Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong (1905-1961) (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series) [Hardcover]

Anthony B. Chan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0810847892 | ISBN-13: 978-0810847897 | Publication Date: October 9, 2003

Anna May Wong was an extraordinary Asian American woman who became the country's most famous film actress of Chinese descent. From small parts in silent films to starring roles in Hollywood and across the Atlantic, Wong made an impression on audiences of all persuasions. In Perpetually Cool, Anthony Chan takes the reader on a compelling journey through Wong's early years in Los Angeles and her first Hollywood pictures. Chan also examines the scope and nature of race, gender, and power and their impact on Wong's personal growth as a Chinese American. Perpetually Cool is not only the captivating story of a cinematic career, but also of roots and identity, as it recounts Wong's desire to connect with her heritage in the United States and in China. Chan provides extensive textual analyses of Wong's signature films, especially The Toll of the Sea (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) with Douglas Fairbanks, and her most famous role as Hui Fei in Shanghai Express (1932), opposite Marlene Dietrich. Perpetually Cool is a fitting tribute to the influence of this Chinese American icon.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A welcome edition to any library's Asian American and film collections and would be appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students. (Asian Affairs )

Anthony B. Chan helps a new generation discover the phenomenon of Anna May Wong. With a historian's flair for social context, Professor Chan not only conveys the complexity of this singular Asian American actress, but he also shows how she was both constrained and emboldened by the times into which she was born. This book is a fitting tribute to a woman whose perpetually cool style was at least matched, if not exceeded, by her shrewd ability to beat the odds. (Kawamoto, Kevin )

Chan's book details the life and career of an important Chinese-American actress whose work has been neglected. Like Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge, Anna May Wong was a talented, beautiful woman of color limited by the restrictions of the Hollywood film industry. Her personal and professional story is an engrossing read for anyone interested in our social and cultural history (Al Sampson )

Chan's take on Anna May Wong is a breath of fresh air! Perpetually Cool shines the spotlight on the woman behind the myth. Chan's portrayal of Anna May Wong as an ancestral forerunner of overseas Chinese feminism is a real tour de force. This book is spicy, intoxicating and journalistically sound, a welcome addition to our growing canon of East-West stories. (Christina M. Wong )

Perpetually Cool is more analytical and more concerned with placing Wong in the context of Chinese and Chinese American history. As the title suggests (Chan) sees her as an innate hipster and compares her performance in Piccadilly to Marlon Brando's turn in The Wild One. (J. Hoberman Village Voice )

Perpetually Cool celebrates the determination and style of Anna May Wong, whose strength of character has inspired me in my passion as a designer. Through Ms. Wong's universally understood story, this book provides an astounding portrayal of the Chinese American experience. With clarity, passion, and integrity, Professor Chan helps us to understand the enigma that is Ms. Wong (Maggie Norris )

...tantalizingly intriguing... (Seattle Weekly )

[A] detailed analyses of some of Wong's most famous films. Each chapter could stand alone as a scholarly discussion of film and cultural theory as well as a biographical account of the actress's life....sheds new light on this remarkable woman. (Foreword Magazine )

It [is] most interesting when instructing us on how early Chinese-American immigrants made their way and on the legal and social restraints under which they lived. (Gottlieb, Robert The New York Review Of Books )

...passionately explores...themes from a distinctively Asian American perspective...sets [Wong's] story in the context of the history of Chinese-Americans. (Richard James Havis Cineaste )

...suitable in collections extending to the culture of film. (Choice )

Winsome and willowy, Wong made an unforgettable impact on Hollywood with her portrayals of dragon ladies and lotus blossoms during a time when racism raged and Asians were rarely seen in American movies. Criticized by Chinese for her scanty outfits and for perpetuating stereotypes, Wong was also revered for daring to demand parity with her white counterparts. During her illustrious career, she appeared in more than 60 features, making the transition from silent films to talkies to, later, television. She also performed in stage plays and vaudeville, and acted in three languages. No other Asian American actor before or since has matched her accomplishments. (Northwest Asian Weekly )

Anthony B. Chan...[divides] his book into three sections. One is a bio spanning childhood in L.A.'s Chinese community to her stardom in silent and sound films in Hollywood and Europe. Another addresses everything from Wong's attitudes toward Asian cultures to her Taoist religious beliefs. The third dissects Wong's work in her most celebrated roles, including Toll of the Sea and Shanghai Express. (Variety )

Born Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles in 1905, Anna May Wong became Hollywood's first Chinese-American movie star. In this biography, independent filmmaker Chan (communication, U. of Washington) tells the story of Wong's life and examines the effects of racist ideologies on her career. The volume concludes with textual analyses of Wong's signature films, including The Thief of Bagdad(1924) and Shanghai Express(1932). This is the first paperback edition of a volume first published in 2003. (Reference & Research Book News )

About the Author

Anthony B. Chan is Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the author of Arming The Chinese (1982), Gold Mountain (1983), Li Ka-shing: Hong Kong's Elusive Billionaire (1996), and co-editor of People to People (1997). He was a Senior Producer and Anchor of Focus at TVB, Hong Kong, and a television journalist at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Currently an independent filmmaker, his four part series on Asian Americans in Vietnam includes American Nurse (1993), Sweat Heat (1998), and The Insanity of It All (2002).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press (October 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810847892
• ISBN-13: 978-0810847897
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,884,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars High Priced for Misinformation, December 12, 2003

By 

Chei Mi Lane "Chei Mi Rose" (Saint Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong (1905-1961) (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series) (Hardcover)

Mr. Chan seems to have a rather noteworthy career in Chinese-American History, and he drew a lot from that to add into his book on Anna May Wong.
I don't know that 'Perpetually Cool' relates to Anna May by those that have researched her at length. He titles one chapter, "The Journey Ends Halfway" based on his believing that Anna May was in an episode of "Danger Man", known America as "Secret Agent", which was called, "The Journey Ends Halfway". I have viewed this episode, and the Anna May Wong that was in this was not the Anna May Wong of whom he writes. An Anna May Wong appeared in a few movies and TV shows, but was a much younger person, perhaps capitalizing on the name of the more famous one. To title a chapter based on an error, when there are so many other choices he could have used, shows poor research.
Omissions on a star are one thing. Erroneous info is another.
Having researched Anna May Wong for over thirty years I was disappointed at the direction he took. In a Wyatt Earp TV episode, he calls her part an 'Antiracist Activist'. What a euphemism!! Anna May played China Mary, who was the feared leader of the Chinese community in Tombstone. She tried to protect Chinese criminals from white justice. Activist is someone who is part of or leads campaigns. The Chinese Community in days of old did everything they could to prosper quietly in a white world.
In short, he seems to have slanted Anna May's life to his thinking and beliefs.
A caption under a publicity photo of her says "Daoist Mood", as if he knew what was on her mind or the photographer's. It's a publicity photo. Nothing more. Nothing less. This kind of thought pattern runs throughout. Anna was a follower of Christian Science.
$45.00 is a lot to pay for a book with 16 photos, none of which broke any new ground, though I enjoyed the shot of Anna in London's Limehouse district.
He did a lot of superficial research, which rang of "Round up the usual suspects." Some of the articles he based his bio on had erroneous facts in it, which upon digging deeper, he would have found.
Though I am critical of his work, it is welcome.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Cool for Words ... Apparently, March 8, 2005

By 

David C. Rive Jr. (New Orleans, Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong (1905-1961) (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series) (Hardcover)

Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong, 1905-1961 (Filmmakers Series), by Anthony B. Chan is not a fun read.

The book is not a breezily written show biz bio to be read at a gallop, and enjoyed as a collection of well-known facts, juicy gossip, and scandalous speculation about its subject, nor is it intended to be so.

It is by far the most ambitious of the three books currently available on Anna May Wong, and one written with a degree of academic rigor. In it, Chan attempts to examine the life of his subject through her own words and extant examples of her art, and to place her in various historical, theoretical, artistic, philosophical and political contexts. It is a serious (perhaps overly serious) scholarly work featuring a filmography, notes on sources and many quotes from vintage reviews and writings, and while there may be a few inaccuracies, it is an overall welcome addition to the available literature on Wong.

Chan's 312-page tome is organized in three sections, and comprises eighteen chapters, each treating an aspect of Wong's biography, thought, milieu and her films and related work. It also weaves in exhaustive (and at times exhausting) discourses on subjects such as the representation of Asians in European and European American literature and entertainment, the theatrical tradition of "yellowface" (non-Asians playing the part of Asians), the rise of modern China, prostitution in colonial Shanghai, the basic principles of Taoism and Confucianism, and lots more.

The chapters can be read as independent essays, and there is a certain amount of repetition of facts and theories and interpretive conclusions between them.

Chan's approach and methodology is informed by the theories of a number of cited postmodern writers, particularly those of the late Edward Said, author of the influential text, Orientalism. To borrow a few ideas and phrases from Said, it would appear that Chan is attempting a recovery of a history hitherto either misrepresented or rendered invisible by a quasi-colonial hegemony, and an exposure of stereotypes of "the Other" and the actualities they've perpetuated and informed.

It can also be said that Chan has an axe to grind with "European American Hollywood," "European American actors," "European America" and all who done Wong wrong. He cites examples of the tendency by Hollywood--and society at large--to perpetuate racist notions of Asians as villainous, inscrutable, and generally unsavory, and how these tendencies inhibited the artistic career of Anna May Wong.

While insidious racism and the casting practices of her day undoubtedly limited Wong's choice of quality roles, Chan seemingly does not care to stress that there were many Europeans and European Americans--intellectual and cultural heavyweights on the order of Walter Benjamin, Carl Van Vechten and Evelyn Waugh--who actually admired, championed, celebrated and befriended Wong, and for all the right reasons. He does hit us over the head--relentlessly--with examples of how he feels she was belittled, slighted, and passed over by the European American Hollywood hegemony.

Chan's book is best when he allows his subject to speak for herself, and aficionados of Wong and her films will be grateful for the generous quotes from Wong's interviews and writings presented here. Chan himself is best when he writes objectively, and some of his descriptions of Wong's acting are quite vivid. Chan seems less convincing in his interpretive writing, and some of his observations seem overstated and thesis-bound.

Anna May Wong was, by all accounts, an amazing person; cultured, witty, extravagantly talented, and someone who exhibited an amazing drive to succeed. (How many little girls dream of stardom, and how few achieve it?) Though her talents were in many ways squandered, she worked in practically every entertainment medium extant in her lifetime (Wong starred in Hollywood's very first Technicolor feature at age 17 in 1922, and had her own network television detective series in 1951!), and found work in her chosen profession from her teen years to her death in late middle age. Wong was indeed "perpetually cool;" one wishes that Chan's book was perhaps more balanced, more lively, and more successful in conveying those very characteristics it purports to celebrate in its subject.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Full of theory without adequate life stories, January 29, 2004

By 

Shang (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong (1905-1961) (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series) (Hardcover)

This book is a little bit dry. big theories shadow the inadequate narratives about the subject. Especially, the Daoist analaysis does not make sense for me. Follow Chan's logic, everyone could be a Daoist, at least at certain moment of your life. Wish the author got deeper in his research.

It seems that Chan befriended Wong's surviving brother, why have not any oral materials through interviews been included?