Anna May Wong was beginning her contractual obligations at Paramount when
this film was made. She made a few in this period for the studio - all B
films but at least she was the lead. There were four of them - this one was
first followed by Dangerous to Know, King of Chinatown and Island of Lost
Men. King of Chinatown is a hack job but the other ones are decent B films.
The interesting thing about all of these was that she was never stereotyped
in typical Asian roles but plays tough independent women. I expect Anna May
Wong had a lot to say about that. She had been stereotyped in many of her
early roles - the daughter of Fu Manchu in Daughter of the Dragon or a nightclub
performer in Limehouse Blues, Tiger Bay and Piccadilly. Though it was those
early roles and her exoticism that still bring fans to her today. Some of
the images of her are iconic.
She actually performs a dance here as well on the stage but the circumstances
are different. The issue of immigration has been around for decades. In this
one a gang is smuggling in immigrants from all over the world. The last leg
is done by plane and if the cops show up they open the bay doors and send
the people to the sharks below. A small loss considering. Wong plays Lan
Ying, daughter of a seller of antique Chinese art. When the gang tells him
to hire fifty immigrants he refuses and plans to hand over evidence. He doesn't
make it and Lan Ying who is with him barely escapes with her life. She decides
to find out who the Big Boss is (not a big surprises but well played) and
so she travels to some obscure island off of South America where she thinks
the chain begins.
She gets work in a rundown rummy bar with the riffraff of the world - as
a dancer. Working with her is a G-Man played by Philip Ahn in a solid role.
So the two heroes of the film are Asians played by Asians - how unique! Also
in this is Anthony Quinn, J. Carrol Naish, Evelyn Brent, Frank Sully, Buster
Crabbe and Charles Bickford. A solid cast of character actors, old stars
past their prime and a future star in Quinn. The director of this one, Robert
Florey, was an old hand with B films and later directed Anna in Dangerous
to Know. He keeps things moving here and fairly tense considering -
and he uses some great lighting on Wong for dramatic purposes. A good 62
minutes.
