Japanese Playing Chinese


It was remarkable that 3 of the main characters were actually Japanese. Miyoshi Umeki, James Shigeta as well as Reiko Sato (Helen) are not Chinese at all. Also, Juanita Hall wasn't even Asian but was a black actress. The film was enjoyable with great musical numbers and dancing. The story was a bit tedious at times but the production was good in general.

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If the casting irked (or still irks) any Chinese, I suppose "Memoirs of a Geisha" -- steeped in Japanese culture -- is vindication: the leads are all Chinese!

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Be happy that the cast was not all ango in disguise.

I don't understand all the quibbling about ethnic origins. Next thing there will be complaints because actors from Hong Kong are playing Shanghaiese.

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Hi lynxx55,

I agree with your post. If the film had been made earlier it would have starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in yellow-face, a rather dismal thought. The original poster probably didn't know that Jack Soo was also Japanese American amd Miyoshi Umeki originated the role in the original Broadway production. A pop singer named Pat Susuki had the Nancy Kwan part. It was a mixed cast from the inception. I'm just overjoyed for the talented actors who finally got a chance to show their talent in a major film.

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Well, I don't know if it's that remarkable....After all, white actors play characters of different ethnicities all the time and no one remarks on it....you know, Germans playing Italians, or Irish playing Scottish, or Spanish playing French & so on.

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Interestingly enough, Jack Soo's real name was Jack Suzuki (no relation to Pat, it seems). He was billed under his real name in the initial out-of-town tryout of the stage play, in which he played the M.C., Frankie Wing.

How come no one makes a fuss when non-Chinese singers sing the role of Turandot?

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Anyone care that Liam Neeson, an Irishman, played Rob Roy, a Scot? I thought not.

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae

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Anyone care that Liam Neeson, an Irishman, played Rob Roy, a Scot? I thought not.

A source of considerable anguish to me, sir!!!

Haha, not really. :)

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Imagine that.

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You left out Jack Soo who, notwithstanding his Chinese-sounding surname, was born Goro Suzuki.

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Juanita Hall, who was actually a light-skinned African-American woman, played a Chinese in Flower Drum Song and a Tonkinese in South Pacific. She was one of those all-purpose "ethnic" actors, like Yul Brynner, Anthony Quinn, and Michael Ansara. They could play just about anything except a WASP.




All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

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Actually, Juanita Hall's mother was white. She was thus an ethnic/racial hybrid, just like Nancy Kwan.

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It should be mentioned that the Caucasian actor Larry Blyden played the Jack Soo role in the original cast and Soo essayed the role of Frankie Wing. Try to find a photo of Blyden in "yellow face" makeup. he made Sidney Toler look authentic!

"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

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Nancy Kwan is Eurasian. Chinese Father, Caucasian-British mother. She married a Caucasian man and her son was blonde, like Nancy's mother.

"I say,open this door at once! We're British !"

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