Window to America

(Meiguo zhi chuang)
(A Glimpse of America)

Digital Restoration

featuring

Shi Hui,

A New York City businessman meets a window washer hoping to commit suicide and decides to market his grief to the highest bidder in this acidic satire on American capitalism, one made even more memorable by the fact that the entire “American” cast are Chinese actors in whiteface. The greedy Mr. Butler (Shi Hui) convinces the suicidal “Charley” that he might as well endorse some cigarettes as he jumps out of his office window, and maybe wear a particular suit too. A true cinematic oddity, this Korean War–era propaganda piece is a satire that Frank Tashlin could envy.

Jason Sanders
FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • Huang Zuolin
Cinematographer
  • Huang Shaofen
Language
  • Mandarin
  • with English electronic titling
Print Info
  • B&W
  • DCP
  • 68 mins
Source
  • China Film Archive