Hollywood Asian : Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance

"From silent films to television programs, Hollywood has employed actors of various ethnicities to represent "Oriental"characters, from Caucasian stars like Loretta Young made up in yellow-face to Korean American pioneer Philip Ahn, whose more than 200 screen performances included roles as sadistic Japanese military officers in World War II movies and a wronged Chinese merchant in the TV show Bonanza. The first book-length study of Korean identities in American cinema and television, Hollywood Asian investigates the career of Ahn (1905-1978), a pioneering Asian American screen icon and son of celebrated Korean nationalist An Ch'ang-ho. In this groundbreaking scholarly study, Hye Seung Chung examines Ahn's career to suggest new theoretical paradigms for addressing cross-ethnic performance and Asian American spectatorship. Incorporating original material from a wide range of sources, including U.S. government and Hollywood screen archives, Chung's work offers a provocative and original contribution to cinema studies, cultural studies, and Asian American as well as Korean history."--Publisher's website CONTENTS......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 9 Introduction: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Asian......Page 11 PART I: ASIAN AMERICAN ACTS:PERFORMANCE AND SPECTATORSHIP......Page 23 1 Portrait of a Patriot’s Son: Philip Ahn and Korean Diasporic Identities in Hollywood......Page 25 2 The Audience Who Knew Too Much: Oriental Masquerade and Ethnic Recognition among Asian Americans......Page 55 PART II: ORIENTAL GENRES, 1930s TO 1950s......Page 79 3 Between Yellowphilia and Yellowphobia: Asian American Romance in Oriental Detective Films......Page 81 4 State Intervention in the Imagining of Orientals in China Films of the 1930s and 1940s......Page 109 5 Hollywood Goes to Korea: War, Melodrama, and the Biopic Politics of Battle Hymn......Page 142 Conclusion: Becoming “Father,” Becoming Asian American......Page 191 Notes......Page 213 Filmography......Page 235 Bibliography......Page 237 Index......Page 247 A study of Korean identities in American cinema and television, this work investigates the career of Ahn (1905-1978), a pioneering Asian American screen icon and son of celebrated Korean nationalist An Ch'ang-ho. It examines Ahn's career to suggest theoretical paradigms for addressing cross-ethnic performance and Asian American spectatorship.