Writers: Tod Browning, Harry Sinclair Drago, Waldemar Young (Screenplay)
Stars: Lon Chaney, Lupe Velez, Estelle Taylor, Lloyd
Hughes
Look, I cut old movies a lot of slack when they cast Hollywood actresses as foreign women. For example, I absolutely adored Luise Rainer as a Chinese woman in The Good Earth (1937). However, Where East is East is just careless when it comes to casting the Indo-Chinese women. I can forgive their wide eyes, pale skin and strong jaws, however, I cannot for the life of me get past how big their noses are (particularly Estelle Taylor). Anyone who has been to the East knows that the women there have very small noses. Here, the actresses may as well be gypsies. It completely ruins the Eastern atmosphere. The performances aren't bad, but it's impossible to take them seriously as Asian women... Now that I've got that off my chest, let's talk about the darn movie!
