Bruce Li

Forty years ago, the cinematic landscape was undergoing a seismic shift. Young Turk filmmakers such as George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin and Terrence Malick were exploring unique and challenging themes. The black exploitation film was not only thriving but also enjoying crossover appeal. But probably no one in Hollywood was prepared for the martial arts mania that erupted the summer of 1973 when Warner Bros. released the kung fu epic "Enter the Dragon," starring the legendary Bruce Lee, who died at 32 shortly before the U.S opening.

Forty years ago, the cinematic landscape was undergoing a seismic shift. Young Turk filmmakers such as George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin and Terrence Malick were exploring unique and challenging themes. The black exploitation film was not only thriving but also enjoying crossover appeal. But probably no one in Hollywood was prepared for the martial arts mania that erupted the summer of 1973 when Warner Bros. released the kung fu epic "Enter the Dragon," starring the legendary Bruce Lee, who died at 32 shortly before the U.S opening.

Former Executive of Grand Wilshire Sentenced: Bruce Li, 32, of Chino, former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Grand Wilshire Group of Cos. of Glendora, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison and fined $150,000 for fraud. Li pleaded guilty in June, 1990, to various intricate schemes from 1985 through August, 1988, to defraud GWG lenders of $70 million and lenders of $50 million. Other lenders victimized included Crocker National Bank, Union Bank, Imperial Savings Assn.

Former Executive of Grand Wilshire Sentenced: Bruce Li, 32, of Chino, former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Grand Wilshire Group of Cos. of Glendora, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison and fined $150,000 for fraud. Li pleaded guilty in June, 1990, to various intricate schemes from 1985 through August, 1988, to defraud GWG lenders of $70 million and lenders of $50 million. Other lenders victimized included Crocker National Bank, Union Bank, Imperial Savings Assn.

Four former employees of one of the nation's largest car dealerships pleaded guilty Monday to charges that they defrauded a number of banks and thrifts out of $50 million in automobile loans. The massive fraud scheme by employees of the defunct dealership, Grand Wilshire Group of Companies in Glendora, victimized Union Bank, Imperial Savings Assn., First Los Angeles Bank, Heller Financial Inc., General Electric Capital Corp.

Eight former employees of an auto firm that prospered with the growth of Southern California's Asian community were charged with criminal fraud Wednesday for tampering with credit reports and other schemes that left lenders with $50 million in bad loans. The conspiracy charges, brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, arose from a federal investigation of the Grand Wilshire Group of companies, based in Glendora.

It's tempting to say that if Stephen Colbert represents the face of America, then perhaps America should ask its doctor about plastic surgery. In "I Am America (And So Can You!)," Colbert -- the satirist-cum-soothsayer host of the extravagantly popular Comedy Central talk show "The Colbert Report" -- presents a book that was, according to the jacket, "[d]ictated directly into a microcassette recorder over a three-day weekend."

Since you seem to be offering your pages to an attack upon "Year of the Dragon" based upon the sure-fire charges that the picture is racist/sexist (no one seems to say the picture is lousy) without any dissent ("Chinese-Americans React to 'The Dragon,' " and Readers Comments, Sept. 1), I feel compelled to offer a defense. I have seen the movie. I think it is one of the better films I have seen and I doubt that most of the anti-movie protesters have seen it. One of the charges being made is that the picture shows Chinese (Asians)

IN the southern Chinese city of Shunde, a two-hour boat ride from Hong Kong, government officials are finalizing plans to build a Bruce Lee theme park, complete with a memorial hall and a large statue of the man they call the town's favorite "son." Never mind that the legendary Chinese American kung fu star was born in San Francisco and visited Shunde only briefly, when he was a boy of 5.