Lady from Chungking (1942)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Milton Raison (writer)
Sam Robins (writer)

Genre:

War

Plot:

After the Japanese invade China in WW 2, a young woman leads a band of partisans against the occupying troops.

Plot Keywords:

WWII

Cast

Anna May Wong	...	Kwan Mei
Harold Huber	...	General Kaimura
Mae Clarke	...	Lavara
Rick Vallin	...	Rodney Carr
Paul Bryar	...	Pat O'Roulke
Ted Hecht	...	Lieutenant Shimoto
Ludwig Donath	...	Hans Gruber
James B. Leong	...	Chen
Archie Got	...	Mochow
Walter Soo Hoo	...	Lu-Chi

Runtime:

66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario)

Company:

Alexander-Stern Productions

Anna May Wong Excels in a Solid Wartime Drama

Overall, this is a solid if unspectacular wartime drama, with a message that was important at the time. But Anna May Wong's performance lifts it well above the norm for its genre, and although it seems likely that she was cast primarily so as to lend her charm and her reputation to the movie's message, the movie serves quite well as a showcase for her own considerable abilities.

The story has Wong as the leader of a resistance group to the Japanese occupation of China, and while the film definitely has a low-budget look to it, the atmosphere is generally convincing. Mae Clarke does a good job and is rather appealing herself, as a cynical singer whose loyalties are obscure. As the Japanese general with whom Wong's character must match wits, Harold Huber is too obviously not Asian for the role to work completely, but he does do a solid job of portraying the general as greedy yet short-sighted, egotistical but foolish.

Wong gets plenty of good material to work with, and she does an excellent job with all of it. At times she must act as a meek subject of the occupiers, at other times a tough-minded leader in a desperate situation. Then, in the scenes when she tries to win the general's confidence, she is finally able to do justice to her beauty and her elegant reserve. She makes it very convincing to believe that she could captivate a man much tougher than General Kaimura. Finally, in the speech that drives home the movie's message, her voice works very well in delivering the message.

Anna May Wong is certainly better remembered for her roles in other, far more lavish productions than this. Without her, "Lady from Chungking" would a well-meaning but generally nondescript feature. But it's easily worth seeing for the opportunities that it gives her to provide an example of her wide range of abilities.