Unlike Charlie Chan who was a detective for the Honolulu Police Department, Mr. Moto was a kind of international secret agent. I've only seen a few of the eight Mr. Moto films with Peter Lorre in the eponymous role, and I have to say, as a sansei, I wasn't offended by the way he was portrayed. These films were made in the late 30's, and to be frank, there weren't a whole lot of Japanese actors working in Hollywood at the time. Yes, in hindsight it's not kosher having a Hungarian play a Japanese. But the scripts and Lorre's performance as Mr. Moto (at least in the films I've seen) were innocuous. Mr. Moto was portrayed as being smart, perceptive, extremely efficient, and tough. He had the full confidence and support of the people he worked with, and the only time he condescended into stereotype was to fool the bad guys into thinking he wasn't a threat. It's obvious from watching Lorre's performances that he respected the character of Mr. Moto.
I've only seen a few of the 1930's Charlie Chan movies (with Warner Oland), and yes, having a Swede play a Chinese isn't kosher either. But, like Mr. Moto, I think Charlie Chan, at least in the few movies I've seen, is portrayed in a very positive light.
Btw, Hollywood isn't the only one guilty of awkward racial casting. Ningen no Shoumei (Proof of a Man), first a movie made in the late 1970's, and then a dorama made in 2004, put a Japanese actor in black face and afro to portray a black man who grew up in America. Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto movies were made in the 1930's (not an excuse for the casting of whites to play Asians, but certainly an explanation of why it occurred); but to cast a Japanese as a black man in 2004 when you'd think people should know better? C'mon!
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 6884 Location: Syracuse, NY Country:
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 5:04 am Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
^ Charlie Chan's Secret was that he wasn't Chinese.
That's true.
Swedish actor Warner Oland was educated in Boston, but proudly retained his Scandinavian roots throughout his life, even devoting time to translating the works of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen into English for the benefit of theatrical scholars. Trained at Dr. Curry's Acting School, Oland took on a theatrical career, ultimately tackling the movie industry in 1915 with an appearance in Sin opposite Theda Bara. Oland's curious facial features enabled the occidental actor to specialize in oriental roles, most often as a villain. During a 1935 visit to China, Oland was mobbed by his enthusiastic Chinese movie fans, some of whom were so enchanted by his performance that (it is said) they actually believed Oland was genuinely Asian. _________________
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 6884 Location: Syracuse, NY Country:
Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 8:51 am Post subject:
^^ Just got a couple of the Christopher Lee Fu Manchu films from the '60's, sure he's gonna look even less Oriental then Warner, maybe having a name like Lee was enough of a requirement. _________________
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 8:55 am Post subject:
hitomi #1 wrote:
^^ Just got a couple of the Christopher Lee Fu Manchu films from the '60's, sure he's gonna look even less Oriental then Warner, maybe having a name like Lee was enough of a requirement.
Lee? Why do all Koreans look Chinese? I'm sure our S. Korean brethren will readily agree!
Joined: 28 Feb 2008 Posts: 1351 Location: Davis, CA
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:07 am Post subject:
I saw X-Men: First Class last night. For someone who doesn't know the comics well, I thought this movie did a good job of highlighting the relationship between Professor Xavier and Magneto. It helped me to understand their bond, how they are closely connected to one another. However, I thought the rest of the cast wasn't fleshed out as well, with Mystique being the only other character I thought had much development. Hopefully in the sequels that will change. The action was decent, there wasn't a fight or battle that really stood out. I also thought some of the pivotal moments for Magneto and Xavier weren't given more weight. Overall it was good, enjoyable movie, a B+ in my book.
Never been a fan of any of the X-Men movies... Or the X-Men comics, for that matter.
I've always thought superhero teams don't really work, because there's too much (or not enough) concern to try to flesh out each character within a period of time, like a two-hour movie or a single comic book issue.
No surprise that the more successful superhero movies and comics are single person superheroes: Batman, Spider-Man, etc.
And for that reason, I think next year's Avengers movie will be meh...
Joined: 28 Feb 2008 Posts: 1351 Location: Davis, CA
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:23 pm Post subject:
bmwracer wrote:
Never been a fan of any of the X-Men movies... Or the X-Men comics, for that matter.
I've always thought superhero teams don't really work, because there's too much (or not enough) concern to try to flesh out each character within a period of time, like a two-hour movie or a single comic book issue.
No surprise that the more successful superhero movies and comics are single person superheroes: Batman, Spider-Man, etc.
And for that reason, I think next year's Avengers movie will be meh...
You make a good point, it's hard to flesh out each character within a movie's running time. It's not realistic for me to expect all the characters in the X-Men movie to be explored in depth. As long as they explore the main and popular characters then I should be satisfied with that.
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