CHINA DOLL

For me, this term has various meanings. On one hand, it is an older expression that signifies that a woman is very attractive. People use to say, of any female, "she's a doll." It was not meant to vilify. People used such expressions some time ago, and they were not derogatory but complimentary. Nowadays, however, when that expression is mentioned, it is signified by those with an agenda as something that indicates an insulting paternal attitude. There are no "dolls" anymore, Chinese or otherwise.

I guess one can say "cute" or "adorable," but that can have its critics too. According the law of Agenda and Outrage, a woman should be dispassionate (like a man, supposedly?), not a servant of tradition or the "power structure." It's advantageous if she has a distaste or hatred for the "paternal" male, too. Well, yeah, if that is your idea of a woman, go for it. No sweat off my manly back--which seems to sweat more than a woman's.

I'm more and more ignoring the Outrage and Agenda people. I'm mainly interested in moving on with what can help me, psychologically and physically and interest-wise. To me, this Outrage and Agenda is simple BS. But bygone films do have slants and from viewpoints that one would consider "old-fashioned." This is true.

Which brings me to CHINA DOLL.

Initially, the production of this Romina-Batjac film was going to be called TIME IS A MEMORY,  but Frank Borzage--the actor, director, producer and winner of the Academy Award--saw another title that was better, CHINA DOLL. The problem was that Columbia had the title. Harry Cohen, the head of Columbia at the time, made a deal. Borzage could have the title if Borzage agreed to be in a Columbia picture. The deal was done.

Shooting began on August 15th, 1957, according to one reference. While the story was set in China, Borzage found that the terrain of Saugus, California, was perfect for what he had in mind and would, of course, cost far less then location shooting in a foreign country.

The earliest theatrical exhibition that I have indicates a showing on Sunday, August 3, 1958 at the Saenger Theater in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Showings in other theaters were in the coming days of August and then by September more showings. Once again, the IMDB is wrong with their info. (They say that Dec 3, 1958 was the release date!)

A portrait shot of Li Li Hua

Aside from its value as a Borzage film, it is noteworthy as the only American film to star Li Li Hua. Hua is an important fixture in Chinese cinema. She stared in over a 120 films and received China's prestigious Golden Horse award as Best Actress in 1969 and was honored with two lifetime achievement awards later. Though she was in serious consideration for appearing in Cecil B. DeMille's production of the new THE BUCCANEER, which would have "introduced" her to American audiences, the role was not filled by her. Instead, for her introduction, she played the vital role of the "China Doll," Shu-Jen.

The film is also important for another star. Remarkably this actress is not mentioned in the credits or the IMDB info, though she is very visible in the film, and there is a photo and a lobby card that features her and Mature. Some eBay sellers confuse her with Li Li Hua.

 A lobby card photo suggests that Mature is happy to see Lu. Not so.

Her name is Lisa Lu, and these days she is very familiar to screen audiences, having done numerous TV and feature films in her long career, including a few for the Shaw Brothers Company in Hong Kong. As age 93 she is still working in film, and can be most recently seen in CRAZY RICH ASIANS. For an interview on CCTV, she mentioned the film and her entrance through the Hollywood door....

Borzage was from the same drama school as Lu, so the promising actress went to see him. To her disappointment, Borzage said that she was already too late. The main role had been filled by Li Li Hua, and there was nothing else for her, as the smaller part available needed a women with big breasts, which Lu didn't have. But Lu persisted. She was also without the important SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card, and Borzage was her only connection in Hollywood. Thankfully, Borzage relented.

Lu's role was a working girl of Sadie's Place, a bar catering to foreign men by providing drink, gambling and "other services." Dressed in a tight black dress, with her coquettish manner and stunning hypnotic eyes, Lu was sexy without the big breasts that were initially wanted. Borzage was impressed and considered Lu to be talented enough to make a career out of acting. He was right.

The film was made in the late 1950s and by an actor/director/producer that had lived through more traditional experiences for decades. The times were a changin', for sure, but not yet completely with film, so what happens between the malaria-feverish Mature character and his China doll is left primarily to the imagination. Not so much in the paperback written by Edgar Jean Bracco and based on the screenplay by Kitty Buhler,

Bending swiftly, she took off her sandals. A few quick motions and her robe dropped to the floor. She glanced at him but his eyes were closed on the pain. With a small sound she removed her underthings. For the space of two quick breaths she stood naked beside his cot.

Then she slipped under the blankets. She stretched her body over his, pulling the blankets tightly around him. "Warm, I make--warm."

She lay very still, afraid to move. Beneath her she felt him tremble. Her body rose and fell with his deep, spasmodic breathing. 

"Sleep," she said softly in his ear. "Sleep. Warm. Sick go."

Some of the chill seemed to leave him. His fever-ridden mind was aware of a disturbance keener and more poignant than the malaria. A weight was on him, but it was warm and soft and good.

And then suddenly he became aware of her. Suddenly he knew that this was not a child whose body was warming his body. Through the pain and the damnable cold, he felt her against him and realized that this was the warm softness of a woman. 

The movie's "leave it to the imagination" may also have been the admonition on Hua's part to not do kissing scenes. "In China we are not demonstrative in public and our actors to not kiss on the screen. I couldn't possibly think of doing that, even in an American film."

It appears that Mature was not a fan of this attitude. He temporarily walked off the set when Hua refused to do a kissing scene with him. And later, he had this to say, wondering what the problem was: "I've been kissed by leading ladies of all nationalities in over 30 pictures."

But Hua took this huffing and puffing from her famous co-star rather humorously: "I think Vic is a big, bad wolf."

Well, no kissing scenes in the film, but her character does get pregnant by the Mature character and they get married....

If one examines the film and some of the lobbies or stills, it does provide contemporary comments from the Agenda crowd. The main Asian characters are a woman and a boy, both worshiping the hero, a white soldier in their country. However, the arch is not just their sacrifice, it is his. The heart is not just a lonely hunter; it is a hunter for the Milk of Human Kindness.

Having said all this, I still don't call someone "a doll." It is old-fashioned and not who I am. But I can appreciate the presence of Li Li Hua and Lisa Lu, and find them appealing and delicious in that manly way that can be misunderstood as only sexual thoughts and little else. If one assumes the worst, one can be wrong.

The Anna May Wong Library

Not really. Just a frivolous pipe dream, but it would be good to have these things translated. Both of them are based on Anna May Wong films. The first is DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI, translated here in Norwegian. The second is based on BOMBS OVER BURMA and uses small photos of the film, while text is in French.

The Blind Swordswoman Films

In one of my previous entries, I posted a relatively stiff photo of Japanese actress,Yoko Matsuyama, in one of her Blind Swordswoman films and based on a popular manga comic by husband Teruo Tanashita and also the Zatochi Blind Swordsman films. (The photo was bent when I got, though the covering envelope from Spain repeatedly read "Do Not Bend"!) At that point, I had only seen the first of the Blind Swordswoman films and was very impressed with its story, its strong emotions (emotions which surprised me), and the acting of Matsuyama. I considered Matsuyama somewhat strange looking initially, but her charm, her sashaying walk in a tight kimono, and mischievous smirk toward a bad guy, won me over pretty soon, so that she became "like family."

I had to see the other films in the series. I found out that there was a website, SamuraiDVD, who offers all four films on DVD-R, in perfect aspect ratio and subtitled in English. I ordered.

When I got the set, I could not help seeing the three other films, one per night. Though the titles can be slightly different in other territories, the four films in the set are CRIMSON BAT, THE BLIND SWORDSWOMAN; TRAPPED, THE CRIMSON BAT; WATCH OUT, CRIMSON BAT!; CRIMSON BAT: WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE. All films played theatrically in Hawaii, which because of its various Far Eastern cultures, showed Japanese films:

Things became a bit confusing afterward as I investigated more. The films in Hawaii were shown with English subtitles. But though I found ads and mentions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and even here in New York (at the Thalia Theater), most said the film or films were subtitled. Evidence suggests all had English dubbing (an online trailer is dubbed in English), and there is even a photo of a poster in English from Australia and a poster photo for TRAPPED, THE CRIMSON BAT on Getty Images that says "English-speaking version available." But it was important to me if one or more of these films played in the State dubbed in English.

In 1971, reportedly there was a Crimson Bat TV series of 25 episodes with Matsuyama. After the series, Matsuyama retired to raise a family.

And I also found that there is a German DVD and Blu-Ray release of the first title in 2016. Blu-Ray! That was surprising. The dubbing in the DVD is in German and apparently in English. The Blu-Ray, however, is only in German and Japanese. I will try to verify this info.

What of the actress, Yoko Matsuyama? She promoted a curry flavoring packet, but I am not sure of the dates. There are photos of this product and her.

Being born on November 30th, 1937 in Ehime, Japan, she is now 82 years old. I wish her all the happiness possible. She should know that she has fans outside of Japan, and though it is comparatively insignificant to her, that she brought happiness into my life.

No LaserDisc Player, But....

So I bought on eBay my first, and probably only, laserdisc, even though I have no laserdisc player and don't intend to get one. Why? Well, the price was very good (only $4) and the photos, particularly the front one, were impressive. And the cover was autographed by actress Nancy Kwan. It was a great "deal" which I didn't pass up.

Laserdiscs were a big format years ago. The players were costly, but the resolution was impressive. Like long-playing records, which the disc resemble, one had to turn the disc in the middle of the play, as the continuation was one the other side. Because of cost and the need to play both sides, the format lost out, replaced by the growing phenomenon of a DVD and now by Blu-Ray. So laserdiscs were not very useful and generally discarded later, unless one was a collector.

The disc I bought was THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG and the front cover had a photo around an important scene in the end, and the back had three smaller scenes from the film, of which one is shown here.

 The front of the laserdisc.

 One of the photos on the back.

But the autograph! Of course, there was Nancy Kwan's signature, but the "Jeff" was famous--in the San Francisco area. As the seller later informed me, the disc was acquired in an estate sale, and the "Jeff" was the Public Defender of San Francisco, Jeff Adachi, an important post in the government. He had a large laserdisc collection, of which SUZIE WONG was one.

Estate sale? As I quickly found out, Adachi died on February 22, 2019 from a drug overdose. The autopsy revealed that cocaine and alcohol were found in his bloodstream, as well as traces of barbiturates. His heart was already damaged. His death was big news understandably in that area. Here, in the East Coast, where I live, nothing much was heard. 

It saddens me to learn what this autograph means and who held the disc and probably played it. But sadness is not new, both in life and in cinema. One takes the sadness, but one has to move on, regardless.