Particularly drawn to the Luise Rainer. Interesting actress. When she came out of retirement for 1997's "The Gambler", she shows up long enough to lose her fortune at the roulette table.
That's a great photo of her. She was excellent in the three films I've seen her in, two which she co-starred with William Powell. I've been desperately searching for Escapade, which I heard is a stinker. I've also heard a story that Luise has the only copy Escapade, but I think it's just a rumor.
After testing for the role of O-Lan, Paul Muni's wife in the film "The Good Earth" (1937), and then being considered for the smaller role of Lotus, his concubine in the film, Anna May lost out to Luise Rainer and Tilly Losch respectively. Irving Thalberg's assistant, Albert Lewin, was put in charge of casting the film version of Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. After testing Anna May and other Chinese actors, he argued that despite their ethnicity they did not fit his conception of what Chinese people looked like. Seems she was "too Asian".
Oh look, so many cool vintage photos:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/normavalentine/sets/
Great find!! What an outstanding collection. The color deco and the deco pattern folders are especially neat.
ReplyDeleteParticularly drawn to the Luise Rainer. Interesting actress. When she came out of retirement for 1997's "The Gambler", she shows up long enough to lose her fortune at the roulette table.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great photo of her. She was excellent in the three films I've seen her in, two which she co-starred with William Powell. I've been desperately searching for Escapade, which I heard is a stinker. I've also heard a story that Luise has the only copy Escapade, but I think it's just a rumor.
ReplyDeleteI guess Anna May Wong was a little pissed off when Luise beat her out for "The Good Earth".
ReplyDeleteI didnt know about that, where can I read about it? Is it in the Anna May Wong bio by Russell and Hodges?
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ReplyDeleteAfter testing for the role of O-Lan, Paul Muni's wife in the film "The Good Earth" (1937), and then being considered for the smaller role of Lotus, his concubine in the film, Anna May lost out to Luise Rainer and Tilly Losch respectively.
ReplyDeleteIrving Thalberg's assistant, Albert Lewin, was put in charge of casting the film version of Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. After testing Anna May and other Chinese actors, he argued that despite their ethnicity they did not fit his conception of what Chinese people looked like.
Seems she was "too Asian".
http://vietq.wordpress.com/2006/03/15/the-conflicted-career-of-actress-anna-may-wong/
That's fascinating, thanks for the link and info.
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