Dragon Seed (1944)

Pale imitator of The Good Earth that lacks that film's style or heart. The backdrop is 1930s China and the Japanese invasion. The cast is made up of white people playing the Chinese parts and, actually, that's not a deal-breaker for me. I recognize and accept the time in which this was made so the yellowface is not something that outrages me. Although admittedly the constant close-ups of Katharine Hepburn making silly faces while made up the way she was made it a lot harder to tolerate. Anyway, the problem I have with this movie is not the white actors playing Chinese characters. The problem I have is that they play these characters like they aren't real human beings.The script does the cast no favors but the actors have to own their performances here, no matter how respected they are (Hepburn and Walter Huston, this means you). The portrayal of Chinese people here is condescending and, frankly, insulting. They don't seem like human beings with real thoughts and emotions. They are played like aliens who imitate human emotions rather than actually experiencing them. They spew forth fortune cookie dialogue and, despite the movie being in English, talk as though English was a completely foreign language to them. It's really very stupid and impossible to take seriously. I have a hard time trying to decide if this is Hepburn's worst role or if that honor goes to "Spitfire," where she played a hillbilly named Trigger.It's interesting that this was made by politically and philosophically enlightened types, considering their treatment of "furners" here is so offensive. I'm sure those involved with the making of this mess meant well but good intentions is only an excuse that will get you so far. Their hearts may have been in the right place but their heads were up their...well, you know.

I's "yellow-face" like many Hollywood films before it & after it. Even knowing the history of all-Caucasia casting for films, I just could not get over it. It was not just one character. It was ALL of them. And the accents were just so horribly East Coast I couldn't get over it. I kept trying to pretend that maybe the merchant had married into the family which is why he had a Russian accent & look more like he was from Manchuria. Every time I saw a non-Asian person or heard them speak it jarred me from the picture.That said, it was an interesting piece about war, the horrors of war. The showing of how the brothers reacted (killed only because he had to whereas the other killed because he grew to enjoy it). Showing the "collateral damage" consquences of war - it's more than the killing or bombing. It's the raping of women, the starvation of children, the looting, the wanton destruction, the submission & humiliation of everyone. Also interesting to see were how people react: isolationist -not wanting to know/get involved; actively involved in resistance and appeasement and currying favor with the enemy.It was interesting as a piece of propaganda to demonize the Japenese and to drum up support for the Chinese. (Note that while the main Chinese characters (the heroes) are all Caucasians, the Japanese (evil -doers) Hollywood managed to find enough Asians to cast).The movied earned itself several stars for it's feminist portrayal of a "modern" Chinese woman who wanted to read and be the equal to her husband. Something that was probably pretty radical in '37. This is why I still feel the film is worth watching (IMO). But only if you are fore-warned about how truly painful the miscasting is!

When hard-working China is attacked by the power-hungry Japanese, a pre-feminist Chinese woman struggles with her family for survival; eventually she and her husband become fighters in the Resistance and help to influence their family and fellow villagers to join them. Hollywood product, with intentions that seem sincere, adapted from a Pearl Buck novel and starring...Katharine Hepburn? Actually, Kate is not flossy or "regal" here; she's nobody's fool and probably knows she's miscast, but her Asian make-up is commendable and she tries (not in vain) to find a character. In support, Walter Huston and Aline MacMahon, as Hepburn's Old World in-laws, are excellent. The movie has beautiful cinematography and absorbing passages, but its length is self-defeating and there are some howlers in the script and in much of the casting. Not a hit at the box-office, but by this time people were so used to Hepburn's hit-or-miss choices that it didn't hurt her. **1/2 from ****

I find movies like Dragon Seed hard to watch. It's a shame Hollywood thought White actors could portray Asians better than Asians. They could have at least cast Keye Luke in one of the roles. Not one asian is listed in the credits; only some white actors who regularly portrayed asians like J. Carol Naish. I didn't think any of the caucasians looked asian. Especially Hepburn. At best they looked as chinese Sidney Toler or Warner Oland from the Charlie Chan films which means not very good. If you can look past this, the movie was actually good for what was. Dragon Seed comes across as racist and contrived without real asians and that hurts it.The previous person's (Thomas Gulch) comments are silly and bigoted. For your information Mr. Gulch there were plenty of examples of movies from the thirties and forties where lily White actors portrayed Black people using Black face. Here are two examples: Pinky (1949) and Babes in Arms (1939). As for your first comment anyone with a brain knows that picketing with signs was one of the major ways Blacks got any changes to occur in this country. If the chinese did the same thing they would get similar results. Stop trying to pit Asians against Blacks because both groups along with Latinos and Indians were all discriminated against by Whites. Your comment " I guess it's todays equivalent of protraying all Egyptians as negroes". What the hell are you talking about? This is the sentence that labels you a bigot. For your information most of the Hollywood movies about Egypt have White actors in the lead and supporting roles. Ever see Cleopatra played by the very white Elizabeth Taylor and also features a White supporting cast? Or The Ten Commandments with White actors playing the Egyptians? I don't know what rock you've been hiding under for the past thirty years but the term Negroes isn't used anymore Thomas Gulch. Or is your name Archie Bunker? Hollywood wasn't concerned about offending any minority group including Blacks. Mr. Gulch, you like all bigots speak from ignorance. Try not to sound like a jackass next time.