The Hatchet Man

The Hatchet Man 1932 is a PreCode film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Edward G. Robinson. Warner Bros. had purchased the David BelascoAchmed Abdullah play The Honorable Mr. Wong about the Tong gang wars. Made during the few years before strict enforcement of the Production Code, The Hatchet Man has elements that would not be allowed later, such as adultery, narcotics, and a somewhat graphic use of a flying hatchet.

As was typical of the time, almost no Asian actors appear in the cast of a film set completely among Chinese characters. Makeup artists had noticed that audiences were more likely to reject Western actors in Asian disguise if the faces of actual Asians were in near proximity. Rather than cast the film with all Asian actors, which would have then meant no star names to attract American audiences, studios simply eliminated most of the Asian actors from the cast. That said, this film contains a number of Asian actors in minor roles, including James B. Leung, Toshia Mori, Willie Fung, Otto Yamaoka and Anna Chang.

Source: Wikipedia