A biopic about Ruth Harkness is in the works. Variety reports that filming on “The Lady and the Panda” is set to begin next month in China at the foot of the Himalayas.
Vicki Croke’s book “The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China’s Most Exotic Animal,” chronicled the story, which follows Harkness’ quest to bring the first live panda from China to the United states. Harkness was a New York socialite who took over her late husband’s expedition to China in 1936. She teamed up with Chinese guide Quentin Young and traveled through the Himalayas where they rescued an orphan panda cub and brought it back to the U.S., creating a nationwide sensation.
As the description for Croke’s book details, “everything was against Ruth Harkness. In decadent Shanghai, the exclusive fraternity of white male explorers patronized her, scorned her, and joked about her softness, her lack of experience and money. But Ruth ignored them, organizing, outfitting, and leading a bare-bones campaign into the majestic but treacherous hinterlands where China borders Tibet.”
Variety writes that the project is “based on Harkness’ original correspondence,” but it seems very likely that “The Lady and the Panda” will also take inspiration from Croke’s book of the same name.
There’s no word yet on casting, but a director has been announced: Justin Chadwick will helm the historical drama. His credits include “The Other Boleyn Girl,” “Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom,” and the upcoming “Tulip Fever.”
Sadly, this is the second example today of a high-profile biopic focused on a woman possibly being helmed by a male director. Earlier today, we wrote that Jennifer Lawrence is set to star in a biopic of Zelda Fitzgerald, which will possibly be directed by Ron Howard. With the number of women in the industry out there looking for directing jobs, it’s still a hard hit when a story like this is given a male director.
Producers for the joint UK/Chinese co-production are Laura Bickford (“Traffic,” “Beasts of No Nation”) and Michelle Qi, CEO of Europe China Picture Group. Chadwick and Bickford co-wrote the script along with Holly Gent Palmo.
