Chu Chin Chow (1934): A dusty, clunky trip to the bazaar

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for historical curiosities or you’re obsessed with Anna May Wong, sure. Everyone else? Probably not. It’s a slow-moving, stagey affair that feels like someone tried to shove a Broadway show into a box that’s just a little bit too small.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Chu Chin Chow (1934) through its definitive frames.

The whole thing feels like it’s straining under its own weight. You can see the sets shaking if you look close enough. It’s got that 1930s British studio charm, which is a nice way of saying it’s a bit dusty and looks like it was filmed inside a closet.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Chu Chin Chow (1934) through its definitive frames.

The Anna May Wong Factor

Anna May Wong is the only one who seems to know what movie she’s in. While everyone else is busy shouting their lines to the rafters like they're performing for someone in the back row of a theater, she’s actually acting. It’s a bit jarring, honestly.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Chu Chin Chow (1934) through its definitive frames.

She glides through these cluttered scenes like she’s in a completely different film. It makes the rest of the cast look like they’re stumbling around a high school play. Honestly, she deserves better.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Chu Chin Chow (1934) through its definitive frames.

Odd Observations

• The singing. It’s loud. My neighbors definitely heard it.
• The cave sequences go on forever. I think I counted forty thieves, but they all look like they’re just waiting for lunch.
• The costumes are wild. Everyone is wearing enough fabric to cover a small house.

There’s a strange energy to this one. It’s not quite as energetic as Casey Jones, which at least had the decency to move along. This feels like it’s stuck in the mud, or maybe just stuck in the 1920s stage mindset.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Chu Chin Chow (1934) through its definitive frames.

I found myself staring at the background extras quite a bit. One guy in the corner of the market scene just stands there holding a rug for three minutes straight. Was he told to do that? Did he just forget to leave? I’ll never know.

The pacing is a disaster, really. It stops dead every time someone starts to sing, which is every five minutes. If you’re looking for something that flows like, say, Stand and Deliver, you are looking in the wrong place. This is a stop-and-start mess.

It’s not bad, exactly. It’s just… tired. Watching it feels like looking at an old photo album where you don’t recognize any of the people. It’s got history, sure, but it’s mostly just sitting there. 🏺