Friday, March 3 - The Face of Fu Manchu, 1965, 96 minutes, directed by Don Sharp, starring Christopher Lee, Tsai Chin, and Nigel Green
Christopher Lee is Dr. Fu Manchu, an evildoer of "crimes almost beyond number." Nigel Green is Nayland Smith, a Scotland Yard detective forever trying to guess the archvillain's next move. The stakes couldn't be higher. Fu Manchu is in possession of the rare Blackhill poppy seeds, a poison so potent it can cause mass death within moments of contact. This British-Irish-German co-production is based on novels by Sax Rohmer, and imbued with a definite James Bond vibe. It was popular enough to spawn four sequels, all starring Lee, but this first in the series is widely accepted as the best. It has no connection to Chinatown, but it does fit into our exploration of Asian stereotypes on film, and the frustrations of Interior Chinatown's protagonist and "Background Oriental Male" Willis Wu.
(Image used with permission of Warner Bros.)
CinemaLit March 2023: Chinatown in the Movies
The Mechanics' Institute Library has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts "Big Read" grant to support community reading programs. The grant showcases a single book through a range of tours, discussions, seminars, and screenings. The honored book is Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown (2020), a remarkable novel exploring immigration and the limitations of Chinese identity in modern America. It's funny and sad, and creatively written to read like a screenplay.
In the spirit of Interior Chinatown, the month of March at CinemaLit will feature "Chinatown in the Movies." Four of our offerings, The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939), Phantom of Chinatown (1940), and -- on zoom -- Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1938), feature characters, by turns nefarious, clever, and heroic, from popular movie serials. Ancient curses, international intrigue, and viral terrorism highlight the twisty plots. These short feature films (except the later and more lavish Face of Fu Manchu), some barely more than an hour in length, were Saturday matinee entertainment on double bills, complete with cartoons, previews, and newsreels. Today they're fascinating glimpses of past social values as reflected in American pop culture, where entertainment, racism, and pluralism intersect.
Our fourth entry in "Chinatown in the Movies" is Flower Drum Song (1961), the splashy Hollywood adaption of a Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical. Stephen Gong, executive director of the Center for Asian American Media, will introduce and co-host Flower Drum Song.
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
El proyecto NEA Big Read es una iniciativa del National Endowment for the Arts (el Fondo Nacional para las Artes de Estados Unidos) en cooperación con Arts Midwest.
Cosponsored by the Chinese Historical Society of America
Matthew Kennedy, CinemaLit’s curator, has written biographies of Marie Dressler, Joan Blondell, and Edmund Goulding. His book Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies.
“I don't have a favorite film,” Matthew says. "I find that my relationships to films, actors, genres, and directors change as I change over the years. Some don't hold up. Some look more profound, as though I've caught up with their artistry. I feel that way about Garbo, Cary Grant, director John Cassavetes, and others."
“Classic films have historical context, something only time can provide,” Matt observes. “They become these great cultural artifacts, so revealing of tastes, attitudes, and assumptions.”
Mechanics' Institute members Free
CHSA members Free with Promo Code CHSASF
Public sliding scale, $10
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CinemaLit Films
