Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection

October 24, 2009 – May 30, 2010

Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection is a groundbreaking exhibition of movie memorabilia collected during the ten-year research for Arthur Dong’s documentary on the Chinese in American feature films, “Hollywood Chinese.” From the filmmaker’s archive of over 1,000 items, a selection of posters, lobby cards, stills, scripts, press material, and other artifacts dating from 1916 to present-day offer vivid graphic examples of how the Chinese have been imagined in the movies during the last century. The show also documents the work of Chinese and Chinese American film artists through the decades who have triumphed as well as struggled with an industry often ignorant of race. Filmmaker Arthur Dong is the Guest Curator for this exhibit.

In addition to iconic depictions evidenced by material from films such as “The Good Earth,” “The Vengeance of Fu Manchu,” “Charlie Chan in Honolulu,” and “Flower Drum Song,” highlights of the exhibition include the surviving archive of pioneer Chinese American filmmaker James B. Leong, who produced the 1921 film, “Lotus Blossom,” in Los Angeles, and rare production photos from the recently discovered 1916 film, “The Curse of Quon Gwon,” the earliest known feature film directed by an Asian American, San Francisco native Marion Wong. Other themes include a look at how cinema exploited the Chinatown mystique, films reflecting anti-Communists attitudes, and a selection of lobby cards from Mexico. On special display will be the first Oscar ® won by a Chinese American, the eminent cinematographer, James Wong Howe, for his work on “The Rose Tattoo (1955)” The statuette is on loan courtesy of the James Wong Howe Estate.

Major funding for “Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection” has been provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Click here for the Press Release (PDF).

Special Events Related to Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection

CAM is proud to offer an exciting schedule of programs developed specifically to enhance your understanding and enjoyment of this exhibit. All the programs are offered free to the public though reservations are required. Please the events calendar for specific information.

Neighborhood Stories

This photographic exhibition will introduce visitors to the beginnings of Los Angeles’ changing Chinese American communities, from the city’s original Chinatown, New Chinatown, China City, and Market Chinatown. This exhibit will provide through pictures, a glimpse at how the Chinese American community began to make Los Angeles home.

Footsteps Through Time

A collaborative project between the History Channel, the Chinese American Museum and a local elementary school in Chinatown, this new exhibit focuses on a 5th grade class’ exploration of family history and preservation through the use of oral interviews, photographs and shoes.

Students from Ms. Susan Dickson’s 5th grade class at Castelar Elementary School were encouraged to preserve their own family histories by learning about how the history of Los Angeles’ early Chinese American communities are preserved. Family photos, oral history interviews, timelines and drawings are placed alongside stories and photos from the Museum’s collections as a portrait of our local community. Restored floorboards of the historic Garnier Building, the only remaining building of the city’s original Chinatown, provide the backdrop for the exhibit. 

Journeys

This exhibit narrates Chinese immigration to the United States with an emphasis on community settlement in Los Angeles. The display is outlined into four distinct time periods. Each period is defined by an important immigration law and event, accompanied by a brief description and a short personal story about a local Chinese American and their experiences in that particular historical period.

Sun Wing Wo General Store and Herb Shop

This exhibition is a recreation of an actual store that was housed in the Garnier Building in the 1890’s. The Sun Wing Wo store opened in 1891 and remained in this building until 1948.  The store was a multi-purpose space that showed how self-sufficient the Chinese were and had to be due to racism and discrimination, while also being responsive to the needs of their community.  Even though the store predominantly served the Chinese, there were European, Japanese, and Mexican Americans who also came to purchase Chinese merchandise.

On one side of the gallery, people can find merchandise sold at the general store such as food, clothing, furniture, firecrackers, and dishes; they can also find western products that were popular at the time such as cigars and perfumed soaps. The store also provided banking, postal, and letter writing services for the community.

On the other side of the gallery, the Museum recreated the herb shop where Chinese could practice their traditional form of healthcare - Chinese Medicine. There were acupuncture services and prescriptions of herbal remedies provided.

Meet Albert Lew

Engage in a lively chat with Albert Lew as he relives his childhood days in the original Sun Wing Wo Store. Experience what it was like inside the hustle and bustle of this vital community center as seen through the eyes of a then thirteen-year old Albert, who worked in the store upon his arrival to the United States in 1937.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Albert Lew moved to China with his parents at the age of five during the Great Depression. In 1937, Albert Lew was thirteen years old when he came back to the United States to earn money to support his mother and younger siblings in China. Upon his arrival, Albert worked in the Sun Wing Wo general store and herb shop, located in Chinatown, and owned and operated by his uncles and cousin. After working at the store for six months, his older sister and her husband arranged for Albert to join them in San Francisco. Albert eventually served in the U.S. Navy and worked for the Department of Water and Power. He has since retired in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Scheduled appearances: The SECOND WEDNESDAY of every month.