Anna May Wong was born in Los Angeles, USA. Ms. Wong, when she became 'known' in the film industry, made her first trip to Shanghai--which was considered there to be the "Hollywood" of China. Ms. Wong was greeted warmly and welcomed very much, though there were those there who complained against her bitterly for not keeping with established Chinese traditions, as a woman. Poor Ms. Wong! Though she bridged a gap, cinematically, between the USA markets/distributors & China--and paved the way for others that followed, THEN AS NOW, (comments below), she just can't please everyone. Determined and charismatic, this beautiful actress did her best to succeed; I, myself, applaud her spirit that enabled her to stay focused on 'the bigger picture!' Thanks.☺
The dance they're doing is called an "Apache" dance, or 'l'apache in French. The style became popular in Paris around 1900 but has been performed by people in Spain, Italy and Latin America and can be applied to any culture or sub-culture where you have a "machismo" males. It's not so much a dance as a ballet that arose from stories about life in the slums. The man is often a pimp or a violent criminal; the woman is a sex worker or penniless girl. She loves the man but he is cruel to her, rejecting her, insulting her, even physically abusing her, yet she still stays with him. This, by the way, is not something unique to 19th century Parisian slums, it occurs today across all levels of society. The dance is about how love and hate, violence and erotic attraction can co-exist in a relationship. Sometimes the couple is are reconciled at the end, sometimes the woman leaves, sometimes she dies. Sometimes she fights back and wins. Dancers have told the story many different ways. (There are several different versions on UA-cam). But the dance is not promoting abuse of women, it's portraying the tragedy of it. If it make you feel sad or angry, well, it's meant to.
Valentino posed in a similar outfit, but to see Raft in one is amazing! Raft and Valentino knew each other and danced on the same places. While both tangoed on film, we never saw Valentino do the Apache dance on film.
Raft has an interesting history, made some logistical errors in his career, was a hoofer, cool actor, lived through the third hand atmosphere to a ripe old age.
This male handling of the female is/ was also done by the French.. The Tango is also used to show the man dominating and abusing the woman at the end. Rudolph Valentino was much loved by all women in the 1920's, even though his roles as the Geat Latin Lover infuriated men. (He was an Italian immigrant).
It's really a shame that you post a clip (where the whole point is watch as much of 2 human bodies dancing) that was originally filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio, but you present it in a 16:9 ratio. This screen format wasn't in common use until the 50s, so the result here is that you've cut off the top and bottom of the frame so the side to side will fit the 16:9. Rather defeats the point of trying to see dancers.
Well, *that* sucked. The first time he shoved her down she should have torn his yellowface makeup off and given him a swift kick! I don't like sadistic abuse masquerading as romance, even in the movies. ...Still, they both looked very glamorous, and I suppose since they *rehearsed* it that way...
it was the culture of that day Anna herself played roles such as a Inuit, Native American, Arab, black slave, and so on, all of which she was in the equivalent of 'yellow face' of these cultures. context and culture matters.
@@Daniepannieful - you lie. It was the white man's culture of that day. It wasn't everybody else's; the others played the roles if they wanted to work in the industry. They didn't enjoy the roles nor have no significant say on their creation or dialogue.
Anna May Wong was born in Los Angeles, USA. Ms. Wong, when she became 'known' in the film industry, made her first trip to Shanghai--which was considered there to be the "Hollywood" of China. Ms. Wong was greeted warmly and welcomed very much, though there were those there who complained against her bitterly for not keeping with established Chinese traditions, as a woman. Poor Ms. Wong! Though she bridged a gap, cinematically, between the USA markets/distributors & China--and paved the way for others that followed, THEN AS NOW, (comments below), she just can't please everyone. Determined and charismatic, this beautiful actress did her best to succeed; I, myself, applaud her spirit that enabled her to stay focused on 'the bigger picture!' Thanks.☺
The dance they're doing is called an "Apache" dance, or 'l'apache in French. The style became popular in Paris around 1900 but has been performed by people in Spain, Italy and Latin America and can be applied to any culture or sub-culture where you have a "machismo" males. It's not so much a dance as a ballet that arose from stories about life in the slums. The man is often a pimp or a violent criminal; the woman is a sex worker or penniless girl. She loves the man but he is cruel to her, rejecting her, insulting her, even physically abusing her, yet she still stays with him. This, by the way, is not something unique to 19th century Parisian slums, it occurs today across all levels of society. The dance is about how love and hate, violence and erotic attraction can co-exist in a relationship. Sometimes the couple is are reconciled at the end, sometimes the woman leaves, sometimes she dies. Sometimes she fights back and wins. Dancers have told the story many different ways. (There are several different versions on UA-cam). But the dance is not promoting abuse of women, it's portraying the tragedy of it. If it make you feel sad or angry, well, it's meant to.
Well written
o
I love your commentary! Few people understand this. It’s like a bull fight.
Fascinating. Thank you for this.
Valentino posed in a similar outfit, but to see Raft in one is amazing! Raft and Valentino knew each other and danced on the same places. While both tangoed on film, we never saw Valentino do the Apache dance on film.
It would have been marvelous to see Valentino do this dance!
Raft as an oriental?! Egad.! Would like to see that movie.
Raft has an interesting history, made some logistical errors in his career, was a hoofer, cool actor, lived through the third hand atmosphere to a ripe old age.
3rd hand atmosphere?
please keep posting more George Raft!!!!
This male handling of the female is/ was also done by the French.. The Tango is also used to show the man dominating and abusing the woman at the end. Rudolph Valentino was much loved by all women in the 1920's, even though his roles as the Geat Latin Lover infuriated men. (He was an Italian immigrant).
Spooky seeing Raft as an Asian. Man, but that would go over great today!
For anyone who's interested in the whole film: archive.org/details/LimehouseBluesEastEndChant
SPECTACULAR
It's really a shame that you post a clip (where the whole point is watch as much of 2 human bodies dancing) that was originally filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio, but you present it in a 16:9 ratio. This screen format wasn't in common use until the 50s, so the result here is that you've cut off the top and bottom of the frame so the side to side will fit the 16:9. Rather defeats the point of trying to see dancers.
There is a lot of that on youtube.
Grazie 🌹
...That dance was more sadistic than erotic...
I must seeee zeees movie!
archive.org/details/LimehouseBluesEastEndChant
Well, *that* sucked. The first time he shoved her down she should have torn his yellowface makeup off and given him a swift kick!
I don't like sadistic abuse masquerading as romance, even in the movies.
...Still, they both looked very glamorous, and I suppose since they *rehearsed* it that way...
it was the culture of that day Anna herself played roles such as a Inuit, Native American, Arab, black slave, and so on, all of which she was in the equivalent of 'yellow face' of these cultures. context and culture matters.
I agree.
@@Daniepannieful - you lie. It was the white man's culture of that day. It wasn't everybody else's; the others played the roles if they wanted to work in the industry. They didn't enjoy the roles nor have no significant say on their creation or dialogue.
verve and style
Creepy af!!!