Fanny Fan strikes a Jayne Mansfield pose for The Pink Murder film program.
The release of The Pink Murder on October 29th, 1959 marks the beginning of Fanny Fan's decade-long reign as Hong Kong cinema's leading sex symbol. As blogger Miss Su Zi astutely observes in a recent post, by unabashedly embracing the role of sex symbol in an industry where virtuous "jade girls" ruled the screen, Fanny boldly chose a "road of no return" that — for good or bad — would define her career.
Yet Fanny's decision was also a shrewd one which prevented her from vanishing into the limbo of forgotten actors. At Shaw Brothers' Cantonese division, where she had got her start in 1957, the lead roles were practically monopolized by Patricia Lam Fung and Pearl Au Kar-wai. Staying there would have been a certain dead end, especially considering the closure of the division in 1963.
At the studio's Mandarin division, there was more competition (such as established stars Li Lihua, Lin Dai, Loh Tih, and Chang Chung-wen and fellow newcomers Ting Ning, Ting Hung, and Tu Chuan), but with Diana Chang Chung-wen intent upon hanging up her swimsuit and bath towel and demanding more serious roles, the position of studio bombshell was open for the taking. And boy, did Fanny take it!
Here's an article from Southern Screen No. 18 (August, 1959) announcing the release of The Pink Murder. I've also made a PDF of the original article (582 KB).
The Pink Murder
Shaw's latest suspense thriller "The Pink Murder" revolves around the theme of a woman's seductive powers to enslave men and bend them to her will.
In the spicy and torrid role of the enchantress is Shaw's curvaceous Fanny Fan, whose natural gifts make her a most fitting choice for the role.
Countless men in the film fall under the spell of this beautiful and ruthless woman, and they commit murder for her sake.
Her first victim is none other than her old millionaire of a husband, whose wealth was his undoing. To inherit the vast fortune, she gets her paramour to dispose of the old man.
Another victim of hers is the lawyer who is charged with altering the will of the old man. He falls prey to her seductive wiles and becomes the victim of blackmail. In desperation he kills to extricate himself from his predicament.
In the role of the lawyer is Yen Chun, who takes on the dual role of director and star in the film.
Others in the film are Yu Kwong-chao who plays the millionaire husband, and veteran character actor Yang Chih-ching who is the blackmailer in the film.
Here are a couple of cool pics of Fanny and actor-director Yan Jun from The Pink Murder film program.
And here's an article from Southern Screen No. 22 (December, 1959) covering the enthusiastic response to Fanny's star debut.
Fanny Fan An Overnight Success
Curvaceous Fanny Fan is a success overnight with the release of her first Mandarin film "The Pink Murder".
Her maiden film on the Mandarin screen enjoyed a record-breaking run at the Rialto and Zenith Theatres in Hongkong and Kowloon.
Her fame spread so rapidly that when she volunteered to model a set of the latest creations in the way of Cheong-sams for amateur camera enthusiasts she attracted more than a 1,000 eager shutter-bugs. They had all gone there to capture this buxom star on celluloid.
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