Note: I won't be including any of the very early 1930s/1940s Charlie Chan, Bela Lugosi etc. versions of this unfortunate tropes, mainly because I haven't seen enough to judge.
Jennifer Jones, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
How bad is it?: The makeup used on Jones isn't that heavy as far as 'yellowface' prosthetics are concerned, and to be fair the role of Han is given grace and dignity by the writing. On the whole, however, it is a fairly simplistic portrayal of an Asian character, the questionable casting is still questionable, and moreover the film surrounding it is just excessively bland.
The Alternative: Given that William Holden, already a big name in Hollywood, was the lead, I'm sure they could've afforded to cast a slightly less known Asian actress in the role (though I doubt the film would've been any good regardless).
John Wayne, The Conqueror (1956)
How bad is it?: Hey, at least Wayne doesn't try doing an Asian accent. This is more or less just Wayne doing his usual thing with some casually thrown on yellowface, and much less comfort in the role than his usual Westerns.
The Alternative: The film was a bad idea to begin with, probably best that it never got made.
Curd Jürgens and Robert Donat, The Inn of Sixth Happiness (1958)
How bad is it?: I don't mind Donat's performance, plus it was the final performance of a great actor so I can't hate on it that much. He still dons the usual sort of makeup and facial hair associated with the stereotypes of the wise old Chinaman, but it's a dignified portrayal of a good and kindhearted, if simplistic, character that avoids any of the yellow peril tropes. Jürgens, unfortunately, is a bit of a bore in this, and I'd have much rather an actual Asian actor play his role.
The Alternative: Richard Loo would've been a good choice for Jürgens' role.
Mickey Rooney, Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
How bad is it?: Absolutely dreadful. No words needed.
The Alternative: It would've been a bad character even if played by an Asian actor. Just excise it out, it's a shame because it does hamper an otherwise somewhat charming film.
Henry Silva, The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
How bad is it?: It's basically a white guy playing a role that seems like it should have just cast an Asian character actor/stuntman in the role. It doesn't stand out too badly though and the rest of the film is pretty great.
The Alternative: As I said, it's such a minor role that surely just casting an Asian actor in the role surely wouldn't have hurt, especially considering that the film had Oscar-nominees Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury, and superstar Frank Sinatra, in the leads.
Peter Sellers, Murder by Death (1974)
How bad is it?: It's a parody, not the most nuanced of parodies but a parody nevertheless, and Peter Sellers does a good job of selling it. I wouldn't consider this a bad example of yellowface as it's kind of taking the piss out of yellowface to begin with.
The Alternative: Honestly can't fault this, it's a spoof of a whodunnit and Sellers is basically doing a Chinese Clouseau. This probably wouldn't fly nowadays but for its time it's fine (I think).
Max von Sydow, Flash Gordon (1980)
How bad is it?: I don't mind this, despite technically being 'yellowface', as Ming is pretty much an Asian carciature in appearance only, which is in turn a reference to the original space opera comics. Sydow doesn't really do an Asian accent or anything, he's just really hamming it up as a villain, Raoul Julia in Street Fighter style, and it's entertaining and not really offensive I'd say since Ming is basically an alien entity.
The Alternative: John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, a film I adore, rectified this a few years later by casting James Hong in a similar sort of over-the-top villainous role to great effect.
Linda Hunt, The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
How bad is it?: Ugh, this is the toughest one for me to cover. This is a great performance, no doubt, as Hunt grants such depth, pathos, humour and tragedy to a brilliantly written character and his plight. But I'd have loved for it to have been played by an actual Chinese actor. But considering how difficult the casting process must have been...I don't know. I really don't know. The quality of the performance, and the film, itself is unquestionably strong, even if the casting choice is somewhat questionable.
The Alternative: Eh, I can't speak for Peter Weir and his production team at all. They went with their gut feeling and it turned into an Academy Award-winning performance. Who's to say. And anyway, fast forward two more years and you had Haing S. Ngor winning an Oscar in the same category for a not altogether different kind of character and performance in The Killing Fields.
Eddie Murphy, Norbit (2006)
How bad is it?: Well this is certainly no The Nutty Professor as Murphy's multiple characters end up being fair more obnoxious than entertaining or endearing. Funnily enough, Mr. Wong is probably the least offensive caricature in the film, sure the yellowface is outrageous, but the character is far less demeaning than Murphy's career-low portrayal of the overweight, overwrought and mean-spirited Rasputia Latimore. So yeah, it's bad, but it's not even the most offensive case of racial stereotyping in the film.
The Alternative: Going off-topic a bit, I really hope Eddie Murphy makes a comeback at some point. Haven't been the biggest fan of most of his recent stuff but his 80s output involved some of my favourite comedies of all-time.
The Neo-Seoul Section, Cloud Atlas (2012)
How bad is it?: Okay, this film has something of a justified reason for this particular use. However, I have to say that I would personally have preferred that they cast an Asian lead for Jim Sturgess' character in this section (who could also possibly play the role of Adam Ewing in the first section). Having said that, I understand why they went the direction they did, and while the makeup was distracting in parts, I did think that on the whole it wasn't overly offensive, and James D'Arcy's is in particular rather decent. I do think it is one of the weaker sections of a strong film, though.
The Alternative: Casting an Asian actor in the role of Hae-Joo Chang and having him, like Doona Bae, play a wide range of nationalities across the other timelines.
Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3 (2013)
How bad is it?: It's a great stroke of writing by Shane Black, and honestly if the film had been backed up by a stronger villain I think it would've been much more acclaimed. I think this is an instance where Black rides the fine line brilliantly between being a caricature and being a menacing villain, as he is aware of his casting choice and uses it to subvert the racist notions of the original character. MCU did a similar thing with the character of Wong in Doctor Strange by changing him from a simplistic manservant to something more of a drill sergeant sort of character.
The Alternative: I mean, it'd have been quite something to see Kingsley play the full-blown villain we thought he'd be. Alternately, I think James Hong would have absolutely killed this role.
Emma Stone, Aloha (2015)
