Here is an interview with Patricia Lam Fung from the February, 1959 issue of the Singapore-based Movie News. I nearly went blind trying to transcribe the low-res scan, but I think I did it accurately. There's only one word I couldn't decipher. Anyway, I think the piece nicely illustrates Lam Fung's reputation as the pioneering teen idol of Hong Kong cinema.
LAM FUNG
The lovely young Cantonese star who will soon be in Singapore to make four pictures for Shaws' Studios, talks to Movie News correspondent A. R. Castro.
On an elaborate set at spacious Grandview Studios, tucked away in the teeming Diamond Hill district in Kowloon, Hongkong, and within earshot of the British Colony's busy airport, Shaws were hard at work putting the finishing touches to a gay, joyous movie production. They were a corner away from the lunar New Year and there was much work to be done.
Inside Stage 1A, the setting was a nightclub. The band was giving out a sensuous Latin-American number. On the floor 20 young couples — most of them still in their early teens — were gyrating to the snappy rhythm. They were in jeans and shirts; swirling skirts and blouses. Many of the boys had their hair cropped the duck-tail cut. The girls wore theirs in the fashion of jazzy youth today; bobbed, urchin-cut, pony-tailed. Whereas their attire, loud and fancy, varied, their expressions were the same: alive with jive. Out of the crowd one tiny, little girl stood out and commanded attention.
She was dressed in ballerina tights, all in black. Her face shone with the effervescence of modern youth caught in the rhythm and pace of their generation. And as the camera moved in for a close-up, the director yelled "cut!" — Music and dancers froze at the command.
"Okay, take ten minutes!" the stage manager ordered. And things returned to normal for a while.
The girl in the black tights staggered playfully off-stage and plunked down on a seat besides director Chow Se-look. "Am I tired!" Lam Fung gasped. "And to think we still have eight hours shooting to go...!"
In fact, Lam Fung was looking forward to those eight hours. "Nothing pleases her more than when she is at work," said Director Chow who has been Lam Fung's maestro in the six pictures she has done for Shaws in the three years of her bright, young movie career on the Cantonese screen.
Lam Fung calls Director Chow, "See-Foo", which in Cantonese translation means maestro. And she has a great respect for the Shanghai-born movie director who is one of Shaws' top movie makers.
"We've got to finish before the New Year," the Maestro explained. "Don't remind me of it," she added with mock resignation. And the production unit surrounding Lam Fung laughed heartedly.
Nineteen-year-old Lam Fung is a spritely, young thing with a pretty head properly screwed on. In between movie-making and reading scripts and all the duties with which a top movie star is burdened, she finds time to improve her mind as well as her talent.
Lam Fung takes dancing and singing lessons and does her homework with remarkable industry. Yet she finds time to study Mandarin and English. "One, I'm doing quite well," said Lam Fung in perfect Mandarin. "The other I'm doing not quite so well," she added in halting but otherwise correct English.
Shaws' top-ranking Cantonese movie star was born in Hongkong just about the time the world was going to war. "They blamed my birthday [indecipherable word] for starting it," Lam Fung said with the mischievous humour for which she is beloved. "But actually I'm a quiet girl and love everybody... especially my fans."
Lam Fung is her professional name. "My friends call me Patricia... I like the name although people sometimes call me Pat and make me feel like a boy!"
Patricia went to school at an early age and she was a bright pupil and a favorite with the sisters at Hongkong's Precious Blood Chinese Middle School. It was the influence of school days that has interested Patricia in Christianity. "I want to be a Catholic," she said seriously. And what Patricia aspires to she normally attains.
Take for instance, when she first became interested in a movie career. Alert to the fact that Shaws is always on the hunt for new talent, Pat studied the Chinese films showing and the performers in them. When Shaws three years ago advertised for candidates, Lam Fung sent in her bid. One look at her picture, and assured by her bright and original style in her letter, Shaws summoned Pat for an interview. This led to a screen test, and Patricia Fung, soon to be Lam Fung, was on her way to the stars.
Success has not spoiled Patricia Lam Fung one bit. She remains the unspoiled, gay and friendly girl her friends at school knew her to be. She has continuous proposals. One stood outside her apartment a whole afternoon to await Lam Fung's return from work. Meeting her, he poured forth his love and devotion. But Lam Fung tactfully brought him to his senses. She was much too young, she protested. And besides, she was still too involved in her career.
Unlike many stars of rank, Lam Fung pays special attention to her movie fans. Day after day, they drop in at her apartment, asking for her picture and autograph. "I always have pictures ready and my servants have instruction never to refuse them... I feel that since these people are nice enough to come and pay me such kindly attention, the least I can do is to oblige them...." And the daily mail from her fans requires special post-office delivery; it comes by the loadful.
At 19, Lam Fung is by no means satisfied, despite her extremely successful career so far. "I want to try out in Mandarin movies... and I hope someday to do a film or two for Shaws in this language," Lam Fung said.
It was time to start on the next scene. Director Chow had fixed his lights and his camera. Lam Fung took off her wrap and began to touch up her make-up. "Work again," she said and with a wink she was off.
"Ready... Camera!" Director Chow yelled. The band started up, the dancers on the floor came to life, the camera whirred. And Patricia Lam Fung was back in her world of dreams and story-telling again.
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