fatal contact : bird flu in america is an abc two-hour tv movie which first aired may 9 , 2006 in which an american businessman visiting china is infected and carries the deadly mutated bird flu virus back via jetliner to the usa , soon it spreads throughout the country then the rest of the world .

before the movie ends , riots erupt , armed mobs try to hijack vaccines and authorities predict that up to 350 million people will die worldwide . "

fatal contact : bird flu in america

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fatal contact : bird flu in america : 3 out of 10 : this movie is both funny and sad . the funny part is fairly obvious as this certainly isn ' t a sober look at a possible impending . . .
urltoken fatal contact : bird flu in america : justina machado , scott cohen , david ramsey , john atkinson , joely richardson , stacey keach , ann cusack , richard pearce , dennis a . brown , sony pictures television : movies & tv
fatal contact : bird flu in america ,
a made - for - television movie tonight on abc , imagines what could happen if bird flu mutated into a virus that was transmitted easily from human to human : millions die , the economy collapses , people riot , and there is almost nothing to be done .
may 10 , 2006 ( cidrap news )  the creators of the fictional abc - tv movie
fatal contact : bird flu in america
blended medical facts from the 1918 influenza pandemic with current predictions from flu experts to portray a contemporary flu pandemic , but they added a liberal dash of sensationalism .
ordinary american citizens rally , but
fatal contact
does not have a disney ending . just as the pandemic is beginning to slow in the united states , dr . varnack is summoned to angola to track a new and even more lethal strain of bird flu .
joely richardson , right , as a top epidemiologist dealing , somewhat vacantly , with a bird flu pandemic .
fatal contact
is not very elegantly filmed , but some scenes cannot help being striking : one night governor newsome sees garbage trucks dump piles of bodies , wrapped in plastic bags , into a giant landfill .
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this made for tv flick certainly makes an impact on just how devastating a pandemic of the dreaded bird flu could impact the world .
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fatal contact
is a may sweeps movie , not a public service message , so it is hardly surprising that it errs on the side of armageddon , but that does not mean it is irresponsible . it is a soberly and compellingly told tall tale , and quite alarming .
it is comforting to know that even in a global pandemic of flu , the french can be faulted .
most of the film ' s other assumptions are grim but not preposterous . its worst - case scenario led flu experts to express concern that the film was sensationalist and could needlessly panic viewers . but
fatal contact
is not harebrained science fiction . as many as 50 million people died in the 1918 spanish flu epidemic . there are plenty of experts who say that the strain of avian flu known as a ( h5n1 ) could mutate and spread efficiently among humans . in real life , scientists have said publicly what one movie epidemiologist says to another after the first human case is diagnosed :
it ' s not a question of if , but when .
a highly contagious , rapidly killing hemorrhagic mutation of bird flu slaughters people in hongkong . preventing its spread is virtually hopeless , as soon is proved in a us country village , which is strictly quarantined by the military . the white house prefers to ' prevent panic ' , even overrules zealous governor mike newsome and reneges earlier emergency plans .
an outbreak of avian flu mutates into a virus that becomes transmittable from human to human .
fatal contact
portrayed a number of difficulties and dilemmas that public health planners are envisioning now as they prepare for a pandemic . some examples include the necessity of rationing vaccine and ventilators , overwhelmed hospitals , the use of overflow hospitals , shortages of healthcare workers as staff members stay home to care for their families , shortages of ordinary drugs and medical supplies , such as insulin , and food shortages caused by disrupted transportation systems .
an american businessman on his way back home to virginia from hong kong becomes infected with a mutated bird flu strain which is now transmittable from human to human . american authorities attempt to contain the virus before it ' s too late . starring joely richardson , scott cohen , justina machado
ok , we need a protagonist , someone who can stand toe - to - clawed foot with our avian death - overlords . our heroine is a genetic scientist and one of the world ' s leading experts in bird flu ( that ' s helpful ) . her name is not important , but she looks like ann coulter and favors cashmere blouses and trendy soho jewelry . she ' s played by joely richardson , one of those
hollywood names
whose resume is not nearly as impressive as her familiar - sounding name . the doctor , as she will be known , is at the top of her game , fully knowledgeable in all things bird flu and well connected in political circles . she ' s also a frigid control - freak with intimacy issues , spurning lasting relationships for casual sex and distancing herself from any displays of empathy or care .
corpse management will be a real concern [ in a pandemic ] , but i can ' t imagine under any condition we would put bodies in the back of a truck and dump them in ,
said osterholm .
i have been researching the avian h5n1 flu for quite a while now , and was impressed with this film ' s accuracy .
secretary stacy keach now dies from the flu . gasp ! even rich and powerful white men can die ? oh no , this
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first off , i am fighting a cold today , so this movie done scared the poo out of me . by the time it was over , i was sure i had bird flu , and after spending the next three hours on webmd trying to find out if my persistent cough was the first sign of my lungs liquefying , i had just made myself sicker . i guess that ' s what makes for a powerful film , something that causes such a visceral reaction in the viewer , so in that respect this movie was awesome .
smilin ' bob then goes back to his idyllic suburban family in richmond , virginia and proceeds to infect everyone around him with this incurable killer virus . he eventually dies a horrible , blood - splattered death on the sales floor of a wal - mart , but not before he ' s spread his germs around town , to his family , his friends , his coworkers , even his mistress with the big hooters down in yorktown . smilin ' bob is patient zero , the typhoid mary of bird flu , and ground zero is the commonwealth of virginia .
but , sadly , that evil little chinese girl will have the last , cackling , blood - curdling laugh , stabbing us through the heart one last time with her jonas brothers pencil . the stinger is the doctor in sweltering equatorial angola , where the bird flu has mutated into a 100 % killer strain that snickers in the face of any vaccine , and now the fate of the human race is sealed . the closing credits roll with the ominous sight of a flock of infected birds flapping over the verdant jungles , surely heading off to kill off the rest of humanity .
in the early days grocers scandalously increase prices : a pound of coffee sells for $ 19 . within a few weeks supermarket aisles are as barren as russian stores in soviet times .
more bad news as the governor ' s child dies from the flu , even though he was sequestered in the bunker . the governor now sees the error of his ways and lifts the ( pointless ) quarantines in his state . he then visits a dumping ground for corpses , a powerful scene staged late at night ( though stolen from
the doctor goes to rural china to check on reports of the initial outbreak there ( this is before smilin ' bob comes home ) . quickly , her fears of a killer global flu are realized as it ' s learned that the virus has jumped from animal to human and on to other humans ( which means that this new strain is unknown to medical science and therefore ultimately dangerous to us all ) . she suggests rigorously isolating the town where it started , to cut off all contact with the residents , and hope that maybe this will stop the virus from spreading ( in vain , it seems ) .
in new york a nurse named alma ansen ( justina machado ) finds herself overwhelmed working at a makeshift flu center consisting of tents erected at the bottom of a subway station . her husband , curtis ( david ramsey ) , a national guardsman , is redeployed to new york from iraq to maintain order in the panic - stricken city . in richmond denise connelly ( ann cusack ) , the widow of patient zero , becomes a community organizer , helping stranded neighbors find scarce help and provisions .
the illness in the american businessman who has the first us case in the film clearly resembles the illness that struck many in 1918 . after fits of violent coughing , he suddenly collapses on the job , blood streaming from his nose . he later dies of acute respiratory distress . at his autopsy , a cdc doctor says ,
he coughed so violently he tore apart his abdominal muscles . he basically drowned in his own blood .
meanwhile , in fort lauderdale , fla . , the country ' s top epidemiologist , dr . iris varnack ( joely richardson ) , is in a black slip , smoking a post - coital cigarette and warning her lover not to expect much follow - up .
i ' m better in small doses ,
she tells him .
to steal a quote from my favorite band , it ' s the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine ( actually , according to this movie , if i had the bird flu , i ' d feel like shit , i ' d have
body aches so intense i would feel like my bones are breaking
and would be
coughing so violently that i ' d tear apart my abdominal muscles and my rib cartilage , and basically drown in my own blood
) . the nurse is part of a team of medical professionals treating flu victims who are massing in an ad - hoc hospital set up in a subway station ( a stunningly great visual image as the camera follows her down the escalator into the teaming morass of blood and mucus below ) . this is third world medical service , with no medicines , no machines , no sterilization , just helping hands and tearful eyes . the doctors and nurses can do little but try and comfort the dying and remove the dead .
our show starts in rural china with a young girl hiding her infected chickens from local cops who are rounding up everyone ' s roosters and hens to contain a suspected bird flu outbreak . as it turns out , little peggysue ' s chickens have the dreaded h5n1 bird flu virus and it ' s mutated where it can jump from animals to humans for the first time . as such , the first prime carrier is this seemingly innocent little schoolgirl , and all of what we see next is clearly totally her fault . her conscious decision to shack up with poultry will be the cause of a wave of untold death and destruction like the world has never seen , and she may very well be doing it on purpose for some nefarious reason known only to that unique demographic that likes hannah montana and pepperoni pizza rolls . i believe that she is the fifth horse ( wo ) man of the apocalypse , though as a ten - year old girl i ' m sure she ' ll be riding a sparkly talking unicorn with chiffon wings and a rainbow saddle , and beneath her quaking , paisley pink hooves humanity will be ground into dust .
in the drama , h5n1 avian flu begins to spread from person to person in china , signaling the start of a pandemic . an american businessman contracts the virus and brings it back to his home in virginia , where he spreads it to others before falling desperately ill . soon , cases are spreading across the united states . as panic spreads , the governor of virginia quarantines neighborhoods where cases have cropped up , and federal officials confess they have no vaccine and scant supplies of antiviral drugs . major socioeconomic disruption sets in , with shortages of food and medical supplies , power outages , and riots in the streets of new york . eventually ( after countless numbing commercials ) , the pandemic begins to subside . but in the final scene , the discovery that the entire population of an angolan village has died heralds a new mutation of the virus and a second wave of cases .
the bird flu is really beating up the world hard now , tens of millions are already dead , that number increasing at an insane rate daily . society is breaking down , economies are collapsing , and the very fabric of civilization is unraveling rapidly . the general mood is despair and terror , as everyone is sure this is the end of days . but , hey , relax , we ' ve been through this before , right ? the black death took away half of europe , but they survived , right , hell they even prospered . sure , the spanish flu killed 50 mil , but medical science back then was primitive , with today ' s technology that 1918 outbreak would have been easily contained .
he dies not long after he returns to his wife and children in richmond , va . , and becomes patient zero in a public health emergency so vast that no federal agency , state or community is even remotely prepared to handle it .
the doctor goes to see the governor of virginia in his command bunker to talk with him about the flu outbreak in his state and his response . she preaches to him about how his harshly - imposed isolation of infected neighborhoods in richmond is a terribly bad idea because it ' s a violation of peoples ' basic human rights to live free , make their own choices , and count on each other for help . hmmm . . . wasn ' t she all gung - ho for isolating that chinese town back in the beginning ? seems odd that she ' s now all
protect human rights
when before she was all
surround the town with an electric fence
.
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by now , the bird flu is popping up in isolated outbreaks all over the usa ( thanks , smilin ' bob ! ) . it ' s shaping up to be the worst case scenario of all worst case scenarios , the epidemic sweeping away all the carefully laid - out contingency plans and earnestly crafted operational guidelines . there ' s no vaccine , no hope , no time to react , no pause to allow the huge , ungainly machine that is the medical and pharmaceutical communities to come to grips with the fact that people are dying by the thousands hourly and there ' s nothing in their arsenal to fix it . governors band together to call for their national guard troops to return from overseas deployments ( best bit ) . did i mention that this is all that girl ' s fault ?
the 200 - plus human cases of h5n1 that have occurred over the past 3 years have been severe as well , of course , but just how closely the movie portrayal resembles them is not clear from our perspective . in any case , in depicting a 1918 - like illness , the producers deliberately chose a worst - case scenario . while disease experts agree that a flu pandemic is inevitable sooner or later , they don ' t believe it will inevitably be as severe as in 1918 . even if the h5n1 virus is the pathogen , in acquiring the ability to spread from person to person , it could become less virulent . the other two 20th century pandemics , in 1957 - 58 and 1968 - 69 , were far milder than 1918 . the fact is that no one knows how severe the next pandemic will be .
this is an excellent , well acted well thought out film . the scenarios are very real . i cannot help but surmise that when a major flu pandemic hits , we will react much the way . . .
a good movie that shows how pandemic diseases spread expotentially . as the movie progressed it became rather unrealistic and inconsistent in certain areas .
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i felt this was very well done , it did not pull any punches . it show what could very well happen if , not if but when a flu like this happens . a lot can be learned from this film .
u . s . officials scramble to maintain order and confront catastrophic results when a deadly strain of avian flu mutates into a global pandemic . joely richardson , stacy keach , justina machado , ann cusack . directed by richard pearce .
the end of the film , in which an entire angolan village appears to have been wiped out , is another example of sensationalism . osterholm , who previewed the film but was not involved in it , commented in a news conference this week that the scene
looks like the jonestown massacre , not something caused by infectious disease .
a 100 % fatality rate would be highly unlikely with any virus . in fairness , the producers told the new york times that the scene was meant to show a village that was emptied by a combination of evacuation and disease .
the governor of virginia , mike newsome ( scott cohen ) , decides he wants to be
proactive
and puts endangered neighborhoods in quarantine and barricades his staff and family in a guarded , bio - secure location that dr . varnack dismisses as a
fortress of solitude .
forget about hitchcock ' s birds , because in this made - for - television disaster film an outbreak of the dreaded avian flu mutates to cause a worldwide pandemic that will shake the very foundations of modern society . the worst case scenario has finally become a reality . born in hong kong and gradually adapting the traits which allow it to transfer from human to human , the avian flu causes mass panic as tens of millions of men , women , and children rapidly succumb to the its ravaging effects . as panic sweeps through the streets and entire cities are quarantined , humankind will discover that the dreaded black death of the 14th century was merely a minor precursor to the virus that would decimate the entire planet as it threatens the very existence of the human race .
[ editor pam : i ' ve heard medical experts say that in both those cases , the majority of deaths could have been prevented by modern medicine . of course , if modern sanitation had been in effect at the time of the black death , it probably wouldn ' t have happened . ]
premise : u . s . officials scramble to maintain order and confront catastrophic results when a deadly strain of avian flu mutates into a global pandemic . joely richardson , stacy keach , justina machado , ann cusack . directed by richard pearce . ( more )
the disease shown in the film , aired may 9 , bore a strong resemblance to the illness that killed an estimated 675 , 000 americans in 1918 and 1919 . and a good many of the issues raised came straight out of the us government ' s pandemic preparedness plans and recent news stories about possible pandemic scenarios . but some scenes and details went well beyond what happened in 1918 or what is plausible today . and along the way , important medical details were left out .
this one is right on the money . we have already seen this happen but not to the extent thats shown in the movie . it is a very real possibility
the governor , by the way , will end up playing a major role in this movie , getting just as much screen time and meaningful dialogue as the doctor .
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i watched this movie for the first time as a requirement in a microbiology class . i was pleasantly surprised how well made the movie was . my son was small at the time & hated shots - 3 hrs in the dr office to try to get them . he watched this movie with me and at the end said
mommy can i get my flu shot tomorrow
. this movie explains & showcases how easily a pandemic can happen , what could happen even with emergency preparedness , and leaves you with a sense of
wow . . .
to realize that once you think you have a hang on things - viruses mutate . all these years later i ' m still telling people about this movie . i was disappointed it ' s not offered in digital format but was thrilled i could still find it .
the production also gave birders and conservationists reason to complain . it began and ended with scenes of wild geese in flight , implying that wild birds are the main carriers of the h5n1 virus around the world . this question is hotly debated , but most experts would probably say that both wild birds and poultry handling practices play a role in spreading the pathogen .
a virus with no cure . a threat with no borders . a nation with no chance of escaping h5n1 , the avian flu . when a mutation of the virus is discovered in a local marketplace , china sends an emergency summons to dr . iris varnack ( joely richardson ) of the epidemic intelligence service . when she arrives , she discovers her efforts may be too late - an american businessman has become the first victim of a strain that is passed from human to human . as the flu begins its insidious spread , secretary of health and human services collin reed ( stacy keach ) races to combat the ensuing chaos . the victim ' s wife , denise connelly ( ann cusack ) , does what she can to help other infected people . it wasn ' t supposed to happen this way - until it did .
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an american businessman flies to hong kong . in guangdong province in southern china , soldiers storm an outdoor market , forcibly confiscating chickens from terrified peasants . the american visitor negotiates production rates with a manager on a factory floor ; a worker on the assembly line coughs . by the time the american is relaxing on the long flight home , his germs are spreading from paper napkin to martini olive to sleeve .
let ' s meet the nurse ' s husband , a big strapping soldierboy called back from iraq to do homefront duty in flu - ravaged nyc . they have some genuinely sappy couple - moments as they reconnect and share their fears and concerns about their uncertain future . there is some real on - screen chemistry here , and it wouldn ' t surprise me at all if they ended up dating after the film wrapped ( i hear that sort of thing is common in hollywood ) . the soldier wants his wife the nurse to stay home , worried that her job at the hospital is too dangerous , but she ' s dedicated to saving lives . as is he , clearly , and he knows she ' s only doing what he himself would do .
france is the first country to develop a vaccine , but its leaders refuse to share the patent ; finally , after the international community threatens sanctions , the french surrender . however gratifying , that fantasy is one of the sillier conjectures in the film . france would have no reason to prevent other countries from reproducing the vaccine , and even if it did , nearly all countries have laws that allow them to violate patents in emergencies .
for those interested in medical and epidemiologic details , the film left some major questions unanswered . there was no indication of the case - fatality rate , for one thing . it appeared that only two characters who had the disease survived ( the son of the businessman , and a soldier who got sick while in iraq ) , which implied a very high fatality rate . but no clear information was given . nor was there any indication of the age distribution of cases . was it the typical pattern , with the very young and very old most affected ? or did the illness hit young adults the hardest , as occurred in 1918 ? it wasn ' t clear .
[ editor pam : it ' s a dramatic movie , but in real life , plagues that kill people this quickly also tend to burn out quickly , because their carriers die too fast to spread the disease effectively . ]
another example was the film ' s grimmest scene , in which dump trucks back up to a large pit and dump mounds of shrouded human bodies into it . this too may have been inspired by the 1918 experience . in that pandemic , the city of philadelphia was overwhelmed by the number of corpses , and mass graves were used for a time . but there is no record of bodies being unceremoniously dumped , and such a scenario seems inconceivable today .
the 1918 pandemic produced similar reports : people collapsing suddenly , coughing up blood , and autopsies revealing lungs clogged with fluid , the imprint of the
cytokine storm ,
or immune system overreaction . the businessman ' s copious nosebleed might have seemed sensational , but it had a basis in fact .
the nosebleed was described in 1918 ,
said michael t . osterholm , phd , mph , director of cidrap .
they made it fairly extreme .
you know , i have to agree with the governor on this , he should totally isolate any infected areas while he still has some semblance of order in richmond . i don ' t have any problem with the government taking over in a crisis situation , this is why we pay taxes , and i have an expectation that my duly - elected representatives will do whatever needs to be done to preserve the union , even if it means sending troops into the streets and ringing an infected housing complex with barbed wire and claymores . in almost every situation imaginable that involves large - scale organization and execution of plans , the government / military do a vastly better job than us regular citizens ( suck it , ron paul ) . soldiers have the leadership , training , and material wherewithal to handle mega - crisis situations , plus they get inoculations by the gallon every year and their immune systems are surely better suited to survive in a flu outbreak . the government , both state and national , has the authority and command and control systems needed to do everything needed better , be it routing supplies to hard - hit areas to keeping the lights on and the trains running . i ' m all for temporarily giving up my constitutional rights if it means keeping society from collapsing . hell , stamp me with the mark of the new world order right now .
it is true that it showed almost like a documentary ; and i liked that about this movie . many disaster movies focus on several troubled relationship and the main theme of the disaster is only a back drop ; not so with this film . after watching this movie , i actually felt that i knew more about avion flu and how various government agencies might deal with the problems that develop .
the sex and tobacco are sweeps red herrings , however : once her pager goes off , dr . varnack is on her way to china to check out reports of human - to - human transmission of the avian flu . by the time she is summoned to washington by the secretary of health and human services , collin reed ( stacy keach ) , she has no good news to share .
visiting that very factory that very day is an american businessman , who looks frighteningly like smilin ' bob , the guy from all those enzyte male - enhancement commercials . smilin ' bob rolls in and throws his import company - given weight around , talking down to the chinese managers , issuing vague threats of cancelled orders and un - reimbursed warehouse expenses , and has the audacity to explain the just - in - time inventory system to them like they are children . thankfully , he gets infected by the dad .
on the vaccine front , the movie made a bad situation look even worse . it depicted the government as having no vaccine at all at the outset of the pandemic . in reality , the government is stockpiling a
pre - pandemic
vaccine based on the h5n1 virus . the supply is small , and studies have shown it takes two large doses to generate an adequate immune response , which occurs in only about half of those vaccinated . but this vaccine would probably be better than nothing if a pandemic began today .
her dad gets the flu but still does his shift at the local bottle factory . he is hacking and coughing all over everyone , not even having the common courtesy to cover his mouth with his sleeve or keep his germy egg salad sandwich off the break room table . this is why you have sick hours , so that you don ' t give other people your illnesses , in the long run you ' ll be saving the company much more costs from lost man - hours if you just stay home and get well before coming back to work ( i have this conversation all the time . . . ) . but if he did that , i suppose we wouldn ' t have much of a movie .
another scene in the film has armed men trying to seize a van carrying a supply of vaccine , only to be shot by soldiers . that looked extreme , but osterholm found it conceivable .
i don ' t think that one was necessarily unreal ,
he says .
serious now ! before , when it was just poor people and minorities ( and . . . shudder . . . foreigners ) , it was bad , but you know , not too bad , but now the flu is killing off well - connected princeton - educated white men who sip brandy and attend charity balls at the met . all is indeed lost ! the doctor even sheds a tear , the first actual sign that she ' s not a cylon cyborg .
the doctor then flies back home and meets with health and human services secretary stacy keach in washington to discuss the flu outbreak ( which she predicts will be here soon ) . it ' s a media circus , as a worried public is demanding both answers and solutions from the government , and they can ' t offer anything more constructive than
remember to wash your hands !
. i really thought this movie was going to make the government the bad guys , cardboard cut - outs of evil power - hungry politicians with unscrupulous agendas , but much to my surprise the majority of the governmental officials we see really truly care about what happens to the citizens of the country . they are shown as sympathetic and proactive , if understandably concerned about their own districts as well .
people were , you know , not white americans . having the heroine be a racist would certainly add an original note to a tv movie , but i bet this movie isn ' t going to go that far . this attitude of hers is probably just a sop to civil libertarians in the audience . ]
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the film begins with a flock of migrating geese in flight , their wings flapping to ominous hitchcockian music . ( this is not your parents '
birds .
) the film then locks on to a handful of central characters whose entwined experiences define and track the pandemic . some survivors are more resilient than others , but most overcome despair and rise to the occasion .
in some scenes , the movie clearly went over the top . one was the governor ' s decision to quarantine some neighborhoods behind chain link and barbed wire , an obviously futile measure with the pandemic well under way .
i can ' t imagine any elected official doing that ,
said osterholm .
i think pressure would be brought to bear by other government leaders
to prevent it .
meanwhile , the rest of world is beginning to die , though it ' s only seen through tv news reports playing in the background of scenes . i do appreciate the small - scale focus this movie takes , concentrating just on the outbreak ' s effects on richmond and new york city . it gives us a more intimate feel for the apocalypse than if they had tried to do location shoots scattered all over the place .
the long and lean ms . richardson (
nip / tuck
) looks terrific in a white hazmat suit , but her low - key , almost blank affect is a bit odd for the role . the stilted dialogue does not help .
there ' s going to be a long and brutal ordeal that will rip apart the fabric of society ,
she warns . dr . varnack is on the front line of the worst crisis of the 21st century , but most of the time she seems stoned .
off to new york city now to meet the nurse , a cute latina woman who will be our secondary female lead . her hospital is swamped under with sick / think - they ' re - sick people , they are out of everything , and half the other nurses have quit , but she ' s still trying to do what ' s right , still clocking in everyday and saving lives the best she can . her very human reactions to the death and dying all around her serve to balance out the cold , analytical detachment of the doctor . and she has pretty hair .
) . maybe i ' m heartless , but i ' m still of the ( admittedly unpopular and possibly heinous ) opinion that what the world needs is a serious thinning of the population if the environment is ever going to be allowed a chance to heal itself . i ' m a closet eco - terrorist and a firm believer in overpopulation being the number one danger to our planet ' s long - term survival , and i ' d be out there on the frontline of the fight against mankind raping mother nature if i didn ' t have to be at work at seven tomorrow and if i didn ' t have tickets to
to further swell our hearts with hope and encouragement , we hear that the nurse and the soldier are going to have a child ( yay , though who would want to have a baby in such an environment of loss and devastation ? ) . she surprises him with a book of baby names , and he surprises her with a candlelit dinner and an impromptu salsa dance on the rooftop while sappy music plays and strands of christmas lights twinkle . and this little ray of sunshine , this little green shoot of life , is the scene this movie should end with . a tear - stained reminder that , no matter what troubles befall us , love and family will endure .
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this tv movie is well worth watching especially if you are a disaster movie fan . the movie shows events from several points of view ( a nurse , soldier , politician , a family and a pandemic expert ) and builds on most of the characters quite well . the acting is acceptable as is how the story flows , the ending is clearly left that way to allow for a follow - up tv series which obviously did not go ahead , so does have a feeling of wanting it to continue to conclusion but the movie does progress far enough to make this a stand alone story . certainly thought provoking and one of the more believable and credible potential disasters that could occur .
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this movie was more of a documentary with several unrealistic scenarios . it was heavy on scary without being really scary .
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ivan yarendru therikiratha - official trailer | vishnu , varsha | s . t . suresh kumar
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
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more americans get their irresponsible fear - mongering from abc than from any other source .
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we were all going to die ( or at least that ' s what katie couric kept telling us ) . i was expecting a hokey crap - fest , but even with such a sensationalist title ,
turned out to be a really engrossing and well - made movie . the actors are uniformly good , the script is surprisingly free of most typical disaster movie awfulness , and the production quality was top - notch . sony pictures threw some money at this one , you can tell , and i had to struggle to find things to poke at to make an amusing review . how did i do ?
hi , i ' m the heroine , don ' t mind me , i ' m just going to sit over here , coolly detached from any real human emotion .
chinese doctor gives her the grim news that it ' s out of control .
nice to see they are still hitting the liquor stores , even as the world burns down around them , better than stealing tvs .
we need some action here , so we get a short scene of the soldier and his squad protecting a convoy of food and medicine as it works its way through the violent , deserted concrete canyons of manhattan . they are ambushed by a group of gangsters who wear baggy pants and like to hold their pistols sideways like tupac told them to , but they are no match for the soldiers and their training and discipline ( and their full - auto machineguns ) . this is actually a very well - done combat scene , and it seems that the soldiers are not just actors playing with guns , but maybe even men with real military training ( just an observation , and maybe untrue , but i ' ve watched enough crappy movies to tell the difference between a squad of soldiers who are just a gaggle of temp - worker extras who ' ve seen too many rambo movies , and a squad made up of former active duty infantrymen who have had some actual experience with firearms and small - unit tactical training ) .
for next friday night . honestly , caring about things is such a chore , who has the time ?
that ' s between you and the vengeful wrath of your personal god . . .
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at the very least , abc ' s disaster movie will encourage viewers to wash their hands more often .
we believe the ultimate global loss of lives could reach as high as 150 or 350 million ,
she says .
from then on , the film ticks off an exponential death toll . by week 2 , 157 have died worldwide . by week 12 , the number reaches 12 . 5 million .
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abc , tonight at 8 , eastern and pacific times ; 7 , central time .
executive producers , diana kerew and judith verno for sony pictures television ; written by ron mcgee ; directed by richard pearce .
with : joely richardson ( dr . iris varnack ) , stacy keach ( collin reed ) , ann cusack ( denise connelly ) , justina machado ( alma ansen ) , scott cohen ( gov . mike newsome ) and david ramsey ( curtis ansen ) .
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charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen is a 1981 comedy – mystery film directed by clive donner that stars peter ustinov , angie dickinson and lee grant .

charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen is a full - throttle comedy starring peter ustinov .
charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen . directed by clive donner . american cinema productions , 1981 .
use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen . you can also suggest completely new similar titles to charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen in the search box below .
charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , us poster art , peter ustinov , 1981 . © american cinema releasing / courtesy
richard hatch - lee chan jr . michelle pfeiffer - cordelia farrington iii regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
”charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen ( 1981 ) . ” imdb . imdb . com , n . d . web .
charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , us poster art , peter ustinov , 1981 . © american cinema releasing / courtesy everett collection
in hawaii , master sleuth charlie chan unmasks the dragon queen as a killer . before she ' s arrested , she places a curse on chan and his family .
' ' charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , ' ' which has been rated pg ( ' ' parental guidance suggested ' ' ) , includes some mildly vulgar language .
july 5 , 1981 - angie dickinson . ' ' charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen ' ' . 1981 . ( credit image : © globe photos / zumapress . com )
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - der berühmte detektiv charlie chan kommt nach san francisco , um dort geschehene rätselhafte morde aufzuklären . dabei bedroht ihn der fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' ( angie dickinson ) , einer alten rivalin . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen was released in theatres on february 13 , 1981 . [ 3 ] the film was released on dvd on september 7 , 2004 , by trinity home entertainment . [ 6 ]
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
in hawaii , master sleuth charlie chan unmasks the dragon queen as a killer . before she ' s arrested , she places a curse on chan and his family . years later in san francisco , chan is called out of retirement when the city of san francisco finds itself in chaos over a series of weird murders . chan is assisted by his blundering grandson , lee chan jr , who is more of a hindrance than help . the shadow of the dragon queen still hangs over the chan family when she becomes his number one suspect .
famous detective charlie chan is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson as his sidekick , chan also encounters an old nemesis known as the dragon queen who is the prime suspect .
early acting appearances included television roles on fantasy island and bad cats along with an audition for television series charlie’s angels in late 1970s . in the beginning of 1980s , pfeiffer did small roles in the movies like falling in love again , the hollywood knights and the charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen . the movies without any significant impact on box office and critical response were leading her out the industry .
probably my favorite of all charlie chan films . only one flaw in the film , the profanity .
my review of charlie chan finds this famous detective missing from the tcm movie lists . no charlie chan films have been shown within my 10 year memory . . . .
clive donner ' s ' ' charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , ' ' which opens today at the cinerama i and other theaters , is a looselimbed , immensely good - natured entertainment that moves easily between parody and slapstick without ever doing damage to the memories of the character who , in the 1950 ' s and 1960 ' s , gained something of a following as a figure of camp .
years later in san francisco , chan is called out of retirement when the city of san francisco finds itself in chaos over a series of weird murders . chan is assisted by his blundering grandson , lee chan jr , who is more of a hindrance than help . the shadow of the dragon queen still hangs over the chan family when she becomes his number one suspect .
the chinese ring through charlie chan and the sky dragon ( 1947 - 49 ) roland winters as charlie chan an examination of animation in this era is very revealing . the depiction of asians in propaganda demonstrates american attitudes at the time . these cartoons distill the imagery the entertainment industry wished to pass on to the children of this generation .
charlie chan : the untold story of the honorable detective and his rendezvous with american history by yunte huang norton , 354 pp .
masterful sleuth charlie chan is called out of retirement when a detective asks for his help in solving a series of murders in san francisco . now with his grandson at his side , chan matches wits against his nemesis from the old days , the dragon queen , who seems to be responsible for the crimes .
charlie chan in egypt . directed by louis king . 20 th century fox , 1935 .
charlie chan in shanghai . directed by james tinling . 20 th century fox , 1935 .
famous detective charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson ( richard hatch ) as his sidekick , chan also encounters an old nemesis known as the dragon queen ( angie dickinson ) who is the prime suspect . .
famous detective charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson ( richard hatch ) as his sidekick , chan also encounters an old nemesis known as the dragon queen ( angie dickinson ) who is the prime suspect . . .
, was a 1981 film in which charlie chan was portrayed by peter ustinov . we also included the 2007 film ,
the mysterious dr . fu manchu the return of dr . fu manchu daughter of the dragon ( 1929 - 31 ) warner oland as fu manchu
the prime suspect in the killings is a shady lady known as the dragon queen , but soon chan ' s suspicions fall elsewhere . among those at risk are lee ' s maternal grandmother , mrs . lupowitz . even though charlie chan ' s son is , as is usually the case , rarely accurate in reading clues , he has the full love and support of cordelia , his beautiful fiancée . [ 2 ]
the principal characters are chan ' s grandson , lee chan jr . ( richard hatch ) , a young man who is half - chinese , half - jewish and all thumbs ; lee chan ' s exceedingly rich and quite mad maternal grandmother , mrs . lupowitz ( lee grant ) ; lee chan ' s beautiful , adoring fiancee , cordelia ( michelle pfeiffer ) , and the wicked dragon queen ( angie dickinson ) , who was sent up the river by chan many years before for the murder of mrs . lupowitz ' s husband , bernie .
famous detective charlie chan is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson as his sidekick , chan also . . . see full summary »
huang , yunte . 2010 . charlie chan : the untold story of the honorable detective and his rendezvous with american history . 1st ed . new york : w . w . norton .
daughter of the dragon ( 1931 ) is a strange hybrid of caucasians playing asians and genuine asian actors . it features the worst of hollywood stereotypes but it also featured the beautiful and talented anna may wong . [ source ]
rzepka , charles j . 2007 .
race , region , rule : genre and the case of charlie chan .
pmla 122 ( 5 ) : 1463 - 1481 .
despite all this , huang agrees with some of chan’s detractors . “make no mistake , ” he writes , “charlie chan was an american stereotype of the chinaman . ” and yet huang isn’t very bothered by this , seeing chan as a benign stereotype , perhaps even a subversive one ; he believes he illustrates the mingling of foreign and local elements that have often gone into the making of the hybrid american culture .
viewers of charlie chan in egypt had already seen the detective in london and paris , and they would later see him in shanghai , san francisco , new york , and other places . they would also suspect that chan’s original mission would be overtaken by some murderous development , and sure enough , he’s soon informed in charlie chan in egypt that the leader of the excavation is missing . when chan is shown an ancient sarcophagus on a tour of the site , he observes , as he puts it , that “varnish on three - thousand - year - old object isn’t completely dry , ” and this leads to the discovery of the corpse of the missing archaeologist inside it .
mitchell , charles p . 1999 . a guide to charlie chan films , bibliographies and indexes in the performing arts , . westport , conn . : greenwood press .
some forty - nine movies featuring chan were made in hollywood between 1926 and 1949 , all of them based on the character invented by earl derr biggers in his novel the house without a key ( 1925 ) . biggers’s six chan novels were best sellers , and the cinematic charlie chan was one of the best - known and most - liked fictional characters in america for nearly twenty years . biggers said that in creating chan he wanted to counter the demeaning portrayals of asians that were standard at the time , particularly the evil fu manchu , the most recognizable chinese character in western books and movies before chan came along . and indeed , unlike fu , the epitome of supposed oriental cruelty and cunning , chan is decent , brave , and honorable , as well as extremely good at nailing the bad guy .
song , jaymes k . 1999 .
charlie chan
isle ' s toughest crime fighter .
honolulu star - bulletin .
despite the name , this is not a charlie chan film in the spirit of those black & white classics of the 30 ' s and 40s . this is just a poorly done slapstick comedy that ' s never seems to raise a smile . vapid and pointless !
the american unease over chan is complicated by the cinematic chan’s reception in china itself , which was very nearly worshipful . when warner oland went there in 1936 to film charlie chan in shanghai , he was given full celebrity treatment , his roles as fu manchu conveniently forgotten . at his press conferences , he even adopted the charlie chan persona , answering questions in the same pidgin he used on screen . the chinese appreciated that in chan , finally , a brilliant , charming , and esteemed chinese figure was being portrayed in american movies , and this at a time when the chinese public was highly sensitive to racial slights .
abstract : this article seeks to make sense of the enigma of charlie chan by situating him at the intersection of critical legal studies , genre studies , cognitive psychology , and postcolonial critique . it contends that chan is more than a shameful chapter in the history of american racism and orientalism , rather a product of the legal orientalist imagination’s exploitation of a peculiar genre schema of detective fiction . as such , he is a figure of ambivalence , equivocation , and exception . on the one hand , chan fits the stereotype of the maverick detective who must operate within the penumbra of formal judicial apparatuses—in the zone of the exception—in order to match wits with the master criminal . on the other hand , it is his “race” that reifies the power of the exception , making him the unctuous alter ego of the insidious criminal mastermind dr . fu manchu .
retired detective charlie chan is asked for his help by the san francisco police to solve a new series of murders . this time his usual sidekick , number one son , has been replaced by lee ' s own son , lee chan , jr .
lepore , jill . 2010 .
chan , the man : on the trail of the honorable detective .
the new yorker , 9 august .
huang sees chan in this sense less as a chinese uncle tom and more as a chinese nigger jim , whose own sort of pidgin was transformed by mark twain into an expression of courage and morality greater than could normally be imagined in the racist culture of the era . himself “a chinese man come to america , ” as chang apana did , huang makes the case that a reevaluation of charlie chan might be in order . huang’s deeper point is indisputable . charlie chan is an entirely american creation and an entirely american story . to know him is to know ourselves .
charlie chan , the fictitious chinese - american detective from hawaii , makes his first appearance in the movie charlie chan in egypt ( 1935 ) looking out the window of an airplane while flying over the pyramids and the sphinx . we next see him , looking awkward and unhappy , on a donkey , which takes him to the headquarters of an archaeological excavation in luxor . there he announces why he has come , his polite manner verging on the deferential : he has been hired by the french archaeological society to investigate the disappearance of some ancient objects on the black market .
biggers’s first novel about charlie chan came a decade after sax rohmer’s first fu manchu novel , but the two were simultaneous hits in hollywood , both at the height of their popularity in the 1930s . that both fu and chan were popular at the same time shouldn’t be surprising—we’ve seen bigger contradictions . still , chan does seem to mark a shift in attitudes away from the sort of unadulterated bigotry that produced the asian exclusion act and toward a willingness on the part of the public to accept asians as admirable , even if still stereotypes .
lee chan , jr . ( richard hatch ) , charlie ' s grandson , is an aspiring private eye whose only client so far is a disgruntled little girl who slaps him around for not being able to find her lost cat . in fact , there isn ' t much that lee chan , jr . can do without klutzing it up . his adoring fiancă©e ( michelle pfeiffer ) , however , is completely blind to all his flaws and follows him around as if he were her seeing - eye dog . rounding out this cast of characters on the side of the law is brian keith , a pill - popping police chief who is a bundle of fits and frets . on the side of disorder is angie dickinson as the dragon queen . charlie chan sent her to prison years ago and now she ' s out to get him .
that would suggest a certain success for precisely the racial stereotyping that chan’s detractors have decried—the artificial chinaman becoming more real than the real thing . chang apana himself came to be addressed , admiringly , as charlie chan on the streets of honolulu , his real persona having been captured by the fictional character he inspired . huang makes a quiet plea to chan’s detractors to see him in a less unfavorable light :
what sets the dragon painter apart is its authenticity of sets , costumes and predominately japanese cast who are portraying real people and not stereotypes . it is also probable that the same unique racial pov is what obscured this film .
mr . karloff’s portrayal of the chinese criminologist has nothing about it to remind audiences of the late warner oland’s “charlie chan” or of his own past performances . this oriental is a thoroughly occidentalized sleuth who takes his work seriously and refrains from kidding the blundering constabulary . he has the dazzling courage to confess himself baffled now and again by perplexing circumstances , and this unique device has the result of baffling audiences doubly . ( 39 )
of all of the pre - world war ii pop artifacts that have recently been resurrected and recycled by hollywood , the most welcome by far is charlie chan , the inscrutable detective created by earl derr biggers and brought to the screen in dozens of low - budget movies , most often in the person of warner oland and sidney toler . charlie chan is supposed to be chinese but , in fact , he ' s as american as apple pie , maxene andrews and chandu the magician . as much as any other public figure before pearl harbor , he reassured americans of their place in the world , solving drawing room mysteries in 70 minutes or so and dispensing wisdom that came straight from domestically manufactured fortune cookies .
both the yellow peril and world war ii saw the repolarization of americanness and “otherness” ( and the latter , the dominance of the hardboiled detective ) but , in the years in between , hollywood’s intention—even if misguided in its execution—was to offer the asian detective as one of america’s heroes .
review : this comedy - mystery features a brief appearance by peter ustinov as charlie chan , with the sleuth ' s grandson , lee chan , jr . ( hatch ) , a half - jewish , half - chinese detective , taking up most of the film as he bumbles through chinatown , clumsily destroying ever… ( more )
this comedy - mystery features a brief appearance by peter ustinov as charlie chan , with the sleuth ' s grandson , lee chan , jr . ( hatch ) , a half - jewish , half - chinese detective , taking up most of the film as he bumbles through chinatown , clumsily destroying everything in his path . the host of murders that greet him are on the cute side , and the dialog is inane . . . . read more
the earl carroll vanities , a popular broadway revue of the 1930s and ' 40s , is the . . .
the setting is san francisco , being rocked to the roots by a series of crimes that the newspapers persist in describing as ' ' the bizarre murders , ' ' so repeatedly that the adjective takes on the weight of a proper noun . the chief of the san francisco police department , being at loose ends , calls charlie chan out of retirement to work on the killings , including one in an acupuncture clinic and another in which the victim , a musician , was fried by his own electric guitar .
the fear , whether real or imagined , arose from the fact of the rise of nonwhite peoples and their defiance of white supremacy . and while serving to contain the other , the idea of the yellow peril also helped to define white identity , within both a nationalist and an internationalist frame . ( 138 )
this is the perfect example of how not to make a charlie chan film - - or any film for that matter ! it was meant as a comedy - - but it ' s not funny . the mystery is lame . the acting is awful . a good cast wasted by a terrible script ! peter ustinov is better than this and should have said
no !
to this one . a big waste of time and money . only for absolute chan fanatics and then only so they can say ,
yeah . i saw it .
to paraphrase from a much better chan film ,
bad film like dead fish - - can not stand test of time !
see any of the 20th century fox chan films from the 30 ' s and early 40 ' s instead .
an online magazine offering reviews of crime fiction and film , interviews with writers and more .
although both chan and wong are chinese detectives , the two characters were conceived of as different kinds of masculinity . as the motion picture herald reviewer notes with karloff’s first appearance as the detective in mr . wong , detective in october 1938 ,
not a good movie . has a few laughs but mainly nothing a real chan fan would like to see . it is a spoof , but just doesn ' t work . too silly without real slapstick . no real inside jokes for chan fans . and wouldn ' t work as a regular comedy , even without the chan link .
, features asian american culture and experience from the perspective of asian americans themselves .
haiyan lee is a professor of chinese and comparative literature at stanford university , stanford ca , 94305 . she is the author of revolution of the heart : a genealogy of love in china , 1900 - 1950 ( 2007 ) and the stranger and the chinese moral imagination ( 2014 ) .
tied to blackface and the portrayal of african americans on the stage by whites in the nineteenth century , the term yellowface appears as early as the 1950s to describe the continuation in film of having white actors playing major asian and asian american roles and the grouping together of all makeup technologies used to make one look “asian . ”
hollywood’s earliest representation of the chinese echoed the socio - political anxieties of the time . the influx of chinese immigrants to america incited a social panic in the face of the perceived “yellow peril” and resulted in the immigration act of 1924 , which restricted chinese immigration into the states . as gary okihiro explains , the yellow peril was a product of a rationalizing discourse linked to western colonial expansion :
peter ustinov , who carries on the tradition of the occidental charlie chan in this new , big - budget movie , photographed in glorious color , plays it comparatively straight , more modestly even than mr . oland or mr . toler , and thus provides the film with a center of gravity without which the lunatic goings - on would have no point . he is very funny and deserves the year ' s self - effacement award .
the setting is contemporary san francisco . the city is in an uproar over a series of bizarre murders . the police are baffled and decide to call charlie chan out of retirement . the great detective seems to be surrounded by crazies . mrs . lupowitz ( lee grant ) is a daft widow who talks to her departed husband ' s ashes in an urn and tolerates the eccentricities of her staff  namely a rude butler ( roddy mcdowall ) in a wheelchair and a paranoid maid ( the late rachel roberts ) .
it is in this sense that a movie like charlie chan in egypt has been seen by critics as deriving from the era of asian exclusion and jim crow . in the film , stepin fetchit , hollywood’s best - known black movie actor , plays a character named snowshoes , an employee of the archaeologists who is superstitious , befuddled , and easily frightened—a negro stereotype put in for comic relief . charlie chan was an aphorism - spouting , pidgin - speaking “chinaman” who took soft , feminine steps and had fake slanted eyes . it is clear why he has given offense to writers like jessica hagedorn , frank chin , and the novelist gish jen—even while many caucasians still probably see nothing wrong with him .
similarly , the reviewer for the motion picture daily praises the film for not duplicating chan because , as the review implies , chan seemed more interested “in coining philosophical wisecracks or kidding policemen” than actually apprehending criminals ( 6 ) . certainly , the chan films had a large comic component with chan’s african - american chauffeur ( most often birmingham brown ) and older offspring ( mainly lee , jimmy , and tommy ) acting as foils to their father during the investigation ; on the other hand , mr . wong is thoughtful , somewhat impassive , and mainly serious—although he does smile when he occasionally makes a humorous pun . according to rimoldi , the wong series was not meant to compete with fox’s successful chan series but instead to cash in on the popularity of the asian detective ( 173 ) . and the success of mr . wong was most likely due to the star who portrayed him—boris karloff , an eurasian actor who had made his name playing in monster movies—and the publicity material highlighted karloff’s name above all else .
history is complex and a full analysis of the influences and cultural attitudes of each time period is far beyond the scope of this article . however , we hope that readers keep an open mind and allow the pictures to speak for themselves . included below are examples of whitewashing of southern and middle eastern asian characters ( more properly considered brownface ) .
magazine featured multiple images of asian americans as detrimental to the creation of a well - functioning economy and society . these types of representations of asians favored white , anti - immigrant values and undermined authentic asian american culture and representation . these media representations furthered edward said’s idea of
go behind the scenes of the mission : impossible movies , check out the latest videos and trailers , and see which spy movies topped the box office in our mission : impossible guide .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
hollywood continues to produce new variations of old stereotypes for asian american performers . though the country has largely discarded the practice of blackface , the use of yellowface and brownface in hollywood production continues to be the norm .
“that’s it ! ” cried [ the prosecutor ] triumphantly . “that’s my confession , and not a word spoken . i’ve witnesses , jennison—they all saw you—you couldn’t stand the disgrace a man in your position—you tried to kill yourself . with an empty gun . ” he went over and patted chan on the shoulder . “a great idea , charlie , ” he said . “chan thought of it , ” he added to jennison . “the oriental mind , harry . rather subtle , isn’t it ? ” ( biggers , 309 )
this article was first published in the october 28 , 2010 issue of the new york review of books .
along with the acclaim she gets , pfeiffer has refused very successful films like pretty woman , silence of the lamb and basic instinct in the period of 1990 and 1993 . during the period she accepted the roles including the russia house , frankie and johnny with a golden globe nomination . the same period she formed her production company and boutique named via rosa production . the company alongside the touchstones pictures produced a movie love field of the label name the walt disney studios . the movie gets award nomination for golden globe and academy awards and wins silver bear best actress award at the berlin international film festival .
the lack of asian american representation in the media is the primary idea conveyed through our flyer and can be related to key historical themes . for example , the
on april 29 , 1958 , richard pfeiffer and donna taverna gives birth michelle marie pfeiffer as the second child of the family . michelle is a daughter of an air - conditioning contractor and a housewife . she is sister to an elder brother rick and two young sisters dedee and lori pfeiffer . michelle’s father is of german british ancestry and her mother is of swiss - german and swedish ancestry .
access to the complete content on oxford research encyclopedia of criminology requires a subscription or purchase . public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription .
funny : peter ustinov is well - known as hercule poirot , the best detective in the world . here , he played charlie chan , the best detective in the world . let me not waste too much time on this film : it wants to be funny , but it has no good gags . the crime plot is so unrealistic ( as is the solution in the end ) that i think it was supposed to be a parody . the acting performances were unconvincing , also young michelle pfeiffer ' s , unfortunately . maybe there are many inside jokes for charlie chan fans . but for an ordinary public , this film holds no attraction .
during the 1970s took initiative to go out onto the streets and capture images that would most accurately demonstrate real lives of asian americans in the community ( lee 127 - 128 ) . the expression of
michelle pfeiffer inner conflicts let her out of the box in the acting of the movies she carries on . she is a singer , actress and producer with remarkable timeless qualities .
landy , joshua . 2012 .
the devil , the master - criminal , and the re - enchantment of the world ( on the usual suspects ) .
philosophy and literature 36 ( 1 ) : 37 - 57 .
served as a connective tool , and the presence of a shared identity formed these progressive movements against unfavorable misrepresentations and the general lack of representation ( iijima 6 ) . these efforts at forming a
pfeiffer is the one - time winner of the miss orange county beauty pageant of 1978 and participant of miss california the same year . the sixth position in miss california in 1978 leads her to keep an acting agent with the mentality to give an audition . michelle after doing some part in films and television learnt of not being able to act then she studied at the beverly hills playhouse in the period of 1980s .
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kung fu ( 1972 - 75 ) david carradine as kwai chang caine perhaps one of the most notorious examples of yellowface was the casting of the late david carradine in a role originally conceived and envisioned for bruce lee .
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the first of 3 films in which lee grant and roddy mcdowall work together . the second was
million dollar face
( 1981 ) ; and the third and final was
it ' s my party
( 1996 . )
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both chan and wong can be regarded as positive representations of chinese masculinity as they are cast as heroes but they are also often regarded by critics as the substitution of one stereotype for another . following the yellow peril - inspired demonization of the chinese in american culture came another stereotype—“the model minority”—which referred to immigrants who assimilated into mainstream society . as chung explains , with japan’s undeclared war on china throughout the 1930s , “the chinese were viewed no longer as the oppressors , but now as the oppressed , seeking the aid of americans” ( 540 - 41 ) . this was reflected in films at the time with the smiling , hard - working peasant and other more “positive” portrayals of chinese characters , including chan and wong , who fit very much into this new conception of the “model minority : ” they were chinese detectives who had assimilated into mainstream society and employ their skills to serve western interests . the japanese , however , would be portrayed in a different manner .
maeda , daryl j . chains of babylon : the rise of asian america . minneapolis : u of minnesota , 2009 . print .
many movies , including classics like the thief of baghdad ( 1924 ) —in which a wily oriental despot is the bad guy—and all the fu manchu movies were banned in china , but charlie chan was extremely popular . there was even a series of chinese knockoffs of the character , this time played by a chinese actor who , according to huang , “followed oland’s incarnation closely in almost all aspects . ” in other words , as he puts it , “we seem to have reached the final , if not slightly bizarre , frontier of yellowface , where a real chinaman imitates a swede’s imitation of a chinaman . ”
it turns out—though huang is not the first writer to discover this—that there was a real charlie chan in american life who inspired the fictional one . a man named chang apana was a legendary figure in the honolulu police force in the first third of the twentieth century , the only ethnic chinese during those years to make detective . apana , who spent most of his early childhood in china’s guangdong province , was an american hybrid . for some years he was a paniolo , or hawaiian cowboy , working on the biggest cattle ranch on the island of hawaii . when he became a policeman around the turn of the twentieth century , the wiry , five - foot - tall apana was famous for carrying a rawhide whip as his only weapon . he was the scourge of the gambling and opium dens that proliferated in honolulu’s chinatown .
in contrast to the biggers novels , where we see chan at home , wearing a chinese gown and silk shoes , surrounded by porcelain and lanterns , in the movies he has little in the way of a private life ; we never see where he lives , but he is not rootless or unattached . two of his children , a boy and a girl , for whom he shows great affection , appear in some of the films . chan tries to convince the son he meets up with in shanghai to have a good time rather than get involved in the father’s dangerous business . “joy in heart better than bullet , ” he tells him , but the son helps solve the crime anyway .
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the stereotype that men and women of asian descent were incapable of creating complex and subtle characters in film ( not to mention their inability to speak english well ) was once again recirculated .
posner , richard a . 1999 . the problematics of moral and legal theory . cambridge , mass . : belknap press of harvard university press .
in the past , there have been efforts to bring positive representations of asian americans to the media as well . the
boltanski , luc . 2014 . mysteries and conspiracies : detective stories , spy novels and the making of modern societies . cambridge , uk : polity press .
asther had the “impassive face” and “slightly pedantic” accent that capra was looking for , so the make - up artist covered his upper eyelids with “skins” and clipped his eyelashes to a third of their normal length , and the wardrobe department decked him out in sumptuous mandarin robes and a tall black skullcap .
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weisberg , richard h . 1992 . poethics , and other strategies of law and literature . new york : columbia university press .
i bought this as a xmas present for my wife , as she likes the black x white charlie chan films of old . i wish i hadn ' t . even the great peter ustinov seemed unenthusiastic about finding himself starring in this poorly made turkey . the slap - stick humour was painful and the picture quality , awful . we switched it off before the end , it was that rubbish . this film is even too poor to give to the charity shop . don ' t buy it , you will only be disappointed .
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began making commercials for the j . walter thompson company ; voted best commercials director of the year
pack your beach blanket for a bittersweet tale of love and summer ' s magic .
the earl carroll vanities , a popular broadway revue of the 1930s and ' 40s , is the setting for this murder mystery interspersed with an assortment of variety acts , including duke ellington performing ebony rhapsody and a novelty number called marijuana . victor . . .
in 2017 , where is kyra ? the wizard of lies of pfeiffer made a notable impact on the viewers and the critics . she claims that she can now deliver acting as per requirements with her role of a mother is now a bit restive .
imagine a person , tall , lean and feline , high - shouldered , with a brow like shakespeare and a face like satan , a close - shaven skull , and long , magnetic eyes of the true cat - green . invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire eastern race , accumulated in one giant intellect , with all the resources of science past and present , and you have a mental picture of dr . fu - manchu , the “yellow peril” incarnate in one man . ( 7 )
the famed detective comes out of retirement to solve a baffling series of murders in san francisco . as he and his bumbling grandson investigate , they begin to suspect the crimes may be the work of an old enemy . comedy mystery , starring peter ustinov , angie dickinson , roddy mcdowall and michelle pfeiffer .
miss grant has never been in better form than she is as the grande dame manquee , a woman whose loathing for chan is never better expressed than in her haughty greeting , ' ' welcome to san francisco , charles . ' ' as lee chan jr . , the would - be detective who worships his grandfather and never reads a clue correctly , mr . hatch ( of television ' s ' ' battlestar gallactea ' ' and ' ' the streets of san francisco ' ' ) is pricelessly eager and inept , qualities that go forever unrecognized by miss pfeiffer who , as the faithful cordelia , is another find .
few examples of modern yellowface are as notorious as the films 21 and dragonball : evolution . in 21 , the story of real - life asian american blackjack players was re - cast to feature white actors in every prominent role . dragonball ‘s goku , the japanese equivalent of superman ( an alien child lands on earth , is raised by the native culture , and becomes adopted as the champion of his new home ) , was likewise whitewashed with the casting of justin chatwin .
through our magazine article , we wanted to bring forward the discussion of more contemporary modes of representation for asian american characters . on social media , we noticed content related to the cast of the upcoming new movie ,
iijima , chris . “pointifications on the distinction between grains of sand and yellow pearls . ” asian americans : the movement and the moment . by steve louie and glenn omatsu . los angeles , ca : ucla asian american studies center , 2014 . 3 - 15 . print .
prince of persia : the sands of time ( 2010 ) jake gyllenhaal as 6th century persian prince dastan gemma arterton as “exotic indian princess tamina” tragically , the next decade will be heralded by a slew of summer films that perpetuates hollywood’s systematic casting bias against performers of color . prince of persia will depict two caucasian champions leading subjects of color and battling brown villains .
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at times , mr . donner ' s work recalls the ebullient slapstick routines of blake edwards , but the director , best known for such early films as ' ' nothing but the best ' ' and ' ' what ' s new , pussycat ? ' ' also does very well with the parody . be prepared for a quintessential chan routine in which mr . ustinov explains what the script calls ' ' the fork in the teacup ' ' routine .
, which created a distinct divide between eastern and western culture that praised the west and oriented eastern cultures as inferior and barbaric ( maeda 20 ) . as these ideas persisted , positive representations of asians were continuously neglected . our primary goal with our flyer was to expose the “whitewashed” representations that continued to plague the mainstream media into the late 20th century and even today , while communicating the sentiments of asian americans that call for more genuine representations .
the period between 2000 and 2006 she appears in the movies like original sin , what lies beneath , i am sam and white oleander with box office justification and awards like screen actors guild nomination . in an animation film sinbad : legend of the seven seas she voiced a character of a goddess of chaos eris in 2003 . michelle pfeiffer inner understanding makes her stay away from the movies for 4 years .
a sophisticated , expensively - dressed group of people gather in a spooky old mansion to watch the first performance of a play . the highlight of the production is a realistic on - stage murder , wherein the victim is shot point - blank , right through the heart , . . .
research and writing of this article were supported by a frederick burkhardt residential fellowship from the american council of learned societies . i presented earlier versions at the university of notre dame , the center for advanced study in the behavioral sciences , and the university of toulouse . i would like to thank nan da , louis hyman , katherine howe , lionel jensen , joshua landy , mark selden , r . john williams as well as the three anonymous readers for transnational asia for their helpful feedback . an earlier version of this article appeared in the inaugural issue of transnational asia : an online interdisciplinary journal .
strap on your holster and reach for your ray gun with this collection of eight . . .
are all modern examples of asian americans fighting back against the remaining lack of positive representation . our group hopes that in the future , there will be increased opportunities for constructive representation in the mainstream media and that asian american creatives will continue to foster new ways to convey the asian american experience in true and engaging ways .
also on the scene and adding to the sometimes hilarious confusion are the late , great rachel roberts as mrs . lupowitz ' s unstable maid ; roddy mcdowall as mrs . lupowitz ' s paraplegic butler , an ill - tempered fellow who serves at table from his motorized wheelchair , and brian keith , who gives one of the best comic performances of the season as the police chief .
the american audiences liked their asians to be psychopathic fu man chus or comic laundrymen and cooks . though popular in the teens , hayakawa fell into obscurity with a rising tide of anti - immigration laws aimed at asians and the japanese in particular in the 1920s . [ source ]
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regardless of the ethnicity in the source material – whether mythological , fictional , or historical – hollywood continues to enforce a glass ceiling for performers of color .
although the script abounds with funny lines , the overall effect of this film is as though someone ( producer ? director ? studio ? ) took a deft charlie chan send up and stamped heavily on it , adding elements clearly inserted for commercial appeal rather than inherent value . these elements do their best to destroy what would have otherwise been an enjoyable hour and a half . as it stands , you ' ll want to see it for some stellar performances , and because you don ' t want to miss young michelle pfeiffer in one of her earliest roles . she lights up the screen . peter ustinov does his spiffy warner oland impression , and a talented cast does its best with the sparkly script but on - again - off - again plot .
the whole film pitches colored—black , yellow , arab—men against anglo - european whites , with the former united by their interest in truth and justice and the latter condemned by their insatiable hunger for material wealth .
pfeiffer is a nominee for academy award for best supporting actress and won the bafta award for best actress in a supporting role for dangerous liaisons ( 1988 ) . she is second time nominee of academy awards for best actress and winner of the golden globe award for best actress - motion picture drama for the fabulous baker boys ( 1989 ) . pfeiffer is a consistently good actor in the movies like the witches of eastwick ( 1987 ) , married to the mob ( 1988 ) , frankie and johnny ( 1991 ) , the age of innocence ( 1993 ) , wolf ( 1994 ) and white oleander ( 2002 ) .
agamben , giorgio . 2005 . state of exception . chicago : university of chicago press .
what is remarkable is that such a singular and benevolent chinese character could have emerged from the midwest and become a huge popular success in an america of intensely nativist , anti - chinese feeling . fu manchu in this sense would seem to have been the more predictable cultural expression of the larger attitude toward “chinamen . ” fu came along on the eve of world war i , the creation of the british writer sax rohmer , whose first fu manchu novel was published in the united states in 1913 and went into at least twenty printings . rohmer followed this effort with a succession of novels , each one more lurid than the last . fu , satanically inventive , gets his victims to handle perfume and then kills them with scorpions drawn to the scent . he kills with snakes , incantations , and a poison known as “silence of flower . ”
for our political flyer , we decided to use a cherry blossom , a typified “asian” icon , to track the trajectory of and demonstrate instances of “yellow face” through a timeline format that begins in the 1960s . the first film that we incorporated is