The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West
About The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West
No intertitles survive, and only two reels of an estimated seven or eight remain, so the story cannot be followed shot by shot. A Moving Picture World note of 17 July 1917 says the film is about the curse of a Chinese god that follows his people because of the influence of Western civilization. Violet Wong, Marion E. Wong, Harvey Soo Hoo, and Chin Shee are the catalog players.
Cast & crew
More about The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West
Marion E. Wong directed this black-and-white silent feature around 1916 or 1917. It was never released. The Mandarin Film Company made it. The Academy Film Archive restored the two surviving reels in 2005, after the footage was found again in 2004. The Library of Congress named it to the National Film Registry in 2006. A copy of the surviving reels is on Wikimedia Commons.
Themes
Preservation
Two of an estimated seven or eight reels survive. The Academy Film Archive restored them in 2005. Named to the National Film Registry in 2006.
Notes
- The catalog calls it the oldest known Chinese-American film and one of the earliest American features directed by a woman.
- The same catalog says no distributor would buy a Chinese-American film that did not use racial stereotypes, and that it was shown only twice more after a 1917 premiere attempt.
- The English Wikipedia says it was never released and was long thought lost.
- The year on this record is 1916. Wikidata also lists 1917.
Scenes
- What remains is two reels with no titles, so the curse is known from the 1917 trade note rather than from a readable plot.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Curse of Quon Gwon)