asian flavor..... pt. 1......chop suey

okay, i finally decided which post i needed to do next, as i weave my way thru this labyrinth i've managed to enter.

altho it might not seem like it, my FOCUS (and there is one, believe it or not) is STILL on HIRO IN HOLLYWOOD, but i am really realizing the TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE that our hiro sama has taken on, and what a VERY UNIQUE road he is carving our for himself.  for any of you still willing to JOURNEY this with me, i so hope it will EVENTUALLY be worth the wait.   :)   

but i don't think we can appreciate it fully, unless we understand the complexity of ASIANS in HOLLYWOOD.  and THIS is really the fundamental issue, for our guy.    THIS is THE hurdle. 

there are also parallel issues.    CHINA/JAPAN.   LANGUAGE.  STEREOTYPES.  and finally ASIA/HOLLYWOOD.

so THIS post, sort of covers ALL of those above issues.   and since my last post was about one of  the first ASIAN STARS in HOLLYWOOD, being a CHINESE AMERICAN WOMAN....and CHOP SUEY is a distinctively CHINESE AMERICAN dish (meaning MIXED PIECES)...i figured this post was timely.  

in 1961, FLOWER DRUM SONG was the FIRST (and i believe for a long time, the ONLY) ALL ASIAN cast assembled for a HOLLYWOOD movie.   it was a HUGE 'breakthrough' and opportunity, and the actors involved all felt VERY HAPPY and FORTUNATE  for this HIGH PROFILE vehicle.  

the HALLMARK of this film was that the storyline featured a 'regular' FAMILY, dealing with 'regular' MULTI challenges.  

OLD country ways/values vs. NEW countrys ways/values.   GENERATIONAL issues.   ("the OTHER  generation")
they just HAPPENED to be  ASIAN.  (chinese).   you could take this storyline and TWEAK it, to apply it to any ethnicity! 

there is ANOTHER sort of REMARKABLE study in CONTRASTS  from a CASTING point of view...which i will discuss later.   but for now....enjoy this fun dance clip from the movie.      (small trivia points:  first guy dancing is jack soo, with juanita hall, the next 'featured' solo guy dancing is patrick adiarte, who also played  the eldest son in KING AND I)  

as an asian american, i remember being THRILLED to see this movie.  INTERESTINGLY, MANY of my friends, (most of whom are caucasian) only have a VAGUE recollection of this movie,  if they remembered it at all!   (okay, i also have alot of younger friends who were born long after this film was released.)  heh heh.

but the MOST REMARKABLE sort of irony, is that THIS movie...about a CHINESE family...had the distinction of
having 3 of the 4 lead roles...being played by JAPANESE actors!  interestingly, ONLY ONE of the major/minor actors
would be  100% ethnic chinese (american born benson fong).    

JAMES SHIGETA  (japanese american actor/singer)  played wang ta, eldest son, (chinese american)  and star of the film, covered in an earlier post.   

the other central character, was MIYOSHI UMEKI (born in japan, singer/actress)  who played mei li, a chinese  immigrant.  a singer in her native japan, she was the FIRST asian actor to win an oscar, for her supporting role in SAYONARA, yet she is best known for her t.v. role as mrs. livingston in the COURTSHIP OF EDDIES FATHER.   below is miyoshi singing a hundred million miracles.  (father is played by kam tong, american born chinese actor)

the two other leads were JACK SOO (born GORO SUZUKI, japanese american actor/comedian) who played sammie fong, a chinese american nightclub owner.   in REAL life, jack WAS a nightclub entertainer, DISCOVERED while performing at the FORBIDDEN CITY nightclub in s.f. chinatown, by one of the producers, who hired him for the BROADWAY production of flower drum song!   (he played the 'nightclub emcee on broadway).  gene kelly directed the broadway production in 1958.   jack would later become best known and loved for his t.v. role in BARNEY MILLER,  as detective nick yemana. 

and finally, NANCY KWAN  (born in hong kong to a chinese father and scottish mother)   played the chinese american "hottie" linda low.    trained as, and aspired to be a dancer, but  'discovered' by famed producer, RAY STARK. she shot to fame when she made her film debut opposite william holden in THE WORLD OF SUSIE WONG.  a great bio chock full of pics can be found here:    http://www.nancy-kwan.com/biography.html

rounding out the cast:

Benson Fong - Wang Chi-Yang (chinese american born actor, who later played in kung fu t.v series)
Juanita Hall - Madame "Auntie" Liang   (role that was to go to anna may wong, and after her untimely death, went to juanita, african american light skinned actress)
Reiko Sato - Helen Chao  (japanese american born actress/dancer)
Patrick Adiarte - wang san (filipino ? american born dancer/actor)

AT THE TIME, (i am no film historian, so i could be wrong on this point...) i don't think the casting was controversial at all!  remember, at this stage of hollywood, 'YELLOWFACE'  and 'STEROTYPES' had long been the 'norm'....so for "authentic"  ASIAN ACTORS to be given this chance to star together in a HOLLYWOOD MAJOR MOTION PICTURE,
was TRULY EXCITING!   (for the cast, especially).

it would take 32 years, with the JOY LUCK CLUB (1993),  for HOLLYWOOD to again show  another example of the CHINESE AMERICAN experience.    (altho in 1987, THE LAST EMPEROR -<26 years after FDS>-would again  assemble an all asian cast.)   (more on those later)

now, we might all "look alike" to many westerners....but there is NO DOUBT that the EXPERIENCES, PORTRAYALS and STORIES/MOVIES are quite DIFFERENT when it comes to CHINESE and JAPANESE....even in...maybe ESPECIALLY in...HOLLYWOOD.

so, i leave you for a moment,  looking back to 1961 and FDS...JAPANESE actors,  playing CHINESE americans....
an ironic "twist"  would take place,  40+ years later...

i'm sure you can guess what ASIAN FLAVOR part 2 is going to be about.....       :) 

....but i'll end this post on this LIGHT note,  with some of the lyrics from one of the signature songs from FDS: CHOP SUEY:

Chop suey, chop suey!
Living here is very much like chop suey.

Hula hoops and nuclear war,
Doctor Salk and Zsa Zsa Gabor,
Bobby Darin, Sandra Dee, and Dewey,
Chop suey, --Chop suey!-