Ａ Ｐｅｅｐ ｉｎｔｏ Ｈｏｌｌｙｗｏｏｄ

Just like most foreign tourists， we chose to take an eager look at Hollywood upon our arrival in Los Angeles， a city of celluloid dreams， stars and megabucks. This burning curiosity is understandable， for we’ve seen so much about America， its ideas， its way of life， and its fantasies， nearly all through Hollywood movies.

From where I stood Hollywood spread away like a picture before my eyes. I was standing below the famous huge English letters that spelt Hollywood. Hollywood is actually a cinematic world with a full range of businesses that serve the dream makers. Geographically， the world-famous Hollywood accounts for one fifths of Los Angeles， America’s second largest city with a population of 3.6 millions.

Jacky Chen’s Oriental Dignity

Hollywood Boulevard is a major attraction. The boulevard teems with movie houses， theaters， concert halls， clubs， museums， and galleries. Embedded on the pavements are long stretches of reddish marbles. Each marble presents a star， as large as a bathtub and each star is implanted with a picture of a showbiz celeb accompanied by an autograph. In the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater， there are marbles that bear signatures of big names and their hand prints and foot prints. I saw tourists happily taking pictures of each other beside the stars， examining signatures， hand and foot prints， touching them， or taking pictures with the actors dressed up like famous stars. The walk of fame has honored about 2，000 showbiz celebrities. The majority are Americans. So far， only two Chinese film stars have left their names on the walk of fame: Bruce Lee and Anna May Wong. It is said that Jack Chen turned down the offer on the grounds that an actor convinces people with his art， not a street honor and that your image and name are from one’s parents， they are like your flesh and blood which can’t afford to be stepped upon. Joan Chen and Gong Li， although popular with Chinese movie audiences， are not yet good enough to have their names imprinted on the walk of fame.

Writers on Strike

We strolled past the concert hall where Oscars are issued and reached studios. Unexpectedly， all the studios were locked. The legendary hustle and bustle was nowhere to be seen. Our guide made inquiries. We learned that script writers were on strike. We could well imagine how they worked under pressure. We could envision how much work was involved in big cartoon films and science fictions movies and we knew there was fierce competition. But were they really underpaid? We became curious. We learned that script writers made big money， but they wanted a bigger cut. We learned that Colombia was hardest hit by the strike. The script writer refused to write and the production procedure of Angels and Devils came to an abrupt stop. The chaos also hit other people.

A Movie for a Chinese Mathematician?

Foreign tourists flood to Hollywood. They worship their heroes and idols. Unexpectedly， I saw an open letter posted on a BBS by two Chinese Americans. I was interested and began to read. Addressed to Hollywood producers and scriptwriters， the letter called them to turn their attention to Chinese mathematicians. After enumerating the favorite Hollywood subjects such as beauties and heroes in modern times and ancient eras on earth and other planets in genres of realism and science fiction， the two writers asked why they did not make a movie about Chinese mathematicians. The writers stated that there were nearly one hundred Chinese mathematicians in modern times that made great contributions to modern science. They gave a list of 95 names with their glorious achievements recognized in the math world.

I am no mathematician， but I know how much they matter to all of us. These scholars of numbers are also human beings of personality and ambition. Ordinary people probably don’t understand them as if they were the smile of Mona Lisa. What can we do to persuade Hollywood to get real and shoot a film about one of these real shakers and movers of the world? This is an interesting proposition waiting for solution and action.

The First Chinese American Hollywood Star

When it comes to Chinese film stars connected with Hollywood， the first names that occur to Chinese movie enthusiasts may be Joan Chen and Gong Li. But in fact， the two don’t have many Hollywood offers. Neither have they ever been awarded Oscars. The earliest Hollywood star of Chinese ancestry is Anna May Wong. I visited a cinema museum in Los Angeles and learned about the Chinese American Hollywood legend in the early decades of the 20th century.

Wong’s ancestral roots trace back to Taishan， Guangdong Province.During the “gold rush”， her great grandfather came to California. Her father ran a laundry in Chinatown in Los Angeles. Huang was born in 1905 and was the second of eight brothers and sisters. In Los Angeles， the center of the world’s silent films during that time， she grew up in Chinatown where Hollywood filming crew was a frequent sight. The little girl was an enthusiastic moviegoer. At home， she played with her dolls on her bed in front of the mirror， acting out stories she had seen in movies or imagined.

In 1919， the 14-year-old Wong made her debut in “The Red Lantern”. Two years later， she starred in “Bits of Life”. The hero was Lon Chaney， a famous Hollywood film star. Her acting talent and grace won good reviews. Her photos appeared frequently in the media. In 1922， the 17-year-old appeared in Hollywood’s first color film “The Toll of the Sea”， in which she acted as a Chinese girl named Lotus Flower. Lotus Flower saved an American man. They fell in love and had a baby. The young man left and Lotus Flower killed herself. This movie brought Wong into limelight. In her career， Anna May Wong appeared in more than 60 films.

In 1936， Wong came to China and spent a year in the country of her ancestors. She became a friend of Hu Dee， a rising Chinese movie star. She also helped Chinese cinema industry， which was then in an initial phase. When the war broke out， she organized charity shows in America and raised money to help China’s war efforts. She also sold her own jewelry and sent money to charity causes. Chinese writers such as Zhang Henshui and Zou Taofen praised her in their writings. She passed away in 1961 at the age of 56.