Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Eastern Star

Oh, yes, I know - Thombeau beat me to it this week, but I swear, carissimi, I already had my little featurette in the works, only because I chanced on a late night broadcast of Shanghai Express last week and Miss Anna May Wong has been on my mind. In any case, he brought you Anna May en couleur; I bring her to you as she was meant to be, in shimmering silver and sable.

What is it about her? Beyond the simple fact that she apparently never took a bad picture? That she was, in so many ways, the perfect Moderne creation?

Perhaps simply that she was a working actress whose poise, humor, and spectacular good looks, in a fair world, would have made her a top star instead of a luminous curiosity.





Every Diva needs a great staircase moment; this is hers Her last appearance was on the The Barbara Stanwyck Show, in 1961. Wouldn't you love to know what they talked about in between shots?

2 comments:

  1. Have you seen her decadent silent starring vehicle, "Picadilly"? It should have made a Louise Brooks-esque legend (a la "Pandora's Box") after the fact, but Anna May is still sadly underrated and unknown...

    Her last role, I believe, was as the sinister Asian housekeeper in the Lana Turner/Ross Hunter vehicle, "Portrait in Black" -- despite the mundane role, it's a pretty fabulous film to go out with.

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  2. Anna May Wong. Such a definitive Dragon Lady type. She encompasses all the mystery, sexuality, and danger of the East for us blue eyed Westerners (though, actually, I have brown eyes). And "Shanghai Express" is a great movie full of great characters that I'm long overdue to see again. Thanks for the reminder.

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