hollywood Chinese

Arthur Dong's documentary about Chinese Americans in Hollywood movies not only features filmmakers, cast members, and clips from titles you'd expect (Charlie Chan, Flower Drum Song, Chan Is Missing, Joy Luck Club, Better Luck Tomorrow) but also offers surprises such as Yellowface actors and excavated footage from the first Chinese-American movie. While Dong intelligently addresses race issues and box-office politics, I found the overall tone to be more like a celebration than a sermon, and think it will interest not only students of Chinese-American and Asian-American culture but movie fans in general.

Check out Hollywood Chinese during its all-important opening weekend at Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills or Laemmle's One Colorado in Pasadena this Saturday and Sunday or in a return engagement at the ImagineAsian Theatre in New York City. (Check out my interview with the award-winning filmmaker in GR54, too. He's a cool dude!)