Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Yi Chen
Born Wong Tung Jim in Canton, China on August 28, 1899, James Wong Howe, as he was known in America, is considered one of the greatest cinematographers in the history of motion pictures. His films, Algiers (1938), Kings Row (1942), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Seconds (1966) and Funny Lady (1975), all received Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography. When Howe died in West Hollywood on July 12, 1976, he had more than one hundred twenty-five films to his credit. Howe received an Academy Award in 1955 for his work on “The Rose Tattoo,” starring Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster, and in 1963 for “Hud,” with Paul Newman.
Jewell Robinson is the Public Program Director at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. She created a program in October 2012 using theater as a way to tell the life story of James Wong Howe. “For many years, ‘Cultures in Motion’ program brings to audience at the National Portrait Gallery stories about all of the people who make up the diverse cultures in America,” said Robinson, “I am also an actress and once I found out how many films Howe has done, I realized that I have seen a lot of his work without knowing he was the camera person on those projects.”
Based on historical materials at the Smithsonian, Robinson used first person storytelling to write a script about James Wong Howe’s life with his own words – from overcoming the racial prejudice as a Chinese immigrant to his creative process and innovative inventions.
Robinson brought the annual program out to the community for the first time through a partnership with The Washington Chinese Literary Society during this year’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The reading at Twinbrook Library featured the original cast – Robinson herself and Korean American actor Stan Kang. “When Jewell approached me for the reading in 2012, I have never heard of him. Howe is someone who was nominated for ten Oscars and won two, but totally unknown to me. It was a cool story to do.”
Kang was born in Washington, DC to immigrant parents. “When I grew up, I thought of myself as an American who happened to be Korean,” Kang said. Although Howe came at a different time, his story reminded Kang of his parents’ experience. “James Wong Howe overcame racism by trying harder, working harder and being excellent.”
After World War I service and a desultory career as a prizefighter, Howe went to work as a handyman for the famous Players-Lasky studio in Hollywood, shooting still pictures of various costume tests. In those days the black and white film didn’t distinguish very well between blue and white. So Howe hung a big black velvet curtain in front of his movie camera, cut a hole in it, and shot Mary Miles Minter through the hole. Her eyes reflected the color of the curtain. The result: Dark, beautiful eyes.
Among many of his innovations, Howe was one of the first to use “deep focus” technique in “Transatlantic” (1931), ten years before cinematographer Gregg Toland used the same technique in Orson Welles’ Academy Award winning film “Citizen Kane.” The term refers to a strategy of lighting, composition, and lens choice that allows everything in the frame, from the front to the back, to be in focus at the same time.
“That’s what the American Dream is about,” Kang said. “In so many other cultures, there isn’t that much upward mobility. It’s a classic American success story where an immigrant comes, works hard, finds something he loves and succeeds. That’s why so many people want to immigrant here because those things happen.”
Michael Kramer runs the visual presentation for the program. Historic photographs and film clips are placed throughout the reading. “The idea is to create a more theatrical portrait of the personality. The visual components give people context,” said Kramer.
“I want audience to understand the contributions that have been made to the American culture by all groups in this country,” said Robinson. Due to the budget sequestration, “Cultures in Motion” program lost its funding, but she hopes to continue bringing the Howe story to the public.