Grauman's Chinese Theater
#10 of 1849
There were times that Chan really liked his sister Edna for her ability to manipulate the stars in Hollywood, to take her family out of a mundane situation through film, and make them truly appreciate their life. But there were times, like right now, as the fox seethed that he was much less fond of the alluring Hollywood vixen who also happened to be his younger sister. She had lied to her tiger boyfriend about her family's financial condition- to be fair, maybe the Vulpinos were not the wealthiest family out there but they had survivied the Great Depression without government handouts, thank you very much. Of course, poverty is all relative and when you live in Beverly Hills, with a beachhouse on Malibu, you begin to think anyone who doesn't have these things is suffering from poverty, which was how Edna thought.
And Chan was somewhat hesitant for turning their family history, with its improbable meeting of a Chinese immigrant and Italian-American female gold prospector into a film for money. To make matters even more interesting, Chan, who was already 18 years older than his sister, would have to deal with a new brother-in-law who was young enough to be his son. Chan was 53, his sister was 35, and the tiger who she would soon marry at the end of the film's shooting was six years younger than she was, only a sprightly 29 years of age.
This movie idea had revealed some of the worst characteristics of his sister. Manipulative, spoiled due to her recent success, and willing to sell her family history for a buck, Edna had entered into Chan and Annette's talks late at night in the trailer which served as their home for the two weeks of shooting. (Edna had misspoke when she said that they would have to spend four months in Colima, the gold field where Chan's grandparents met almost 90 years ago- the extras and minor characters only spent two weeks, it was her and the major characters who would have to spend four months.) But Edna was a talented actress, a Hollywood star with bright and innovative ideas and her movie, not funded by a money-bags producer, but by herself and her boyfriend would be an early example of an independent film.
Where else could bottom-of-the-social ladder 49ers speak like actual 49ers with curse words and bad behavior? Where else could a Chinese actor be the hero of the movie, whose character would be more than just a racist stereotype but rather a deep and rewarding character with dreams and ambitions? Hollywood at the time was just far too conservative to invest in minority characters being any more than villains, stooges, and stereotypes. Society would feign too much moral outrage at the sound of cursing in a movie, so obviously no major studio would approach this.
Yet as he and his sons and daughters worked on the set, Chan became more aware of Sheng and Clarice's life all those years ago. The heat of the sun, the occasional rain, some measure of fatigue- of course, all they did was go through the motions carrying pans and pick-axes, looking for pyrite or "fool's gold". At the end of ten minutes, each of the extras could go back to their trailers, their temporary homes for the next two weeks or they could go to the catering tent whenever they needed vittles. Needless to say, Sheng and Clarice and all the miners who accompanied them in that era had no such luxuries. In the heat and in the rain, they continued to mine for gold while here 90 years later, Chan and his family only pretended to do so. Their pay was not in danger unlike the pay for the miners which was dependent primarily on luck and was subject to violent squabbles.
The two weeks they had to spend on the set passed by quickly and without any major incident, they just played the part of extras, not staring directly and having other work than what the starring actors were doing. Soon, they left with their paychecks back to their home which was just as they had left it.
Three and a half-months later...
The phone call came in that morning from Los Angeles, telling them to visit again this time for "Premiere Night" which would happen that weekend at the prestigious Broman's Chinese Theater, a place which had seen species from all over the world display their movies. It was a cold day in North California, as autumn gave way to winter when this took place and the Vulpinos found that miserable weather followed them on their trip south- it was raining in perpetually-sunny Los Angeles as the caravan of Vulpinos (and their neighbors, the Masons) came along. In their luggage they had packed formal wear for the actual opening night although it was quite outdated.
"I know we went through the Depression but that is over," Edna spoke, giving some of her worst clothes which were still much better than what her sister was wearing. That evening gown might have cost hundreds of dollars but Edna's wealth was so great that she could nonchalantly afford to give one away to her sister. "To my favorite sister in the whole wide world, the one who said being an actress was not a crazy idea."
And when Chan received a new seat of Beau Brummely pants and a jacket from Ch'i Lin, he thought that a brother-in-law this generous might not be so bad after all. The weekend was filled with enjoying the L.A. boardwalks, seeing film studios and avoiding the media as the weather cleared up, although no one would wear swimsuits on this 60-degree December day.
And then the sun went down and the family of folfs saw it- Grauman's Chinese theater, a brightly-lit slice of heaven in the City of Angels. Here, the great stars of the silver screen left their pawprints for others to see as the cement was drying. The entire building resembled an ancient Chinese palace, complete with a beautiful façade yet strangely this would be the first movie which showed a Chinese main character in this still-conservative industry, and even that had to be done by an independent film working outside the jurisdiction of the Hollywood authorities.
"Good evening. I take it you are here to see "Gam Saan". You'll need tickets," the elderly horse wearing a bright red usher's jacket said to the party of about eight.
"There's no need. They're my family and friends.", Edna spoke up, her beautiful purple satin gown lighting up the night, alongside her brother and boyfriend who in their designer suits and jackets were the epitome of masculinity. This was a night for the beautiful people, be they nouveau-riche or more of the old guard, a night for toasts and of remarking on how Hollywood had progressed to this point where a Chinese theater could run a movie starring Chinese people.
The food here was absolutely heavenly- in all their years Chan and Annette had never eaten food this good and they owned fruit orchards and the wine was far better than their own vineyards. But the crowning moment was when the screen turned on and the movie came to life.
"In the Gold Rush days, a young Chinese immigrant seeking gold in California found something much more valuable- the love of his life. Join us now for Gam Saan, the Golden Mountain!" A sweet orchestral piece lilting in the air after the title screen made Chan think about how wealthy Ch'i Lin must have been to hire the L.A. Philharmonic to perform the opening song. And the two hours passed like minutes on account of the great production values that Lin and Vulpino had spent. The action reached its peak smoothly, with both heroes and villains, portrayed with depth and believability, a harmonious play staged in black-and-white. With the obvious exception of not having a fox play the hero character, this was as good an adaptation of a family's chronology that anyone could have ever hoped to make and more entertaining.
But the best part of the movie was when at the closing credits, they saw the words "Based on the True Story of the Vulpino Family, Whose Living Members Served as Extras in this Film", which upon hearing Chan and Annette, their grown-up children, brothers and sisters, a dozen in all stood up and received a standing ovation for their bit parts, as though they were the stars.
And it was at this moment that Chan made two realizations- his sister Edna for all her money and fame, could give the spotlight to someone else if the need arose. And if Sheng Lee and Clarice Vulpino were alive today, they would have loved to have seen this.