Feature Films

Maria appeared and acted in eleven feature films from 1955 to 1962 and found herself cast in roles paying next to some of the all-time greats including Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Poitier, Alec Guinness, Gina Lollobrigida, Marlon Brando, Rita Moreno, Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, Yul Brunner, Paul Henreid, Charles Bronson, George Takei and James Hong.

As with her TV roles it could not have been easy for her.

As I wrote about on the TV Series page, during that particular era, before any serious progress began to be made by the burgeoning Civil Rights movement, it was effectively impossible for non-white actors and actresses to get lead or even supporting roles in US film and tv productions. Hollywood may have been internally more liberal and somewhat ahead of its time on these issues, but the producers catered primarily to national white audiences who would not have tolerated much progress of any kind. Any Asian lead or supporting characters were almost always portrayed by white actors and actresses in Yellow or Brown Face.

And, of course, beyond the racial and racist stereotypes and practices, things were not much better when it came to sexist and misogynistic tropes perpetuated by the movies and tv series of the time.

But Maria managed to get roles in all these movies nevertheless, perhaps not as prominent as some of her TV appearances and with less lines overall, but in a number of places she was able to show off her range and make a mark for herself on screen.

Feature Film Credits

YearTitleRoleVideo Clips
1955Love Is A Many-Splendored ThingRosie Wu
The Left Hand Of GodWoman in Kimono
KismetHarem Showgirl
1956The King And IRoyal Wife
1957The 27th DaySu Tan
Omar KhayyamChinese Girl
1959Never So FewEurasian Girl Jeanine
1960All The Young MenKorean Woman
1961A Majority Of OneJapanese Maid
One-Eyed JacksTownswoman
1962Brushfire!Lin Chan

On this Website

Brushfire!

Maria plays Lin Chan, Chevern’s wife. When he explains to her that he wants to help Jeff rescue the American couple she tells him that she may not wait for him and leave with their children.
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A Majority Of One

Maria plays a maid in Mr. Asano’s household and helps get everything set up for an unplanned dinner for two when Bertha Jacoby (Rosalind Russell) shows up unexpectedly at Mr. Asano’s (Alec Guinness) home. Mr. Asano instructs her to pile up some pillows for their guest who is not used to Japanese style seating arrangements. Aside from Alec Guinness’ being in Yellow Face, which is rather uncomfortable to watch for modern eyes, there is a lot of good acting here and one would imagine that Maria very much enjoyed meeting one of the all-time great actors of her time.
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All The Young Men

Sergeant Towler leads ten healthy survivors and a badly wounded Private Casey on a stretcher to their objective, a strategically positioned farm house in a mountain pass. As they warily approach the farmhouse, one soldier spots someone inside and throws a grenade, which wounds a Korean woman (Maria McClay).
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Never So Few

While Maria’s role is a short one as French speaking Eurasian girl Jeanine at wealth business man Nikko Regas’ Burmese country retreat at the base of the Himalayan mountains, it allowed to her to share the screen with two of the all-time greats, Frank Sinatra and Paul Henreid.
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Omar Khayyam

Maria plays a Chinese slave girl that is brought to the Shah as a gift by Hasani Sabah along with another, causing the men of his court to be quite distracted. After that Maria appears alongside a host of other slave and harem girls in a number of scenes throughout the movie. The film also features famous 50s exotica singer Yma Sumac as Karina.
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The 27th Day

Maria’s role as Su Tan, a Chinese peasant who loses her husband in the ongoing civil war, is one of her most extensive among her feature film credits. Despite not having any lines to speak she is present for the entire opening and setup of the movie and has a complete arc for her character.
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Maria McClay