"Piccadilly" (1929) is an often-hypnotic black and white silent drama that eventually turns into a mystery. It’s about a sultry femme fatale, and the havoc she creates at a night club. Fine use is made of the talents and the screen presence of Anna May Wong, the first big Asian American star.

Restored and newly tinted, the film had a successful screening at the 2003 New York Film Festival. It helped cause a renewal of interest in the star. Two bios about Anna May Wong (1905-1961) have been recently released, and a biographical documentary about her is being made. Anna May Wong was never a giant star in the USA, but she had a lucrative and fascinating career. She appeared on stage, TV, and in over 70 films.

"Piccadilly" was directed by the German immigrant Ewald Andre Dupont, billed as E. A Dupont. He also made "Variety" (1925) and "Moulin Rouge" (1929). Dupont’s work exhibits the influence of German expressionism. In "Piccadilly," Dupont does some great things with lighting, and his varied combinations of shadows and light are often stunning. He shoots Wong in a flattering manner that brings out her natural sensuality.

But Wong’s rise was somewhat limited because there were not a wide variety of roles for Asian Americans in the USA at the time. She was quoted as saying, "I think I left Hollywood because I died so often." She made some films in Germany and England, but she found that the screenplays there suffered some of the same Asian stereotypes.

Asian females were often portrayed as exotic, mysterious, wise or inscrutable and sometimes the Asian American parts even went to Caucasians. Asian women were often relegated to being cast as fragile lotus blossom victims or diabolical dragon ladies that were victimizers.

Anna May Wong played Fu Manchu’s daughter, one of the most memorable dragon lady roles in "Daughter of the Dragon" (1931).

Wong was in the first two-strip Technicolor film, "The Toll of the Sea " (1922), and she was handpicked by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. for her role in the old "Thief of Baghdad" (1924). She is probably most remembered for her part as Marlene Dietrich’s sidekick in "Shanghai Express" (1934). Later, she was the first Asian American star to attain her own TV show, "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong" in 1951. But her most substantial role was in "Piccadilly." It makes great use of her expressive face, grace, and photogenic qualities.

The plot of "Piccadilly" is basically skeletal and somewhat formulaic, and the characterizations are strictly one-dimensional. But Dupont moves his mobile camera around Club Piccadilly so that it almost becomes a character.

Wong’s character, Sho-Sho, is definitely a dragon lady type. She is a seductive scullery maid who works in the kitchen of a dance club called Piccadilly. Much about her character, including her relationship with a Chinese man, is a big mystery. Sho-Sho does a sensuous tabletop dance while she teasingly flutters her fingers. This serves as an audition for a dance position. The Caucasian club owner quickly becomes obsessed with her.

He begins to neglect his older, less glamorous girlfriend, Mabel (played by the real inventor of the shimmy dance, Gilda Gray dressed in unflattering outfits). Mabel becomes so jealous that she faints right after Sho-Sho’s dance. She quits before she can be totally humiliated.

Mabel lets Sho-Sho steal her position as the main dancer. Though Mabel confronts Sho-Sho to win back her man, it may already be too late.

Race mixing was frowned upon by British society during the ‘20s. There were laws against Asian and British marriages at the time, so the film had to be restrained in how the mixed relationship was shown.

A prolonged kiss between Sho-Sho and the club owner was cut to appease censors, and of course Sho-Sho had to come to a tragic end in the film for breaking social convention. But the film is still well crafted, diverting, and it’s an interesting reminder of Hollywood’s past attitudes about race.