Marion E. Wong

Marion E. Wong (January 2, 1895 – February 4, 1969) was an American company director, costume designer, director, actress, producer, music performer and screenwriter.

Biography 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. Due to citizenship policies at the time, the Wong siblings, who were all born and raised in California, would only be allowed to travel to China for one year or they would risk losing citizenship. As such, they had a condensed timeline during which they could find an appropriate suitor to bring back to the United States. Wong was also a student at the University of California for some time where she took up special work.

The birth of the Mandarin Film Company During the early 1900s, Wong had established a reputable career in Oakland as a singer-entertainer. 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. 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 civilization.” It is also about Chinese assimilation into American society. The film was a familial labor of love, featuring sister-in-law Violet in the lead role, playing a modern Chinese American woman in San Francisco. Marion was also featured in the film in a smaller role, with parts also written for her mother, as well as Violet's daughter, Stella. Professional actor Henry Soo Hoo portrayed the romantic male lead. |} A July 1917 edition of The Motion Picture World describes the plot. “[The film] deals with the curse of a Chinese god that follows his people because of the influence of western civilization. The first part is taken in California, showing the intrigues of the Chinese who are living in this country in behalf of the Chinese monarchical government, and those who are working for the revolutionists in favor of a Chinese republic. A love story begins here and is carried through the rest of the production.” 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 premiere of the film was shown in 1917 but the film did not receive commercial distribution. Wong raised a family of entertainers as well, her daughter Arabella Hong-Young having attended Juilliard then continuing on to originate the role of Helen Chiao in Broadway's Flower Drum Song. Much like The Curse of Quon Gwon, Flower Drum Song'' is celebrated as a landmark in representation of Asian-Americans in American art.

Since its last screening in 1917, Wong's film was screened only twice over the following ninety years. It was shown once in 1948 at a public screening in Berkeley, California and once in 1974 at a screening for over seventy family members. The rediscovery of the film brought the film and Wong's children together since Wong's children were unaware of their mother's accomplishment.