Firearms Friday with Anna May Wong

Born on Jan. 3, 1904, Anna May Wong was a third-generation Chinese-American who began her film acting career at the age of 15. Within a year, her raw talent and charisma was being noticed by directors and fellow actors alike, and she swiftly moved from bit parts, to major supporting roles, and to her first starring role at the age of 17 in "The Toll of the Sea" (1922). 

 
Wong is perhaps best remembered for her major supporting role in "The Thief of Bagdad" (1924) (where she was as captivating and scene-stealing on screen as leading man Douglas Fairbanks). As sound replaced silent movies, Wong made a successful transition into talkies and cemented her legacy as the first Asian-American movie star. Unfortunately, the racism baked into the U.S. film industry--with its regulations that stated actors of different races could not share the screen in romantic scenes, and the habit of casting white actors in "yellow face" in leading parts--stopped her from maintaining her star status, and she went to Europe where such policies and habits did not stand in her way.

As World War II was looming on the horizon, Wong returned tothe U.S. where, after acclaimed leading roles in thrillers "Daughter of Shanghai" (1937) (where she received top billing) and "Dangerous to Know" (1939), she found the old racist blocks were still in her career path and she quickly found herself relegated to choosing to star in Poverty Row films, or take minor parts in major pictures. By 1942, after appearing in 48 American, British, or German pictures, Wong left film behind for the stage.

In 1949, Wong returned briefly to the Big Screen with a supporting role in the fabulous thriller "Impact", and in 1951 she starred as the title character in the short-lived detective TV series
"The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong". 

During the 1950s, Wong battled several health issues, but still managed to return to television during the second half of that decade, with small supporting and guest-starring roles in detective shows, drama anthology series, and westerns.

Wong suffered a massive heart attack and passed away in 1961, one month after her 56th birthday.

'What the Doctor Ordered' is okay medicine

What the Doctor Ordered (1912)

Starring: Mack Sennett, Mabel Normand, Edward Dillon, Jack Pickford, Kate Toncray, and J. Jiquel Lanoe

Director: Mack Sennett

Rating: Five of Ten Stars

A wealthy hypochondriac (Sennett) is instructed by his doctor (Lanoe) to go up onto the mountains to benefit from the pure air. The man's wife (Toncray) and teenaged children (Normand and Pickford) come along for the trip. Snowball fights, illicit lovemaking between the daughter and her boyfriend (Dillon) ensue, with it all culminating with members of the family in mortal danger.

That's a long summary for a short movie, but I couldn't figure out a shorter way to put it. Which is odd, because that paragraph also describes almost everything that happens in the film. 

"What the Doctor Ordered" is a fast-moving film where not a second is wasted. In fact, it moves so fast that I wish a little more time had been spent on a few more transition scenes or character interactions to fill in the relationships a bit more. It would have made the film feel less choppy and the story more substantial.

That said, the film is full of raw energy and the actors all give excellent performances. Mabel Normand and Edward Dillon are particularly fun to watch, while Normand's scenes with Jack Pickford have a playfulness in them that will put a smile on your face. Frequent watchers of silent movies may be particularly fascinated to see Mack Sennett in a starring role, since he's usually behind the camera or in very minor parts. 

fdsa

Ballerinas must be light on their feet...

 ... or Tamara Cerner wouldn't be dancing on water in the flooded basement at Shades of Gray HQ.

Musical Monday at Shades of Gray HQ

Have you ever wondered what it's like at the Shades of Gray offices, the place where everything is in black-and-white and all time is meaningless? Well, watch the video below and you'll get a feel for it!

Dinero (2018)

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, and DJ Khaled

Director: Joseph Kahn

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

(Okay... so it might not be exactly like that around here, but... all right, it's NOTHING like that. But it's a new year. Maybe THIS is the year we go viral and stuff! Or Jennifer Lopez just decides to give us a dump truck full of money!)

It's a Mohammed Monday!

It's a new year, but we're the same old Shades of Gray... and we're bringing you the same old Jesus & Mo, in show of our respect for murderous religious fanatics everywhere!

THIS WEEK WITH JESUS & MO

It's January...

 ... Lois January that is! It seems 2023 snuck up on her!

Happy New Year from all of us here at Shades of Gray!

Alice's New Year's Resolution...

... is to remember to put on pants before she leaves the house.

Have you made a New Year's Resolution? If so, put in the comments and Alice will record it and keep you to it!

Happy birthday to Aesha Ash!

Celebrated and internationally renowned ballet dancer (and now instructor) Aesha Ash turns 45 today! Here are a few pictures in celebration!

What are the dancers doing as the year ends?

On International Dance Day 2022, the ballerinas ran off into the wild. We're trying to keep track of them, and we'll try to bring you updates on the last Wednesday of each month until International Dance Day 2023.

It's winter. It's snowing. Now what?

 
 

If you're cold, they're cold. Bring them inside.

'Alice the Jail Bird' is pretty good

Alice the Jail Bird (1925)
Starring: Margie Gay
Director: Walt Disney
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

After stealing a pie and getting caught by the police, Alice and two of her cartoon animal friends are sentenced to prison and hard labor.

"Alice the Jail Bird" is a simple and straight-forward short film that I think will be appreciated even by the modern members of its target audience--six- and seven-year-old kids--more than it will by adults. That said, I think even little kids will be frustrated by the numerous sequences that drag on beyond the point where they are interesting, as well as wonder why one of the three companions is ignored and left behind during the inevitable jailbreak.

Another flaw, although a purely technical one that may bother me more than most viewers, is the poorly executed integration of animation and live action footage. While Alice does interact more with the animated characters than she does in several other entries in the series, the combination of live-action and animation still pales in comparison to the conceptually similar series from the Fleischer Studios, Out of the Inkwell featuring Ko-Ko the Clown. The film also sloppily breaks with its own conceit when live-action Alice is replaced with an animated Alice in the "long shots". Although I doubt it is something that will annoy the target audience--if they even notice--but it annoyed me enough to knock a Star off my rating. The scenes where Live-Action Alice is replaced by Animated Alice also happen to be the ones where there's the greatest degree of action and interaction between Alice and the animated world. It's a shame that Disney didn't have the budget or the technical know-how/equipment to keep the Alice character purely live action, because some of the sequences in this film would have been amazing. As it is, it's just an annoying bit of incompetence that breaks the consistency of the imaginary world of the series.

Despite its flaws, this is still one of the better entries I've seen of this series. The events all tie together to form a fairly coherent story and most of the gags serve action that moves the story forward. Even better, the character of Alice has a role that warrants her name being in the title; she is not central to all the action, but she is a central mover to the plot. 

What I enjoyed the most about "Alice the Jail Bird", though, is the nutty cartoon-world physics that's on display throughout the film. While some of the gags are stretched beyond what's good for them, they remain great examples of the surreal weirdness that makes even these weaker shorts from the 1920s and 1930s still worth watching.
 

And speaking of watching -- you can watch "Alice the Jail Bird" right here in this post. Just click below and sit back.