Java Head

1934

1h 10m

Romance

Drama

List

71%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

An 1850s shipbuilder (John Loder) brings his Chinese bride (Anna May Wong) to England; she realizes he loves someone else (Elizabeth Allan).

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Mildred Martin

Philadelphia Inquirer

A slow-moving, clumsily handled, Anglicized version of the Hergesheimer story which manages to miss most of its opportunities for colorful character drawing.

Oct 21, 2022

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Guardian Staff

Guardian

John Loder as the sailor husband and Elizabeth Allen as the English girl complete a cast that is both pleasant to hear and see.

Oct 21, 2022

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Kate Cameron

New York Daily News

[Java Head is] able to capture something of the atmosphere that must have pervaded old Bristol in the early part of the Nineteenth Century in [its] settings and backgrounds. The story, however, is moved through the film at too leisurely a pace.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 21, 2022

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Donald Kirkley

Baltimore Sun

All the sympathy goes to [Taou Yuen], played with dignity and intelligence by Anna May Wong.

Oct 21, 2022

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Winston Burdett

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

[Java Head] proceeds from a fairly arresting situation, becomes suddenly vague toward the middle and hastens thence to a pat and unsatisfying conclusion.

Oct 21, 2022

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Film Daily Staff

The Film Daily

The picture is very attractively costumed. Dialogue is very literate and the conflict worked out principally in well-pointed talk... Miss Wong gives a splendid performance, as do John Loder, Elizabeth Allan, Edmund Gwenn and the rest of the able cast.

Oct 21, 2022

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Audience Member

Melodramatic but effective film tackles the issue of racism.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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J. Walter Ruben

Director

Anna May Wong

Princess Taou Yuen

Elizabeth Allan

Nettie Vollar

John Loder

Gerrit Ammidon

Edmund Gwenn

Jeremy Ammidon

Ralph Richardson

William Ammidon

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Synopsis

An 1850s shipbuilder (John Loder) brings his Chinese bride (Anna May Wong) to England; she realizes he loves someone else (Elizabeth Allan).

Director: J. Walter Ruben
Screenwriter: Gordon Wellesley, Martin Brown
Production Co: Associated Talking Pictures
Genre: Romance, Drama
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Runtime: 1h 10m