Mark your calendars and set your Tivos for this very cool broadcast event. In June, Turner Classic Movies is devoting the entire month to an extensive, in-depth look at how Asians have been depicted in film with Race and Hollywood: Asian Images in Film. It's part of an ongoing series of such examinations, first with African American images then gay images in film. Now they're looking at Asians, with a month-long marathon looking at everything from racist yellowface Charlie Chan stuff to more contemporary representations like The Joy Luck Club. It's like big, fat classic film festival—the good, the bad and the ugly.
The 35-film retrospective will be co-hosted by Dr. Peter X. Feng, scholar and author of Screening Asian Americans
and Identities in Motion: Asian American Film and Video. In addition, a number of notable personalities will take part to provide personal insight into Hollywood's depiction of Asians, including filmmaker Wayne Wang, actress Ming Wen, writer Amy Tan, actress Rosalind Chao, actor George Takei, actress France Nuyen, actress Nancy Kwan, actor James Shigeta, actress Miiko Taka, film scholar Elaine Mae Woo, film producer Janet Yang and actress Lauren Tom. The festival will take place on Tuesday and Thursday nights in June, with each night's collection of films centering on a particular theme. Check out the schedule:Tuesday, June 3For a huge film buff like me, this is fantastic news. With appropriate historical context, it provides the opportunity to see a lot of stuff we normally don't get a chance to see, like the early silents and the Anna Mae Wong films. Really could've done without Rush Hour 2 though. But I'm particularly interested in seeing Walk Like a Dragon, Bridge to the Sun and The Crimson Kimono—all starring James Shigeta, and none of which are available on DVD. I'm going to have to free up some room on my DVR. It's all happening next month on TCM. For more information, visit the website here.
Silent Films
8 p.m. The Cheat (1915) followed by Filipinos Retreat From Trenches (1899)
9:45 p.m. Broken Blossoms (1919)
11 p.m. The Dragon Painter (1919)
12 a.m. Mr. Wu (1927)
1:45 a.m. The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
Thursday, June 5
Anna May Wong
8 p.m. The Toll of the Sea (1922)
9 p.m. Old San Francisco (1927)
10:45 p.m. Piccadilly (1929)
12:45 a.m. Daughter of the Dragon (1931)
2 a.m. Shanghai Express (1932)
Tuesday, June 10
Asian Crime Fighters & Detectives
8 p.m. Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)
9:30 p.m. Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938)
10:45 p.m. The Scarlet Clue (1945)
12 a.m. Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
1:15 a.m. Daughter of Shanghai (1937)
Thursday, June 12
Pearl S. Buck
8 p.m. The Good Earth (1937)
10:30 p.m. Dragon Seed (1944)
1 a.m. China Sky (1945)
2:30 a.m. First Yank Into Tokyo (1945)
Tuesday, June 17
The Legacy of World War II
8 p.m. Go for Broke! (1951)
9:45 p.m. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
11:15 p.m. The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
1:30 a.m. Walk Like a Dragon (1960)
Thursday, June 19
Interracial & Intercultural Romance
8 p.m. Bridge to the Sun (1961)
10 p.m. China Doll (1958)
12 a.m. Sayonara (1957)
2:30 a.m. The World of Suzie Wong (1960)
Tuesday, June 24
Race Consciousness and the Civil Rights Era
8 p.m. The Crimson Kimono (1959)
9:30 p.m. The Mountain Road (1960)
11:30 p.m. Flower Drum Song (1961)
2 a.m. Enter the Dragon (1973)
Thursday, June 26
Contemporary Asian Images
8 p.m. Rush Hour 2 (2001)
10 p.m. The Joy Luck Club (1993)
12:30 a.m. The Killing Fields (1984)
3 a.m. Mr. Baseball (1992)
UPDATE: Hyphen ran a pretty good interview with film scholar Peter X. Feng on his involvement with Turner Classic Movies' "Race and Hollywood" series: Interview with TCM Asian Images in Film's Peter X. Feng