Phillip Corey (James Stephenson) is a wealthy tradesman who conducts his business between his home in San Francisco and China, amassing an immense fortune and acquiring many enemies along the way. This manifests in his murder, which the police initially attribute to suicide until it becomes clear that there was some foul play involved. In order to solve the mystery, they bring in Mei Lei Ming (Anna May Wong), a  young Chinese-American woman who possesses a gift for astrology, being able to discern anything from a particular person by simply knowing their date of birth. The police have no leads until Mei Ling is brought onto the case, and through her brilliance, she is able to work with the various suspects and assist in solving the mystery by virtue of finding details in each individual’s life through analysing their date and time of birth. Potential suspects include the victim’s intended (Margaret Lindsay), who was clearly against the idea of marrying such a greedy man, his valet (Eric Stanley) who was often on the receiving end of his employer’s rage-fueled greed, and Frederick Gow (Leonard Mudie), an enigmatic businessman who has deep connections to the victim’s Cross-Pacific endeavours, which involved shady dealings that add new depth to the case. They’re racing against the clock to make sure that whoever the culprit is doesn’t get too far, and the presence of Mei Lei, who is always willing to lend her assistance, makes them realize that there is always something deeper to reality and that the challenge of finding the murderer will entail making use of every resource they can come into contact with, including those of the more esoteric and abstract variety.

There’s something so delightful about discovering a more obscure gem. The 1930s were filled with so many ambitious comedies, its nearly impossible to have a working knowledge of the various avenues people in Hollywood took during this period without having done immense research. This has afforded us the chance to encounter some films that are highly-original, entertaining and utter delights, which is a great way to describe When Were You Born, a fascinating seriocomic murder mystery film that assembles a terrific cast, an ambitious premise that feels remarkably modern, and a sincerity that could only be found in the self-aware comedies made during this era, where filmmakers were always on the prowl for something a bit more complex and unique than the run-of-the-mill stories normally occupying cinemas, without being too rebellious to standards or conventions. More serious than a screwball, but more upbeat than a film noir, When Were You Born is a truly remarkable piece of filmmaking from an era in which many artists were crafting works that saw many genres overlapping into extraordinarily interesting experiments – some of them worked, others weren’t quite so successful, but were still admirable in their intentions and are profoundly watchable, even by today’s impossibly high standards. Without any hesitation,  When Were You Born certainly belongs to the former – while not particularly daring in its form, it contains some prepossessing ideas that bolster an admirable attempt to subvert tropes, and overcomes some of the minor problems to deliver one of the more beguiling works from an era in which there was an active attempt to do things differently, which is certainly the case with this terrific little film that blurs the boundaries and creates something thoroughly memorable.

You certainly don’t need to be adherent to the tenets of astrology to see how wonderful When Were You Born is – inarguably a work that takes the idea of deriving personal information from the zodiac very seriously (the film is based on an idea by Manly P. Hall, a noted astrologer and mystic, and who appears in a prologue explaining the basic concepts of astrology for those who are unaware), and thus can either be seen as a more respectful approach to the beliefs of a broad group of people who are normally looked on unfavourably for their adherence to the idea of discerning the future from something as arbitrary as one’s date and time of birth, or for more cynical viewers, an hour of pseudoscientific tripe. I tend to take the former view, as When Were You Born is a thoroughly entertaining film, even if I don’t tend to align myself with the idea of looking towards something out of one’s own control for the sake of predicting things to come. Certainly not a story that is any less relevant today as it was over eighty years ago, it is instead a daring attempt to add a very unique spin on a set of common conventions, done from the perspective of a group of artists intent on doing something extremely different, and it is almost refreshing to see someone approach the traditional murder mystery from a decidedly unconventional narrative standpoint. It gives When Were You Born a nuance that makes it almost timeless – much like in 1938, there are equal amounts of individuals who stand by the power of the zodiac, and those who believe it to be categorically untrue, so there’s very little doubt that what this film says and does is remarkably modern.

However, this isn’t the only revolutionary aspect of When Were You Born, as one of the most prominent aspects of the film (and the reason I sought this film out in the first place) is that it is one of the first times legendary actress Anna May Wong was given a character that wasn’t only central to the story and the protagonist, but also not entirely dependent on her status as an Asian-American woman. Wong had a fascinating career in Hollywood, the details of which would take up too much space here (I suggest watching BeKindRewind’s insightful look into her career and the role of Asian-American representation in Hollywood for one of the most fascinating looks into the subject), but was defined by many roles, particularly early on in her career, that saw her typecast as a representation of the exotic. It doesn’t take a lot to realize that she was capable of far more than this, which is why When Were You Born is such a notable film, as it makes use of her talents in a way absolutely any performer, across any demographic group, could have flourished. Wong commands the screen with immense sincerity, playing the character of Mei Lei Ming as a complex individual, defined not by a place or culture, but her own ethereal interests. Initially, while I was excited to see her in a leading role, I was hesitant to surrender myself to the film, as she could have so easily been used as a stereotypical East Asian mystic – but beyond her name, and a few references to the fact that she is originally from China, there’s absolutely nothing to this performance that feels as if it’s pandering to any stereotypes. If anything, Mei Lei is the character who comes out the best in When Were You Born – she’s the most level-headed and interesting of all the roles, and the ultimate hero of the story, regardless of how much the film wants to sell it as a vehicle for Margaret Lindsay, who is first-billed, despite entering halfway through the film.

The simplicity of When Were You Born is another reason why it works so well – at barely over an hour in length, it is a fast-paced crime story that has very little time for anything other than the bare essentials, and therefore finds itself being a brisk voyage through a metaphysical crime investigation that is as enthralling as it is fascinating. It is composed with very clear intentions, putting together a cast of twelve principal characters that all exist for the purposes of demonstrating the astrological characteristics that the film is built on, and thus isn’t particularly complex, but is still a delightful romp that infuses humour into quite a serious story, establishing a deft balance between the aspects of comedy and thriller, and being an effectively charming work of genre-bending audacity, constantly in search of something slightly more challenging than the confines normally would allow. Its a film made in a very different time, but still remains an ambitious attempt to lend something new to a genre that desperately needed it. It’s not always particularly successful, and it can tend to feel like far too much exposition is taking place. However, it all becomes worthwhile when the film shows itself to be a work of sheer delight – poignant, funny and, most importantly, utterly exhilarating, When Were You Born is a terrific piece of cinema – as a star vehicle for one of the most magnetic screen presences of her day, as a work that blends numerous different genres long before it was vogue, and as a delightfully irreverent glimpse into a traditional crime story with a daring twist. It’s unforgettable, and deserves a re-evaluation, as while it might not be revolutionary in the usual way, it has a certain charm that exceeds all its limitation, allowing it to be just as entertaining as any viewer would want from this kind of genre film.