Anna May Wong Carries Java Head (1934)

Is it worth your time?

If you're a fan of old-school melodrama or just want to watch Anna May Wong be ten times more interesting than anyone else on screen, then yes, absolutely. If you need pacing that doesn't feel like it’s wading through thick mud, you’re probably going to have a bad time. It’s a very 1934 kind of movie—slow, polite, and obsessed with the social ladder.

The whole thing hangs on the arrival of Taou Yuen in this tiny, gray Bristol town. The townspeople act like they’ve never seen anyone from outside their own street, which I guess is the point. They’re all so pinched and miserable.

Anna May Wong is the only person here who seems to know what she's doing. She brings this quiet, sharp elegance that makes the rest of the cast look like they’re just waiting for their tea break. She’s wearing these gorgeous, intricate costumes that feel like they belong in a different movie entirely, a much better one.

There’s a scene where she’s just sitting there while the local busybodies gossip, and you can see her mind working behind her eyes. It’s a tiny bit of acting that says more than the entire first act of High Treason.

The rest of the plot? It’s a bit of a slog. The family feud between the fathers feels like filler from a dusty novel, which, to be fair, it is. Every time we cut away from Taou Yuen to deal with the shipping company drama, the energy just vanishes.

Some random notes I scribbled down:

• The lighting in the parlor is so dark I thought my screen had gone on the fritz.
• Ralph Richardson is in this, looking perpetually annoyed, which is a vibe I can get behind.
• The dialogue is stiff enough to serve as structural support for the house.
• There’s a moment with a silk robe that looked so expensive compared to the furniture, it made me laugh.

It’s funny, I was thinking about how much more fluid the camera movement feels here compared to something clunky like Civilization, even if the story is just as dated. But then the movie gets stuck in a conversation that lasts for what feels like three business days.

I don’t think the movie knows what to do with its own premise. It wants to be a social critique but settles for being a stuffy period piece that occasionally remembers it’s supposed to be romantic.

Still, you watch it for the moments where Wong stares down the camera. She’s the only real person in a town full of cardboard cutouts. It’s an imperfect watch, but it sticks with you, mostly because of how isolated she looks in every single frame. 📽️