Nancy Kwan: More Than Suzie Wong

Nancy Kwan occupies a singular place in the history of East Asian actors in Hollywood. She was the first East Asian actress to achieve superstardom since Anna May Wong. Born in Hong Kong to a Cantonese architect and a model of English and Scottish descent, Nancy Kwan exploded onto the scene with The World of Suzie Wong (1960) and Flower Drum Song (1961). She was the first actress of East Asian descent to regularly play lead roles since Anna May Wong. She also became a prominent sex symbol during the Sixties. While she would never repeat the success of The World of Suzie Wong and Flower Drum Song, she would appear in many more movies, as well as on television.

Among Nancy Kwan's better remembered films is the all-star disaster movie Fate is the Hunter (1964). In the film Nancy Kwan plays Sally Fraser, the girlfriend of doomed airlines pilot Jack Savage (Rod Taylor). It is Sally who gives the movie its title, discussing the concept of fate with Savage in a flashback. Miss Kwan does well in a role that was historic for her. Despite being Eurasian in descent, it was the first time she ever played a Eurasian character.

For much of her career Nancy Kwan was cast in comic roles. It should come as no surprise that she played the lead role in The Wild Affair (1965). In The Wild Affair she plays Marjorie Lee, a secretary about to get married and feeling about nervous about it. Wondering if she had missed out on life, she then decides to attempt what would be her first and only fling at her office's Christmas party. In some respects Nancy Kwan's casting seems odd given she is Eurasian and her parents are played by Bessie Love and Paul Curran. That having been said, Miss Kwan does well in the role as a strait-laced young woman who decides to kick up her heels. The movie is notable as one in which Nancy Kwan debuted a new style. Vidal Sassoon cut her famous long hair into a sharp bob.

Nancy Kwan followed up The Wild Affair with another comedy, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1965). In Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., Dick Van Dyke plays the Naval lieutenant of the title who finds himself on an island in the East Pacific when he is forced to eject from his plane. Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. is severely dated in that it engages in stereotypes about Pacific Islanders (all of who seem to be played by East Asian actors except for Akim Tamiroff). While Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. is a highly problematic film today and boasts a rather poor script, Nancy Kwan still stands out, giving a solid performance that is remarkable given how little she was given to work with.

Nancy Kwan would only fare a little bit better with Nobody's Perfect (1968), another comedy that deals with the United States Navy. Nobody's Perfect chronicles the adventures of the crew of the USS Bustard shortly after World War II. The film is a run-of-the-mill service comedy, with the usual antics one would expect as such. That having been said, it has some notable performances from Doug McClure (who plays hospital corpsman "Doc" Willoughby) and James Shigeta (who plays Toshi O"Hara). Nancy Kwan plays United States Navy nurse Lt. Tomiko Momayama, enlivening the proceedings with her performance.

Perhaps unfortunately, Nancy Kwan's next movie may be her most famous besides The World of Suzie Wong and Flower Drum Song. The Wrecking Crew (1968) was both the last in the "Matt Helm" series of movies starring Dean Martin and the last movie Sharon Tate made to be released in her lifetime. In the Sixties spies were big business, and this was not lost on producer Irving Allen, who bought the rights to the "Matt Helm" novels by Donald Hamilton. While the "Matt Helm" novels are rather serious works that owe more to film noir than James Bond, the series of "Matt Helm" movies Irving Allen produced in the Sixties were outright spy spoofs. The first three movies were rather enjoyable, if frivolous romps. The Wrecking Crew is just plain bad and, at times, even downright sexist and racist. That having been said, the movie will always be remembered for a fight scene between Sharon Tate and Nancy Kwan (Bruce Lee choreographed the fight scenes). Both actresses handle themselves well and it is the one memorable scene in an otherwise dreary movie.

In the Sixties roles were rare for actors of East Asian descent and as the decade passed, Nancy Kwan was finding it harder and harder to get roles. In the Seventies, then, she would look to Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Europe for parts. She also appeared on American television. She appeared in the two-part Kung Fu episode "The Cenotaph" In a portion of the episode told in flashback and set in China, Miss Kwan plays Mayli Ho, the Chinese Imperial consort, who is being pursued by a Chinese warlord. Nancy Kwan gives one of her best performances in the role, and she has chemistry with David Carradine (who played the lead role of Kwai Chang Caine). It must be noted that this would not be the last time the two appeared together. In the 1988 mini-series Noble House, Nancy Kwan played Claudia Chen, executive secretary to Ian Dunross of an international trading company (Pierce Brosnan).

Throughout her career Nancy Kwan has taken poor material and turned out a good performance. This is certainly true of Night Children (1989). Class of 1984 (1982) had proven to be a hit and for the rest of the decade filmmakers would churn out similar movies about violent teenagers, Night Children among them.  Today, aside from being among the later films of David Carradine and Nancy Kwan's careers it might be best remembered as the second feature film my dear friend Vanessa Marquez. In Night Children David Carradine plays veteran cop Max who comes up against a violent youth gang. Nancy Kwan plays his girlfriend, parole officer Diane. Sadly, Night Children suffers from a bad script that at times borders on the unbelievable (particularly its ending). Worse yet, Max would not have been a very sympathetic character in 1989, let alone today, a situation made all the worse by the fact that David Carradine basically phones in his performance. The only reasons to watch Night Children are Vanessa (for the brief time she is on) and the performance of Nancy Kwan. Nancy Kwan takes the role of Diane and actually makes something of it.

Fortunately, Nancy Kwan would appear in better movies later in her career. Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) departs a good deal from Bruce Lee's actual life, but while it fails as biography it succeeds as entertainment. In the film Nancy Kwan plays Gussie Yang, the sardonic but kindly restaurant owner and Bruce Lee's boss who funds his marital arts training. Nancy Kwan gives a great performance in the role.

Nancy Kwan has had a long career filled with many remarkable roles. And while not every film in which she has appeared is exactly a classic, they all the better for having Nancy Kwan in them. As mentioned earlier, Nancy Kwan has the talent for taking a poor script and still giving a great performance. If she is a pioneer with regards to East Asian actors in Hollywood, it is perhaps because she is just so very talented.