Nitrate Treasures: Daughter Of Shanghai

Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive series Nitrate Treasures. Register at cinema.ucla.edu to attend this in-theater screening.

35mm nitrate print from the Archive

In-person: introduction by Anna Wong, niece of Anna May Wong; Sean Metzger, associate dean and professor, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television

Created as a star vehicle for Anna May Wong, Paramount teamed her up with French émigré director Robert Florey and high school friend/on-screen love interest Philip Ahn. Together, they elevate this B-movie thriller to another level, with two Asian American lead characters in an era of accepted yellowface where white actors often played Asian characters, and, as a fresh departure, a plot centered around the villainy of its white characters.

(1937, dir. Robert Florey, 35mm nitrate, black & white, 62 min.)