NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

dahlswede Walk Like a Dragon (1960) was a courageous and important film. Released in an era when segregated facilities, transportation, schools and residential neighborhoods still existed in many part of the South in the United States, and at a time when the public debate about racial equality and African-American Civil Rights occupied the attention of an increasing number of Americans, it broke many unspoken Hollywood conventions of its day.Although the script now in some places seems painfully stereotyped, it provided substantive roles in a period when box office racism in Hollywood often limited the scope and range of the parts available for minority stars to play. Walk Like a Dragon (1960) benefits both from a well crafted script by Daniel Mainwaring and James Clavell, and from an extremely talented roster of players. The cast included the late Nobu McCarthy portraying "Kim Sung", the heroine of the story, Jack Lord as her would-be rescuer ("Lincoln Bartlett"), and James Shigeta as "Cheng Lu", a recent immigrant smitten by her charms. Josephine Hutchinson, Mel Torme, Benson Fong and Lilyan Chauvin also appear in pivotal supporting roles.The film uncompromisingly depicts the cruel exploitation and racism often encountered by Chinese immigrants in the United States, a young nation which promulgated ideals of civil rights but often found upholding that standard impossible in practice. But the writers do so within the context of also addressing many of the less attractive medieval aspects of Chinese society during the 1800s, including slavery, racism, rural poverty, the oppression and humiliation of poor people by an entrenched wealthy ruling class and, especially, the inferior status accorded to women in traditional Chinese society.Set in the aftermath of the Civil War in the West, the story centers around the dilemma facing Kim Sung,a young slave who had been transported from China to the United States to be sold as a brothel worker. In the West, she attracts the romantic interest of two men, a Civil War veteran with strong anti-slavery views and a young worker from China disappointed by the lack of opportunity, and the lack of respect, he encounters in the USA. Sheltered by Ma Bartlett, Lincoln Bartlett's strong-willed and influential mother, a devout Christian, Kim Sung suddenly finds herself in a position to make independent choices for the first time in her life. But she discovers that the society at large around them does not really value her new found civil rights. She is equal in the eyes of the law but not in reality. How she resolves this conflict speaks volumes about individualism and community in multicultural societies.This film does have some violence and adult themes, but it is probably suitable for older youngsters because the content is not graphic, especially by today's standards.

nerdomatic10-937-667230 I saw this film when it first came out, at the drive-in from the back of my parents' station wagon. I was very small and the ideas behind it were way over my head, but I always remembered it reverently over the years, although I forgot its name. My favorite character was the Deacon, who I thought was just the coolest gunfighter ever. Many, many years later it surfaced on TCM as part of an Asian tribute. I was totally amazed to discover that the Deacon was Mel Torme! He also sang the theme song.Anyway, WLAD is some excellent, heartfelt, moving social commentary hidden in a B-western. It was written and directed by James Clavell and featured acting that's second to none. That's because parts for Asians were almost non-existent at the time, and these Asians made the very most of their rare opportunity. I mean that in the most complimentary fashion possible. There's no hambone over-emoting, just some dignified, highly skilled, restrained performances by all of them.Nobu McCarthy is gorgeous and heartbreaking, and James Shigeta is enormously powerful. These two are Japanese, but they play Chinese immigrants and their performances are quite moving. Benson Fong and Kam Tong play much smaller, but still vital roles. Both the older men are first introduced as being servile, pidgin-English-speaking, scurrying stereotypes around whites. But they're something else entirely around their fellow Chinese. It's a nice touch, and Clavell uses it in the opening scene to great effect.The white cast are all perfect fits for their roles and turn in some fantastic support for the stars. Jack Lord is right on the money for his rigid, stubborn, hot-tempered Linc Bartlett character. Josephine Hutchinson is his mother and Lilyan Chauvin is his French girlfriend. Both are outstanding. The bigoted townspeople are all excellently portrayed as well. This is an obviously low-budget B-western but the actors are all superb. Not a single dud in the bunch.WLAD takes place in 1870 California and Linc is a former Union Army captain. He's in San Francisco on business and he agrees to let Cheng Lu (James Shigeta) ride back with him to his hometown of Jericho. Then he's outraged when he happens upon a slave auction of Chinese girls who are being sold into prostitution. The youngest is 19-yr-old Kim Sung (Nobu McCarthy), and when she's forced to strip in front of the crowd of bidders, Linc is overwhelmed by her humiliation and her shame and her shy nature. So he bids $750 in gold coins for her and then closes the bidding by drawing his gun and pointing it at the auctioneer. Linc then tries to set Kim free, but Cheng Lu explains to him that it's not that simple. She is helpless and can't speak English and has nowhere to go, so she will just end up right back where she started. So Linc takes both Kim and Cheng Lu back to Jericho with him and sets an epic tragedy in motion.I can't recommend this film highly enough. If you watch it, I guarantee you'll be deeply impressed. I saw it on TCM, but it can now be seen for free whenever you want on YouTube on "The Pilar Seurat Channel". If you want something unusual and touching, try it. You'll be glad you did.

tom_amity This film is set in Gold Rush California. The protagonist is an exiled Chinese who will stop at nothing to get the girl - he finds it utterly unfitting that his countrywoman is interlocking with a foreign devil (played by Jack Lord). The disgruntled Chinese vows to make himself equal in stature to the ignorant bigoted white men around him; as he puts it, "I will walk high, like a dragon". He apprentices himself to the gun-toting town deacon, who does duty as local clergyman as well as local amateur law enforcer. We know why he enters into this project: of course, he looks forward to a bloodily successful showdown with his caucasian nemesis, whose chief sin is being engaged to the Chinese woman whom he also loves and regards as too good for a white man. When the planned gunfight occurs, however, the pesky white rival is victorious, and the uppity Chinese appears to have little chance of recognizing his ambitions. In the end, however, the fact that he and the girl are of the same nation-in-exile is what prevails: the Jack Lord character loses the girl because blood is thicker than water. And yet, to make a necessary point, the Chinese man has to conclude the film by making a culturally impossible demand of her, which she executes. This suggests irresistibly some kind of symbolic castration - in a sense it takes away his Chinese nationality. He has chosen a life of exile in America, where he has made is fortune among enemies and anti-Chinese bigots, over the possibility of returning to China with his bride.Not that it's easy for her to make the choice. The Lord character saved her from a life in a brothel. But still . . . And while Lord doesn't get the girl, he certainly gets the best line: "Who do you think taught the deacon?"!!

callie-5 I happened across this movie years ago on a independent t.v. station in the middle of the afternoon. I first watched because of Mel Torme, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying a western... *shock*. The one thing I recall most was how very "un-Mel" Mel was. His portrayal of a gunslinger was very low-key and VERY effective. If I ever get a chance to see this again, I'll have a tape ready to role. I strongly recommend it.