From left: Clifton Skinner and Joseph Sunn Jue on location at The Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island for the film, Light of Overseas Chinese 華僑之光 (ca. 1940).
Clifton Skinner, a pioneer San Francisco-based engineer, had a decades-long collaboration with Joseph Sunn Jue and the Grandview Film Company. In 1933, he teamed with Jue as sound recordist and film developer on Grandview’s inaugural film Blossom Time 歌侶情潮, one of the first Cantonese talkies, which was made in San Francisco Chinatown. Their association and friendship continued until the late 1950s.
Skinner’s story is a featured profile in Arthur Dong’s upcoming book, Grandview Film: Cinematic Crossings with Joseph Sunn Jue.
Writer Arthur Dong interviews the daughters of Clifton Skinner via Zoom: Linda Skinner Kisich (top), and Judith Skinner.
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