Marion E. Wong
| Marion E. Wong | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
January 2, 1895 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died |
February 4, 1969 Alameda, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, producer, and director |
| Parent(s) | Jim Sing Wong, Chin See |
| Wong Neui Tai | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 黃女娣 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Huáng Nǚ Dì |
| Wade–Giles | Huang4 Nü3Di2 |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | wong4 neoi5 dai6 |
Marion E. Wong (January 2, 1895 - February 4, 1969) was a Chinese American company director, costume designer, director, actress, producer, music performer and screenwriter.
Marion Evelyn Wong was born on January 2, 1895 in San Francisco but was raised in Oakland, California. In 1911, Wong travelled to China to meet her future husband. Her two brothers, who were looking for wives, accompanied her. One of her brothers died in China due to smallpox. The other brother Albert Wong, married Violet, who was the sister-in-law to Marion. Wong returned home without a husband because she refused to marry him. Wong was also a student at the University of California for some time where she took up special work.
In 1916, at the age of 21, she established the Mandarin Film Company. Her uncle, Ben Lim, described in a 1916 newspaper article as a “wealthy Chinese merchant and landowner”, provided the funding. Her trip to China also served as inspiration for The Curse of Quon Gwon: When the Far East Mingles with the West, Marion's first film in the Mandarin Film Company. The film was regarded as the first Chinese-American feature film. The film was also written, produced, and directed by Wong, who also designed the costumes and sceneries. Marion also cast herself as one of the characters in the film. The Curse of Quon Gwon was the first and only film made by an all-Chinese cast and an all-Chinese company. An article in the July 17, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World said that the film “deals with the curse of a Chinese god that follows his people because of the influence of western civilation.” It is also about Chinese assimilation into American society.
In an Oakland Tribune article dated May 11, 1916, Wong said that she had never seen any Chinese movies.
''“…I decided to introduce them to the world. I first wrote the love story. Then I decided that people who are interested in my people and my country would like to see some of the customs and manners of China. So I added to the love drama many scenes depicting these things. I do hope it will be a success.”
Even with all of her efforts, The Curse of Quon Gwon only had two screenings after its completion. A rough cut of the film was viewed in 1916 at the Kinema Theater and a formal premier of the film was shown in 1917 but the film did not receive commercial distribution. Seen as a financial failure, Wong asked her family to never speak of the film again. Her uncle Lim at this time also declared bankruptcy, for he did not see any possibility of return of his investment. Wong’s company did not produce any other films after the flop of The Curse of Quon Gwon.
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