Lotus Long | WatchedThis
Lotus Long
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lotus Long (born Lotus Pearl Shibata, July 18, 1909 – September 14, 1990) was an American actress. Long was born in New Jersey to a father of Japanese ancestry and a mother of Hawaiian ancestry. She came to Southern California during the 1920s to act in Hollywood films, and usually portrayed ethnic Asian female characters in supporting roles. She used the name "Lotus Long" for stage and film. Because of her adopted surname, people generally assumed that she was of Chinese ancestry – something she later relied on to avoid mass incarceration in American internment camps with other persons of Japanese ancestry, both legal permanent residents and American citizens, during World War II. She appeared in the MGM docudrama Eskimo (1933) as wife of the main character. Under the stage name Lotus Long as Moonflower in the 1934 film The Mysterious Mr. Wong and as the murder victim, Princess Lin Hwa, in 1939's Mr. Wong in Chinatown. She also starred alongside Keye Luke in Phantom of Chinatown as Win Len, Dr. Benton's secretary, whereas Keye Luke played Mr. Wong, this time known as Detective James Lee Wong. She was also credited under the name Karen Sorrell in the films Flight into Nowhere (1938) starring Jack Holt and Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938) starring Peter Lorre. She was uncredited as a "native girl" in the film The Real Glory (1939) starring Gary Cooper and David Niven. One of her more infamous roles would be as Tokyo Rose in Lew Landers' film, Tokyo Rose (1946), which also starred Keye Luke, Edwin Luke, Richard Loo, Byron Barr, and Osa Massen. Long had one writing and producing credit, for the film The Tahitian (1956) made with her husband, James Knott. The Tahitian was filmed on location with a largely native cast. In Timothy Tau's short film bio-pic Keye Luke, Lotus Long is portrayed by Mei Melancon, who is also of mixed ancestry (Japanese, Chinese and French), and who was inspired by the real-life figure of Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri) to get into acting.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Phantom of Chinatown
In the middle of a pictorial lecture on his recent expedition to the Mongolian Desert, Dr. John Benton,the famous explorer, drinks from the water bottle on his lecture table, collapses and dies. His last words "Eternal Fire" are the only clue Chinese detective Jimmy Wong and Captain Street of the police department have to work on.
Mysterious Mr. Moto
The Japanese detective rounds up a league of assassins for Scotland Yard.
The Mysterious Mr. Wong
Mr. Wong is a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night. With possession of the coins, Mr. Wong will be supreme ruler of the Chinese province of Keelat, and his evil destiny will be fulfilled. A killing spree follows in dark and dangerous Chinatown as Wong gets control of 11 of the 12 coins. Reporter Jason Barton and his girl Peg are hot on his trail, but soon find themselves in serious trouble when they stumble onto Wong's headquarters.
Think Fast, Mr. Moto
When his import/export business infiltrated by international diamond smugglers, Mr. Moto must follow a trail of clues littered with beautiful women, glittering gems and deadly assassins. Making his way from the mysterious streets of San Francisco's Chinatown to the dark and dangerous alleys of Shanghai, Mr. Moto will stop at nothing to bring the culprits to justice...even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice!
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa, on a secret military mission for Chinese forces fighting the Japanese invasion. Mr. Wong finds two captains with the intial J in the case, neither being quite what he seems; there's fog on the waterfront and someone still has that poison-dart gun...
The Mystery of Mr. Wong
Detective James Lee Wong must find the "Eye of the Daughter of the Moon," a priceless but cursed sapphire stolen in China and smuggled to America. His search takes him into the heart of Chinatown and to the dreaded "House of Hate" to find the deadly gem before it can kill again.
Eskimo
The happy life of an Eskimo is disastrously changed when he mingles with an unscrupulous white trader.
Sing Sing Nights
A respected war correspondent is found murdered, with three bullets--from three different guns--in him. Three different men are arrested, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder, but only one can be the actual killer. A criminologist sets out to find who is really guilty.
The Peacock Fan
A bumbling detective sent to investigate a murder at a ritzy home is replaced by a second investigator of mixed racial ancestry in this mystery involving an ancient Asian fan.
Rose of the Yukon
Major Geoffrey Barnett, U. S. Army Intelligence Service, is sent to Alaska, to apprehend a deserter, Tom Clark, who was presumed to be dead as a member of a small force wiped out on Attu in World War II. With the aid of Rose Flambeau, he finds evidence that the now-prosperous Clark killed his own comrades to prevent their reporting of a deposit of uranium, which he is now mining with the intention of selling to a foreign power.
Production
The Tahitian
A group of scientists are trying to stop a filaria epidemic spreading through a Tahitian population. They meet resistance in using western medicine to combat the disease from the medicine man and chief until the chief's son is infested with the parasitic worm which causes the disease.
The Tahitian
A group of scientists are trying to stop a filaria epidemic spreading through a Tahitian population. They meet resistance in using western medicine to combat the disease from the medicine man and chief until the chief's son is infested with the parasitic worm which causes the disease.
Gallery
