The Woman from China

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Contains racist characterisation, racist stereotypes, scenes of violence

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The Woman from China

1931-03-05
Silent
82m

A young woman is persuaded to help a Chinese businessman to kidnap a naval officer in this fun and outrageous British thriller.

This fun and outrageous thriller, set in London's docklands, is stuffed full of secret lairs, trapdoors, jealousy, deceit and corruption. Chang-Li, attracted to an English typist, plots to kidnap her fiancé with the help of a young woman from China. With white actors cast in Chinese roles, the film typifies the sensationalist way Chinese communities were often depicted in 30s British fiction.

One of the later British silent movies, this 'Quota Quickie' met the increased demand for British productions created by the 1927 Cinematographic Act. It was standard practise at the time for white actors to be 'made-up' to play Chinese roles. The most convincingly Chinese performance here comes from Japanese actor Kiyoshi Takase.

Forgotten Features

A hand-picked assortment of hard-to-see British feature films, featuring mischievous mermaids, murderous minors and military mayhem.

Thanks to decades of DVD and online publishing, not to mention archive revivals and restorations, more of Britain’s screen heritage is available today than ever before. You might even be forgiven for imagining that the whole of British cinema is now just a click away.

But much of that history - from the silent era to the relatively recent past - remains out of reach. This selection from the vaults, hand-picked by the BFI's curators, goes some way to remedying that. These fresh rediscoveries offer something for all tastes: whether futuristic fantasy, battle-of-the-sexes comedy, subversive provocation or an Indian-British rarity.