The Left Hand Of God

1955

DirectorEdward Dmytryk
ProducerBuddy Adler
Production Company20th Century Fox
Release DateSeptember 2nd, 1955
CastHumphrey Bogart (James Carmody), Gene Tierney (Anne Scott), Lee J. Cobb (Mieh Yang), Agnes Moorehead (Beryl Sigman), E. G. Marshall (Dr. David Sigman), Jean Porter (Mary Yin), Carl Benton Reid (Father Cornelius), Victor Sen Yung (John Wong), Philip Ahn (Jan Teng), Benson Fong (Chun Tien), Leon Lontoc, Sammee Tong, Maria McClay (Woman in Kimono)

In 1947 Catholic priest Father O’Shea, played by Humphrey Bogart, makes his way to a remote mission in China to replace a priest who had been killed there. He meets Dr. David Sigman, Sigman’s wife Beryl, and nurse Anne Scott, the only other Western residents. They run a hospital for the surrounding villagers, at a time when competing warlords and communists are engaged in civil war. Anne becomes uncomfortable as she is romantically attracted to him. Beryl suggests to her husband that Anne be sent back to the United States, but he refuses to consider it, needing her at the hospital. Beryl suggests that O’Shea consult with Reverend Martin, a Protestant minister at another American mission, for advice. He agrees.

Maria had only a minor uncredited role in this film, described simply as “Woman in Kimono”, and appears among the family members of a man Father O’Shea must deliver some bad news to about the death of a woman he cared about. This minor role, however, allowed her to work with and appear next to one of the all-time greats, Humphrey Bogart.

Maria McClay as “Woman in Kimono”, 2nd from the left, watching Humphrey Bogart as Father O’Shea deliver some bad news to a family member.

Also among the cast are James Hong, who appears in a number of the same productions as Maria, Leon Lontoc, whom she’ll appear together with in an episode of “Burke’s Law” years later and Sammee Tong whom she also appears with in an episode of another series, “Bachelor Father”.

Scenes Featuring Maria

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S01 E17 Night Cry (1961)

Hong Kong

DirectorWalter Doniger
ProducerArt Wallace
Production Company20th Century Fox Television
AiredJanuary 25th, 1961, ABC
CastRod Taylor (Glenn Evans), Lloyd Bochner (Neil Campbell), Liam Redmond (Marriott), Michael David (Bartley), Antoinette Bower (Laura), Dean Harens (Hal Spencer), Maria McClay (Sou Mei), Peter Chong (Old Chinese Man), Barney Phillips (Crane), Victor Sen Yung (Tung Poy)
Maria McClay as Sou Mei, putting the squeeze on a murderous cop in Hong Kong.

Where is Rod Taylor? The headlining star is almost completely absent during the one episode of the series that Maria played in. Instead this episode is about his friend, Inspector Neil Campbell (Lloyd Bochner in official Hong Kong police shorts) who must track down a bad cop who kills guy and then frames an old friend of the police chief.

Maria’s character, Sou Mei, helps out by pretending to blackmail the murderous cop in order to get him to confess or give himself away otherwise. While this is definitely one of her shorter appearances in a TV show, she actually not only has a lot of lines but is able to show off a considerable range all the way from sweet and submissive to hard-nosed and intense as she clearly enjoys squeezing her victim for all he’s worth.

This is also the first time, at least as far as what we’ve been able to determine, that she appears in the credits as Maria McClay rather than Maria Tsien or Maria Tsien McClay.

Scenes Featuring Maria

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Maria McClay