Arrest in Chinatown, San Francisco, Cal. (1897)

• 43%
• 1897
• Crime
• Documentary
• James H. White

The title tells us where we are; the vignette is in two parts, spliced together. On a busy sidewalk, a police officer holds the left arm and a suited man holds the other of a Chinese wearing a loose white shirt and hat - marching the man up the slight incline past the camera. He protests a bit. Behind them trail a dozen people and about 10 more onlookers watch. Jump to shot two: from the side, we see an open paddy wagon, the arrested man sits with his back to us, the two who arrested him sit across. Two horses pull the wagon in a turn and it heads up the street, with two more men riding on the back running board: one is in uniform, the other waves his hat and smiles to the camera.