Happy New Year! (Shanghai-Style)

Here's a wonderful tribute to the recently deceased Wu Yingyin, one of the "Seven Great Singing Stars" of Old Shanghai. It's also a great way to ring in 2010, especially for Bay Area folks like myself who can look forward to Shanghai-related events and exhibits all year long.

The video starts off with Wu Yingyin's song "Drunk Night in Neon Light" accompanied by clips from Cosmetics Market (1933), featuring Shanghai movie queen Hu Die, and Orphan Island Paradise (1939), starring Li Lili. Following that is Wu Yingyin's song "Beautiful Spring Night" with clips from New Year's Coin (1937) and Scenes of City Life (1935).



Thanks to SHUESIK for the excellent video, and best wishes to all of my readers for a happy and healthy 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Here's a little holiday cheer for all of you from myself and from Oldflames — who has generously shared his amazing collection here on my blog all year long.

With lovely Grace Chang as Santa's helper, you're guaranteed double the joy this festive season!


from Oldflames

Or if you find yourself in the mood for a "blue" Christmas, why not let sexy Helen Li ring your bell!


from Duriandave

eBay Find of the Week: Sexy Ling Po

Here's a rare look for Ivy Ling Po. Rather saucy, don't you think? Ivy is best known for her male roles in Shaw Brothers' huang mei opera films, such as Love Eterne (1963), The West Chamber (1964), and The Mermaid (1965). She also played the lead in Shaw's Lady General Hua Mulan (1964).

Along with fellow cross-gender actress Connie Chan, Ivy epitomized the ideal boy next door of the 1960s. Both stars inspired a fervent devotion among their large following of female fans, many of whom wished for a big brother, boyfriend, or husband just like Ivy or Connie.

But as you can see, Ivy certainly had what it takes to charm the lads as well.

* This unusual photo is up for auction right now on eBay.

Tales from the Forbidden City

I finally got my hands on Trina Robbins' just published Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs. Ever since I heard about it earlier this year, I've been eagerly waiting to read it.

Presented as an oral history, the book records the recollections of nearly two dozen Asian American performers who worked in San Francisco's "all-Chinese" revues from the late 1930s through the 60s. The transcribed interviews of the artists, and their friends and relatives, paint an intimate portrait of this unique cultural scene. Profiled are some of the better known alumni of the Forbidden City nightclub — like singers Larry Ching and Frances Chun and dancers Dorothy Toy, Tony Wing, and Jadin Wong — as well as other performers I'd never heard of before, such as:

• Ellen Chinn, Forbidden City dancer and, according to news of the day, "possessor of Chinatown's most beautiful pair of legs"


• Mai Tai Sing, Forbidden City dancer who later ran a cocktail lounge (The Ricksha) in SF Chinatown and played a bit part in the 1960 TV show Hong Kong, starring Rod Taylor


• Coby Yee, "China's Most Daring Dancing Doll", an exotic dancer who performed off and on at the Forbidden City and later bought the club from founder Charlie Low in the mid-60s


• Cynthia Yee, dancer in Dorothy Toy's various revues, Miss Chinatown of 1967, and founder of the Grant Avenue Follies

One of the best things about the book are the more than 200 illustrations, ranging from newspaper ads and magazine articles to family photos and glamor shots. They are absolutely priceless. It's too bad that Forbidden City wasn't packaged as a glossy coffee table book instead of a humble softcover edition.

My only legitimate complaint is that the book lacks a strong organizational structure and design. Individuals are presented without a clear introduction, which makes it is easy to get lost when reading the book for the first time. In addition, the book could have benefited from a little more historical background to help set the stage for these pioneering performers.

Nevertheless, the social context can be gleaned from within the stories. And I'm grateful that Trina chose to include three particular documents which serve as forceful reminders of the racial barriers existing at the time: namely, official letters from the state bars of Idaho, Nevada, and Utah denying a marriage license to dancer Ellen Chinn and her sweetheart Robert Price. In the words of the State Bar of Nevada: "It is a crime in the State of Nevada for persons of the Caucasian or white race to intermarry with any person of the Ethiopian or black race, Malay or brown race, or Mongolian or yellow race." I must admit, that one sentence sets the stage as well as any introductory essay.

In spite of the misgivings mentioned above, I wholeheartedly recommend Forbidden City to any one interested in the fascinating era of America's Chinese nightclubs. It is an invaluable resource that will undoubtedly spur further appreciation for the rich history of Asian American performers.

Margaret Tu: Those Eyes

As promised, Oldflames sent this fabulous pic of Margaret Tu Chuan in her most dramatic eyeliner mood. Just try and look away!

Chinatown Girls: Mary Mammon and Dorothy Sun

Featured in Arthur Dong's documentary Forbidden City U.S.A. (1989), Mary Mammon and Dorothy Sun performed in the original chorus line at the legendary "all-Chinese" San Francisco nightclub. In 1938 owner Charlie Low put out a call for dancers. Because local girls faced too much opposition from their families, the only girls who applied were those from out of town — like Mary Mammon, born and raised in Clifton, Arizona, and Dorothy Sun, born in Coulterville (a mining town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada) and raised in the California Delta.

Mary and Dorothy must have been great pals, because they evidently worked together through much of the 40s: on and off at the Forbidden City and other San Francisco clubs, such as the Lion's Den; and on the road in Kenneth Walker's "Chinese Follies" revue, which toured the U.S. and entertained troops with the USO in the South Pacific.

From what I can tell, Mary was the sexy one, with her hula and fan dances, while Dorothy was the funny one, with her "eccentric" dance parodies.

Here are the two in an Associated Press feature about Mary Mammon that ran in Sunday papers all across the country. This particular scan comes from the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (June 15, 1941).

CHINATOWN GIRL

Chinatown in San Francisco, where 20,000 persons live in less thank 20 square blocks, is the largest Chinese settlement outside the Orient. Once it was reputed to hold all the sins and exotic charms of Old China. But a new generation is in command. Schools, churches and playgrounds have routed oldtime tong wars and racial taboos. Authentic Chinatown fixtures remain mostly for the tourist trade. The commerce and the way of living is one of America's newest revolutions in this best known foreign quarter of any U.S. city. The women, who not so long ago lived in household seclusion, have stepped into the new role of being American women. Mary Mammon is typical.


A LATE SLEEPER, Mary's hours would have shocked old Chinatown. She is a featured dancer in one of the new night clubs, timidly opened but an instant success. Now she gets home in the small hours, but the family — mother, sister, two brothers — doesn't mind.


SOCIAL LIFE is a daylight pursuit. Mary loves soda fountain lunches, scoffs at chop suey, but likes mother's real Chinese cooking. At 22, Mary, who was born in New Mexico, chooses her own "dates", clothes, employment, and is popular in the community.


AT WORK, Mary and chum, Dorothy, dance and sing in the Lion's Den club. Pay is not high by American theater standards, but Chinatown girls find employment limited; to them, wages are tops.



STYLISTS say, dollar for dollar, Chinese girls dress more smartly than their American sisters. Top, Mary at her daily pressing job; bottom, stepping along tong-scarred old Waverly Place with pal, Dorothy Sun. Note aged delivery man with tray on head, a survival.


MARKETING takes the girls into a shop brimming with exotic foods, preferred to those in Americanized stores. "Delicacies" here don't tempt Americans. Mary wanted some hard dried fish — among other "native" items on her list. A sale is a ceremony.


STUDY has meant much to Mary — high school education, speedy Americanization. Her father (deceased) changed family name, Mar, to Mammon.


SUNBATHS, slacks, shorts cause oldsters to wag heads, but are common. And permanent waves are slowly turning black hair to brown.


FIRST JOB was typing, then Mary waited tables. When demand for Chinese entertainers arose, she studied dancing. Meanwhile, war in China liberalized the community — women helped with relief work.


AT HOME, furnishings are American style. But the women still treasure their embroidered silks, the tight, slinky gowns of Old China, however ill-adapted they may be to modern athletic figures.

* The Forbidden City ad at the top of the page comes from The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco.

In the Mood for Mavis Fan

i don't know why ... don't ask me why ...

Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection

Last week I had an opportunity to see Arthur Dong's fantastic collection of movie memorabilia at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles. Featuring more than 150 items, much of which was collected during the production of his award-winning documentary Hollywood Chinese (2007), the exhibit lays bare on a visceral level America's ambivalent and convoluted attitude towards the Chinese. It also shows how Chinese Americans have navigated, negotiated, and resisted the stereotypes placed upon them.

Of particular interest to me were the rare items concerning three pioneering filmmakers: Marion Wong, whose The Curse of Quon Gwon (1916) is the earliest known Chinese American feature; James B. Leong, whose film Lotus Blossom (1921) starred Chinese American actress and vaudeville singer Lady Tsen Mei; and Joseph Sunn Jue, whose San Francisco-based Grandview Film Company produced movies by, about, and for Chinese Americans during World War II and also helped keep Cantonese cinema alive during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

"Hollywood Chinese" is showing through the end of May next year. If you live in the area, you should definitely check it out. For those who can't make it, the 34-page, color catalog is the next best thing. Handsomely designed and featuring nearly half of the items from the exhibit, it also includes a great essay ("Yellow Peril Smackdown: A Night at the Chinese American Museum") by filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña. The catalog can be purchased at the museum gift shop, but unfortunately it's not for sale on their website. Try contacting them directly (office@camla.org) to see if it can be ordered by mail.

Life Goes to the "Forbidden City"

Trina Robbin's new book Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs has just been published and is available directly from the publisher (and also from Amazon). I'll post my thoughts about the book as soon as I get my hands on it, but in the meantime here's the Life magazine article (December 9, 1940) that brought Charlie Low's Forbidden City to national attention. A scan of the original is available here.

BTW, the two dancers with the lassos at top are Mary Mammon (left) and Dorothy Sun (right), who also appear in the photo just beneath. Closing this post is the inimitable Jadin Wong. I'll have more to share about these ladies in the coming weeks.

Finally, for an interesting and nuanced examination of the Orientalism served up at the Forbidden City nightclub, check out Anthony Lee's book Picturing Chinatown: Art and Orientalism in San Francisco (2001). As he writes, "The acts played on the distinction between the race of the performer and the race being performed in ways that revealed the contingency and malleability of both."

As a matter of fact, this strategy harkened back to the early days of vaudeville when Chinese American entertainers, like Lee Tung Foo and Jue Quon Tai, carved out a niche for themselves on the stage and in the public eye by performing a unique blend of yellowface and whiteface.

As you can see in the article below, Chinese American performers in the 1940s were still navigating the conflicting expectations of what it meant to be a Chinese living in America.

Life Goes to the "Forbidden City"
San Franciscans pack Chinatown's No. 1 night club

At 363 Sutter Street in San Francisco stands "Forbidden City", the No. 1 all-Chinese night club in the U.S. Here each evening Californians flock to watch a talented floor show that ranges from slumberous oriental moods to hot Western swing. San Francisco is numerically ill-equipped with Broadway-style cabarets. Its citizenry eats at home, dances at hotels. When "Forbidden City" opened two years ago, it filled a local cultural need. It has prospered ever since.

In decor, "Forbidden City" blandly jumbles rice-paper screens, lighted fishbowls, college colors and football trophies. Somehow the net result is satisfactory. Its tri-nightly floor show as blandly scrambles congas, tangos, tap numbers and snaky stuff from the Far East. Chinese girls have an extraordinary aptitude for Western dance forms. As singers, not many achieve success according to occidental standards. But slim of body, trim of leg, they dance to any tempo with a fragile charm distinctive to their race. Opposite you see gracious Jadine Wong performing her chaste "Dance of the Moon Goddess".