The Curse of Quon Gwon - July 9, 2017

Moving Picture World, 07-July-1917

In 1917, Marion E Wong founded the Mandarin Film Company in Oakland, California.  Marion wrote, produced and directed The Curse of Quon Gwon, which is regarded as the first Chinese-American feature film. 

The film was screened only twice, never formally released and was thought to be lost until about ten years ago when Violet Wong, who starred in the movie, told her grandson that there were old cans of film in the basement of her home.  They turned out to hold two reels of the feature film. 

Documentary filmmaker Arthur Dong restored the film and it is preserved in the Oakland Museum.  The film was added to the National Film Registry in 2006.