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Walk Like a Dragon with Enter the Dragon
Fri, Nov 11 | 7:30pm | TMT
Walk Like a Dragon
James Shigeta was a Japanese American singer whom Hollywood studios recruited to shape into a leading man—even casting him opposite white lovers. In the western Walk Like a Dragon , Shigeta portrays a Chinese immi- grant who defies racism in 1870s California, winning a shoot-out against Mel Tormé and winning the girl, a formerly enslaved Chinese woman (Nobu McCarthy) who was previously saved by Jack Lord’s character Linc Bartlett. Lead roles for Shigeta diminished after Flower Drum Song (1961) as the Hollywood studio sys- tem faded—but that didn’t stop Shigeta from working, including as the iconic Joseph Takagi in Die Hard (1988).
DIRECTOR: James Clavell.
WRITTEN BY: James Clavell, Daniel Mainwaring.
CAST: Jack Lord, Nobu McCarthy, James Shigeta, Mel Tormé.
1960. 95 min. USA. B&W. English. 16mm.
Print courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Enter the Dragon
Martial arts films were popular with Chinese audiences since the 1920s but it took Bruce Lee’s star power for the genre to catch fire worldwide. Born in San Francisco, Lee ignited his movie career in Hong Kong, experienced a frustrating career in the United States, and returned to Hong Kong where he directed and starred in hit films that caught the atten- tion of Warner Bros. This all culminated with Lee’s seminal blockbuster, Enter the Dragon . “For Asian Americans, Bruce Lee wasn’t just exciting and cool. He was somebody who very deeply moved us, because he was us.”— Nancy Wang Yuen, media scholar.
DIRECTOR: Robert Clouse.
WRITTEN BY: Michael Allin.
CAST: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri. 1973. 99 min. Hong Kong/USA. Color. Scope. English, Cantonese. Rated R. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
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