Before Constance Wu, Sandra Oh, Awkwafina, or Lucy Liu, there was Anna May Wong. In her time, she was a glamorous starlet, flapper, and fashion icon who graced Oscar-winning films and who was mobbed by clamoring fans and the adoring press both here and abroad. Anna May Wong was plucked from her family's Chinatown laundry business in Los Angeles and rose to stardom in some of classic Hollywood's biggest films. When she tired of Hollywood stereotyping, she headed abroad in protest. She found international fame starring in films across London, Paris, and Berlin, and returned to find Hollywood on bended knee, offering a three-picture studio contract. She used her new stature to move away from her typecasting as the China doll or dragon lady, and she worked to reshape Asian American representation in film. Filled with stories of capricious directors and admiring costars, glamorous parties and far flung love affairs, Not Your China Doll showcases the sparkling, revolutionary life of a groundbreaking artist.
