Except for the bar scene, I noticed that Anna May Wong seemed to tower over most of the women in the film. Especially Bessie, the head of the scullery. IMDb says that she was only 5'4 1/2" but she's statuesque, even with her slouch. I guess most women were around 5 feet. That's probably why those tall hats were so popular.
shareAccording to the biographies I recently read on Ms. Wong (Anna May Wong : / from Laundryman's Daughter To Hollywood Legend by Graham Russell Gao Hodges, and Perpetually Cool : / the Many Lives Of Anna May Wong by Anthony B. Chan), her height was 5'7", relatively tall for a woman, especially in 1929. Both books were interesting and well researched and documented, by the way (especially the first one) and I would recommend them to anyone interested in this strong, glamorous and unique lady.
shareThanks ericmarcoux, 5'7" makes a lot more sense than 5'4". (You may want to update Ms. Wong's IMDb profile to list her correct height.) Just twenty years later in The Fuller Brush Girl, Lucille Ball was described as that tall girl. Even though she was only 5'6".
Anna May Wong reminds me of one of her contemporaries, Louise Brooks (and vice versa). They both are very charismatic, you can hardly tear your eyes away from them when they are on the screen. They ooze oodles of personality, ambition and determination. I wonder if they knew each other.
Too bad they weren't around now, they could do a Thelma and Louise type movie. Or they could do a martial arts flick with swords. Imagine the possibilities/
Thanks for the book references. Yes, 5'7" is pretty tall for a woman of that time. I'm not sure what the average height is for women today, but about 30 years ago, 5'4", I think, was about average.
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