Talk:James Wong Howe

Untitled
This should not be under "Cinema of China." James Wong Howe is clearly an American cinematographer and worked entirely within the Hollywood System. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 169.229.86.175 (talk) 09:27, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Llighting Article dead link
I can't find a replacement link "Lighting" reprint of 1931 article by James Wong Howe Fascinating article Wakelamp (talk) 14:39, 27 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Found and added original. The reprint link is blacklisted. StrayBolt (talk) 06:12, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

External links modified
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I have just modified 2 external links on James Wong Howe. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070301101214/http://www.sil.si.edu/SILPublications/james-wong-howe.htm to http://www.sil.si.edu/SILPublications/james-wong-howe.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20091002092543/http://www.moviemaker.com/directing/article/master_dp_james_wong_howe_3161 to http://www.moviemaker.com/directing/article/master_dp_james_wong_howe_3161

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Which birth name?
Article text says Wong Tung Jim but sidebar says Kim Jung Jom, which sounds like a Korean name. which is it? -- Keith D. Tyler &para; 04:41, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

pong Heinhanska (talk) 10:21, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

babb Heinhanska (talk) 10:21, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

booker Heinhanska (talk) 10:22, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

gentry Heinhanska (talk) 10:22, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

Corbin Heinhanska (talk) 10:23, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

Google Doodle
Today, Google honored Howe with a doodle which means increased traffic and potential short-term protection needed. The article also has several issues which I hope we can resolve today. It also means increased editing so watch out for collisions and edit only sections when possible. I found many external links broken and have tried to fix them, but I haven't checked them all. StrayBolt (talk) 17:15, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

Birthplace and regime
Occasionally in Wikipedia we find editors trying to be helpful by inserting information that they are proud to know, but in the process, create uneven precedents. In the infobox on this article it states that the subject of the article was born in Taishan, Guandong Province and that this was during the Qing Dynasty. All accurate information, to be sure. But the line in the infobox is designated for his birthplace. The reference to Qing Dynasty is really a reference to when he was born, not where. Contrast this with the article on Abel Gance. His birthplace is listed as "Paris, France", not "Paris, France, Third Republic". Or Werner Jacobs, whose infobox reads that he was born in Berlin, Germany, not "Berlin, Germany, German Empire".

What I think we're seeing here is some Wikipedia editors who are understandably proud of their historical knowledge, but are inserting it in the wrong place. If the infobox notes you were born in Paris in the 1880s, then you were unavoidably born during the Third Republic, and it is unnecessary to state this as part of the birthplace.

We have an uneven practice going on here, where some articles appear to include the political regime as part of the birthplace (James Wong Howe, Ernst Lubitsch), but most do not (Cai Chusheng, Shi Hui, Louis Malle). The only time where I could see this as possibly being useful is if the place where the person was born is no longer part of the state that it was at the time of the person's birth. For example, Armin Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilst, which was German territory when he was born, but today belongs to Russia. But even in this case the editors wisely avoided noting the governments in the infobox (which would have required saying, "then, 'Tilst, East Prussia, Germany, Weimar Republic', now, 'Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, Russian Republic'". Instead the editors simply mention the state holding the town when he was born versus the state holding the town now (which is already getting a bit long).

If we use the model here, noting the dynasty when the article's subject was born, should we then take every English author's article and note which royal family held the Crown at the time of their birth? And then also the royal family at the time of their death?

I think this is a fit subject for an essay or even a policy, but I'm not well-versed in such things, so I can't write it. Maybe someone already has, in which case please give me a link. I just think this well-intentioned practice is not well-thought out. Unschool 20:00, 25 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Also, "Guangdong" used to be romanized, "Kwantung", so many sources have that. And I'm guessing "Canton" is the old western version of it too (does redirect). Right now the article has "Canton Province" in the text and "Guangdong" in the infobox. I would recommend Guangdong and have the one ore two of the others in parens in the text. StrayBolt (talk) 21:31, 25 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Google Doodle lists Howe being born in Guangzhou, capital and most populous city of Guangdong. StrayBolt (talk) 15:34, 26 May 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 25 May 2018
He is not Chinese born American, he is American born Chinese


 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. The phrase "Chinese-born", which should be hyphenated, refers to someone who was born in China, as James Wong Howe was. "American-born" refers to someone who was born in America. If one omits the hyphen, a certain amount of ambiguity enters the picture. However, neither of those phrases appears in the article (with or without the hyphen). Rivertorch FIREWATER  05:15, 26 May 2018 (UTC)

Family Name
If Wong Tung Jim changed his name to James Wong Howe, then I guess you can call him Mr. Howe, but his family is not the Howes, they are the Wongs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.18.140.164 (talk) 23:31, 25 May 2018 (UTC)