Tsai Chin Movies

Filmmaker Arthur Dong's documentary Hollywood Chinese pays homage to the first century of the American film industry, as specifically colored and influenced by the Chinese immigrants to whom Hollywood owes an inestimable debt. Dong touches on everyone from actress Anna May Wong, of Limehouse Blues (1934) and Lady from Chungking (1943), to the late cameraman James Wong Howe, responsible for giving the Rock Hudson thriller Seconds (1966) such a creepy and inventive look. Dong also explores the newer generation of Chinese-American filmmakers, including such giants as Wayne Wang and Ang Lee, responsible for such contemporary classics as The Joy Luck Club, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Brokeback Mountain. At the same time, a haunting and telling undercurrent of racism and stereotypes weaves its way in, suggestive of the difficulties that Chinese men and women found working in Hollywood -- particularly in the early years. As a historical footnote, Dong also makes film history by rediscovering and editing in footage from what is alleged to be the first Asian-American film ever made: the 1916 Curse of Quon Gwan, directed by Marion Wong. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

An aspiring homecoming queen discovers that in order to win the coveted crown she must first learn the way of the warrior in this action-packed Disney Channel production that the whole family will enjoy. Wendy Wu has a one track mind, and that track leads directly to the title of homecoming queen -- no unscheduled stops, and no unnecessary detours. When a mysterious Chinese monk named Shen arrives to mold Wendy into a fearless kung fu warrior, however, her royal aspirations suddenly jump the track as she desperately attempts to juggle her boyfriend, her homework, and of course, the fierce competition to become homecoming queen. Now, as Wendy begins to train her mind, body, and spirit in the ancient tradition of the martial arts and her inner warrior gradually begins to emerge, the girl who once obsessed over popularity finally begins to put that popularity into perspective as she gradually realizes what truly matters in life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Mina Shum re-teams with the lead actress behind her breakthrough debut film Double Happiness in this magic-realist romantic comedy. Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity stars Sandra Oh as Kin Ho, a lonely single mom living in Vancouver with her impish 12-year-old daughter, Mindy (Valerie Tian). Mindy stumbles across a corner magic store while traipsing through Chinatown one day, and begins to believe that spells and potions are the perfect means for improving her mother's life. Her purchases not achieving the desired results, Mindy resorts to more serious schemes, courtesy of a fortune teller. After a few botched efforts -- which result in good fortune for a neighborhood butcher and terrible luck for a security guard -- Mindy sets herself to the task of finding her mother a mate in the form of Alvin (Russell Yuen), a co-worker of Kin's who has long admired her from afar. Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity premiered at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

There are few better ways to bring tension to a family than to pack all of them into a motor vehicle for a few weeks. Grandmother Le (Tsai Chin) decides it's time to pay her family an overdue visit, so she flies from China to California to spend some time with her daughter, Ming-Na (Deborah Nishimura). However, once Grandmother arrives, she discovers that Ming-Na has planned a road trip through California's scenic country. Ming-Na's bossiness isn't making anyone happy, and cramming the entire family into an RV -- including her sister Ming-Yee (Kim Miyori), her brother-in-law (Dennis Dun), and her daughter Melissa (Sasha Hsuczyk) -- isn't helping. In time, however, everyone learns why Grandmother has decided to return home, and they are forced to set aside their petty differences. My American Vacation was the debut feature for writer/director V.V. Dachin Hsu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Shirley Maclaine stars as a reclusive piano player in this made-for-television movie based on the play by Ernest Thompson. Maclaine plays Margaret Mary Elderdice, a loner-type who befriends her next-door neighbor and violinist Cara Varnum (Liza Minnelli) only so the two can play music together. Margaret's life takes a turn into new territory and expands beyond its small confines though, with the addition of her young, aspiring-actress housemaid (Jennifer Grey). ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

The disintegration of a relationship has undertones that find an echo in the possible disintegration of both the economy and the society in this intriguing tale from director Edward Yang. Qin (Cai Qin) has a high-paying job in a computer company, and her fiancé, Lon (Hou Xiaoxian), works in a textile company. Their relationship was never strong, since Lon still harbors some feelings for his ex-girlfriend and tends to dwell in his past glories as a baseball player. After Qin gets a new apartment for them both, everything collapses. She loses her job when the computer company is bought out, her father needs money, her sister needs an abortion, and she suspects that Lon is off seeing his old girlfriend. Lon himself shies away from marriage, gambles away whatever he earns, and worries about one of his friends in need of help. With these demands and strains on their relationship, matrimony hardly seems like a viable option. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this pre-Monty Python parody of private-eye movies by Graham Chapman and John Cleese, someone has stolen nerve gas that paralyzes victims from the waist down. Now the bumbling boys at Rentadick, Inc. must find them before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This extremely low-budget adventure was director Jesus Franco's second Fu Manchu film for British producer Harry Alan Towers. Christopher Lee returns as the Asian madman, who has developed a way to turn the oceans into ice as part of his plan to rule the world. Kidnapping famed Prof. Herakles (Gustavo Re), Fu forces the doctor to help him with his diabolical plan. When Herakles' health starts to fail, Fu kidnaps two more people (Guenther Stoll, Maria Perschy) for a transplant operation at his Istanbul headquarters. Fu's old rivals Dennis Nayland Smith (Richard Green) and Dr. Petrie (Howard Marion Crawford) come to Turkey to foil his evil experiments. Rosalba Neri, Jose Manuel Martin, and Werner Abrolat co-star in this poor fifth installment in the popular series. The film is so poorly conceived that -- although it was made in color -- the shipwreck caused by Fu is actually a black-and-white scene borrowed wholesale from A Night to Remember. For completists only, this disastrous entry also stars Herbert Fuchs and Tsai Chin, while Franco makes a cameo as a Turkish detective. Various versions run 92, 86, and 85 minutes. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

James Bond heads East to save the world (and to learn how to serve saki properly) in this action-packed espionage adventure. When an American spacecraft disappears during a mission, it's widely believed to have been intercepted by the Soviet Union, and after a Russian space capsule similarly goes missing, most consider it to be an act of American retaliation. Soon the two nations are at the brink of war, but British intelligence discovers that some sort of UFO has crashed into the Sea of Japan. Agent 007, James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent in to investigate. After staging his own death to avoid being followed, Bond, disguised as a Japanese civilian, teams up with agent Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba) and his beautiful associate Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi). With their help, Bond learns that both the American and Russian space missions were actually scuttled by supercriminal Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasance) in yet another bid by his evil empire SPECTRE to take over the world. As he battles the bad guys, Bond finds time to romance both Kissy Suziki (Mie Hama) and Helga Brandt (Karin Dor). You Only Live Twice was one of Sean Connery's last outings as James Bond. The next Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, would star George Lazenby as 007, and while Connery would return for Diamonds Are Forever, in 1973, Roger Moore took over the role. (Connery would play Bond one last time, in 1983's Never Say Never Again, which was produced outside the official series.) ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The nefarious Fu Manchu strikes again in this crime drama. This time the megalomaniacal Manchu plots to earn the money he needs to build a world-dominating ray gun by abducting the daughters of 12 important world leaders. His dastardly daughter assists. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, the devilish Chinese villain has concocted a deadly gas. He tries it out in a small English town and is delighted to discover that it is terribly effective. He then travels to the Thames with his daughter. There he has an explosive encounter with the hero who stops the evil plot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an American agent for the OSS after the war, hides a large treasure in Czechoslovakia for a Nazi general. The general commits suicide before getting the jewels. The general's top aide then convinces the American to help him get them back. They enlist the aide of the general's daughter, a hooker and find the valuable stones. Later the Yankee and the hooker are double-crossed by the aide who was working with the prostitute's roomie. The roommate then kills the aide, and escapes on the Munich Express. The agent also boards the quickly moving train. He almost has his hands on the box of jewels when it slips from his fingers and falls into the rushing river below. As the cops arrive and take the roommate away, the agent and the general's daughter decide to start a new life together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Alan Burgess' novel The Small Woman was the source for the British/American co-production Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Set in the China of the 1930s, the film stars Ingrid Bergman as real-life missionary Gladys Aylward. Against the advice of practically everyone, Gladys heads into the war-ravaged interior to spread the Christian gospel. She finds a powerful ally in the form of an elderly Mandarin (Robert Donat) who, despite his early efforts to rid himself of the troublesome Gladys, eventually converts to Christianity. Gladys' burgeoning romance with Chinese army officer Lin Nan (Curt Jurgens) is interrupted when she is obliged to guide a group of Chinese children to safety over some of the most treacherous of Northern China's mountain regions. Inn of the Sixth Happiness retains its entertainment value some four decades after its production, even allowing for the preponderance of Occidental actors in Oriental roles. The film also served to breathe new life into the old children's nonsense song "This Old Man" (aka "Knick, Knack, Paddywhack"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide