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Anna May Wong

The first Chinese American Hollywood movie star, whose international career was shaped by the industry’s discriminatory casting limits.

Why they matter

Wong’s work illuminates both the cosmopolitan possibilities of early screen stardom and the exclusion built into Hollywood casting practices.

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3 connected titles in the current build.

1929 · Drama

A London nightclub melodrama remembered especially for Anna May Wong’s magnetic central performance.

1932 · Drama

A visually extravagant train-bound drama with Wong and Dietrich as two women navigating danger and scrutiny.

1937 · Crime drama

Wong leads a crime story about human trafficking and undercover investigation, rare in giving Asian American performers central roles.