Turner Classic Movies: Asians In Hollywood
This week Turner Classic Movies began a film festival which will air Tuesdays and Thursdays through June: Asian Images On Film. This film festival will include films from the earliest days of filmmaking like “Shanghai Express” to more contemporary films like “The Killing Fields” and “The Joy Luck Club.”
As Joanne Ostrow of the Denver Post wrote in her article about the festival:
Arguably, it’s been more complicated for Asians than for other minorities because of the unique aspect of their minority status: Unlike, say, African-Americans, Asian- Americans are often perceived as foreigners.
“People are sometimes surprised that I speak English,” said Peter X. Feng, film scholar at the University of Delaware, who will provide commentary for TCM’s month- long examination of Asians in film in June.
Tonight’s film is “Shanghai Express” from 1932 starring Anna May Wong.