Chinaman's Chance

[Video link here]

CHINAMAN’S CHANCE (1972)  Directed by Ene Riisna. Researched by Ene Riisna and writer Frank Chin.   Riisna  was a refugee, a “displaced person” from Estonia, which ceased to exist as a nation when Russia took over.  She went from Canada to American news docs with CHINANAN’S CHANCE, and went on to a produce and direct at ABC 20/20.  Chin a mag journalist went on to write plays, novels, and essays.  The doc contains segments:

An interveiw ith Roland Winters the last White Man to play Charlie Chan in the movies in a Chinatown movie theater.

Chinatown, New York through - talks with Capt Gunderson and  Lt. Freda at the Police at Catherine Street Station about Chinatown and gangs. Interviews with the Borough President, Chinatown politicians, two of whom, years after the doc, were charged and convicted of crimes in office. Interviews with  China born, Labor Organizer Ben Fee, about  opening White restaurants in San Francisco to Chinese customers before WWII,  and the ladies garment workers union , in New York.  An interview with Sociologist, Betty Lee Sung, a disciple of Rose Hum Lee, author of THE CHINESE IN AMERICA, Sociology parodying science for the U. of Chicago, using her family as the anonymus sample to illustrate her manual on kissing up  to obviously superior assertive and competitive White religion and culture.  Betty Lee Sung says, White society finds Yellow women are more likable than Yellow men. Women will rise. Yellow men have choice assimilate or you’re fucked.   A conversation with a school principal about Tom Wolfe’s Esquire article. THE NEW YELLOW PERIL,  likening Chinatown to temp towns constructed by ARAMCO, where Americans could smoke and drink and women walk in public without veils and everyone could eat pork.  An interview where Chin listen’s and chews a toothpick, rather talk with two boys Henri Chang, and a young man between a shop in Harlem, and a home in Chinatown, listen to their mentor “Bird” talk of the street culuture.  Henri Chang began writing his first novel whilst working as a director of security for the Trump Organization. The novel, CHINATOWN BEAT, was published in 2006.

Henri Chang has been featured at the Asian American Literary Festival and has done readings in collaboration with the New Museum's Festival of Ideas for the New City and the Museum of Chinese in America.

An interview with concerned White youth workers at a school playground.  Wing Tek Lum, an award winning poet living in Chinatown reads from his work.  He is today the publisher of Bamboo Ridge Books, of Hawaii. A visit to a family, parents China born, and their American born children. An interview with journalist Bill Wong , and his wife Joyce.  He’s more comfortable with his White wife among White people. She’s more comfortable among Chinese. Bill Wong , from The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism went on to the Wall Street Journal, and a career across newspapers and media to found the Asian American Journalists Association. He becomes a senior editor of his hometown paper, in the 1980’s , The Oakland Tribune.  He was a commentator on  McNeil/Lehrer on PBS.  One day in the 90’s, he was fired,  and  to this day , no one knows why, and Yellow journalists did not  have the chops or guts to ask.


More video links:

More Asian Than Thou?

Frank Chin and Friends watch Flower Drum Song