This is one of my favorite photographs of Li Lihua (shot by American photographer Peter Samerjan and featured in Southern Screen No. 8, July 1958). It beautifully captures Li's regal stature.
Woefully misused as a "china doll" in her Hollywood debut, Li wisely returned to Hong Kong, where she continued her reign as one of Hong Kong cinema's top stars. In November, 1959, nearly two years after her marriage to Yan Jun, she gave birth to a child (her second). In those times, most Chinese actresses retired after getting married, usually before the age of 30. But not Li Lihua. Well into her 30s and just months after giving birth, Li resumed her film career — at Shaw Brothers now — with A Shot in the Dark (1960), a crime thriller directed by husband Yan Jun. She even appeared in Southern Screen No. 26 (April 1960) as that issue's centerfold: "Li Li-Hua, Ravishing Beauty"!
The 1960s were Li Lihua's third decade as an actress, and her star power shone brighter than ever. No 'china doll' roles for this screen queen. Li gave iconic performances in Yang Kwei Fei (1962), The Empress Wu Tse-tien (1963), and The Goddess of Mercy (1967) and refused to let herself be relegated to minor roles supporting the new generation of starlets.
In the early 70s, Li finally stopped acting to take care of her family, but she was coaxed out of retirement to make a few more films, including King Hu's The Fate of Lee Khan (1973), in which she played the leader of a group of female patriots fighting against the Mongols. This movie was my first time seeing Li Lihua. At the time, I had only read about her, but as soon as she appeared on the screen, I knew by her majestic presence that this was Hong Kong cinema's legendary evergreen queen.
Here then is Li Lihua — almost 50 years old and in her fourth decade on the Chinese silver screen — in The Fate of Lee Khan.
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