Musical retelling of the "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" Arabian Nights tale.
05-01-1934
1h 43m
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Walter Forde
Production:
Gainsborough Pictures
Key Crew
Screenplay:
Sidney Gilliat
Locations and Languages
Country:
US; GB
Filming:
GB
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Anna May Wong
Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress whose long career spanned both silent and sound films, television, stage, and radio. Apart from being recognized as the the first Chinese-American movie star, as well as the first Asian-American to become an international star, she was also seen as an acclaimed fashion icon due to her being the one of the early stars to embrace the flapper look.
Born near the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with the movies at an early age and quit education to focus on beginning an acting career. After landing parts as uncredited extras in silent films, she had her first leading role in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first movies made in color. Her role in Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924) helped her achieve international stardom. Tired of being offered stereotypical supporting roles, she left Hollywood for Europe in the late 1920s, where she starred in several plays alongside notable names like Laurence Olivier. She made her final silent film in Britain titled Piccadilly (1929), which earned her wide praise. Her first talkie, The Flame of Love (1930), was recorded in three languages: English, French and German. She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937), and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express (1932). These films brought her more and more fame, which she used to express her staunch political views. Although she advocated for Chinese-American causes and criticized the stereotypical roles she played, Chinese press and critics continued to view her as a disgrace to the country. After experiencing the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading Chinese role in the film The Good Earth (1937), and instead chose a white German actress in yellowface, Wong spent the a year touring China, visiting her family's ancestral village, and studying Chinese culture. Returning to Hollywood, she starred in several B movies that portrayed Chinese-Americans in a positive light in the late-1930s.
As World War II rolled around, she focused less on her film career and decided to devote her time and money in helping the Chinese against Japanese invasions. Returning to the public eye in the 1950s with several television appearances, she started her own detective mystery television show titled The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (1951), the first U.S. television show starring an Asian-American. She was scheduled to return to film in Flower Drum Song (1961) but she died of a heart attack.
For decades after her death, Wong was remembered mostly for the stereotypical roles she was given although critics have begun to reevaluate her life and career. In 2022, Wong became the first Asian-American to be depicted on American coinage when the quarters with her image on them went into circulation. In 2023, Mattel released a Barbie doll modeled on Wong in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Laurence Hanray (16 May 1874 – 28 November 1947), sometimes credited as Lawrence Hanray, was a British film and theatre actor born in London, England. He is also credited as the author of several plays and music hall songs.
Laurence Hanray was born Lawrence Henry Jacobs in St John's Wood on 16 May 1874, the son of Angelo Jacobs (c. 1851-1910), a glass manufacturer, and Leah (née Nathan; 1850/1851 - 1946).
His father changed his name to Angelo Jacobs Hanray, and with it the family name, after becoming bankrupt in 1897, although Laurence had been using the name Hanray professionally from at least 1892, when he appeared as a member of the Hermann Vezin Theatre Company in supporting roles in Hamlet and Macbeth at Her Majesties Theatre, Dundee.
Australian newspapers show he was in Australia and New Zealand from around 1901-04, appearing as Carraway Bones the undertaker in the farce Turned Up at the Theatre Royal, Perth, in May 1901, and subsequently at most of the main cities until June 1904. Travel records show him departing Sydney for Auckland in August 1901, and sailing from Sydney for London on 7 October 1904. He then resumed touring in Britain. In the 1911 census, Laurence Hanray (36), actor, is listed as residing at the Woolton Hall Hydropathic Hotel, Much Woolton, Lancashire, England.
Hanray married Dorothy Mary Chambers Farnsworth (1884-1918) in the Birkenhead district during the first quarter of 1914. She petitioned for divorce in 1917, but then died suddenly in London on 16 August 1918. Hanray married Lois Grace Heatherley (1892-1966) in Paddington during the same quarter his first wife died. Lois was also an actress and performed with Laurence at the Booth Theatre, Broadway, in 1921. They were also together in The Faithful Heart, she as Ginger and Laurence as Major Lestrade, at the Comedy Theatre, Haymarket. Travel records then show the couple arriving in New York in September 1922. He appeared in John Galsworthy's play Loyalties at the Gaeity Theatre on Broadway. They arrived in Liverpool in May 1923. The couple also played together in Escape at the Booth Theatre, Broadway in 1927, she as Miss Grace and he in multiple roles (the Fellow Convict, the Old Gentleman and the Farmer).
Laurence and Lois had a daughter, Ursula Susan Edith Hanray, on 16 November 1923. According to travel records, the family visited America from September 1927. Laurence also went on his own to Canada in September 1931, and also during 1939-1940. Ursula became a child actress, playing the title role in the first televised production of Alice Through The Looking Glass in 1937, and the young Queen Victoria in a London theatre in 1940.
Hanray worked almost up to his death; The Times reported in early September 1947 that he was to appear in a play at Dunfermline Abbey Theatre. He died at age 73 on 28 November 1947, following an operation at the Middlesex Hospital, London. Lois Grace Hanray died aged 74 on 25 April 1966.