FEMALE MENACE (Feb, 1951)
Because using an actress who was actually Chinese would be ridiculous.
FEMALE MENACE
A South Carolina girl of French-Indian descent is a Chinese temptress on TV
GLORIA SAUNDERS, one of the most talked-about girls in Hollywood, is the dramatic star of “Mysteries of Chinatown,” a television show on the ABC network. Playing the part of a beautiful Chinese girl, Ah Toy, she gets involved in a constant mess of crime and murder each week to the delight of her fans.
Off the screen, Gloria is a far cry from a Chinese female menace. Twenty-three years old, she hails from Columbia, S. C., and has had a career of parts in plays and movies.
Gloria is five feet 4 inches tall, measures 35-24-34, and enjoys swimming and dancing most. Men? The gal claims she goes for “the Orson Welles type.” Why, Miss Saunders!
“Because using an actress who was actually Chinese would be ridiculous.” Anna May Wong was busy.
The funny thing is the show was canceled before this 4 months before this magazine hit the news stands.
Well, yes. You might get arguments over how Chinese people were being portrayed. Hey, Khigh Dheigh, who portrayed a Chinese villain on Hawaii Five-O, in the late sixties, was of Egyptian descent.
Never mind all those Charlie Chan movies from the 30s….
And David Carradine in “Kung Fu,” of course.
The Japanese also got a pretty raw deal. Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto, Mickey Rooney in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, Marlon Brando in “Teahouse of the August Moon”.
On the DVD/Bluray version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, they should have a menu option to skip all of Mickey Rooney’s scenes.
“Yellowface” even still happens in some current movies. Sometimes it’s in something like “Grindhouse” that can justifiably claim that’s all just part of the schtick, and most other examples are comedies, but imagine what you’d think if you saw a BLACKFACE part, played straight like yellowface, in a modern comedy movie…
The whole damn world took a wrong turn some time after “Blazing Saddles”.