Southern Screen: Second 50 Covers

By popular demand, here are the second 50 covers of Southern Screen, minus the cover for No. 66, which I was unable to track down. The image size and quality varies greatly, since these were downloaded from the listings of several eBay sellers over the past several years. I don't remember what came from whom, but let me just pay a general courtesy to the following sellers (all highly recommended): adamantine!, cyk5391antiques, kwsx, lvlalaysiaboleh, penangantiques, rajah_borneo, and tazimmerman68.

This series of covers (spanning May 1962 to June 1966) shows the emergence of Shaw's new reigning movie queen, Ivy Ling Po, topping the charts with 6 covers. Following on her heels with 5 covers each are Li Lihua (who had turned 40 in 1964 and was a full decade past the age when many Hong Kong actresses married and retired) and Lin Dai (who ended her life in 1964). Clocking in at 4 covers each are former champ Loh Tih (who left Shaws for Cathay/MP&GI after 1964) and former newcomers Ting Hung and Tu Chuan.

Of the other former newcomers noticeably absent from this period, Ting Ning married and retired in 1963, while Fanny Fan seems to have fallen out of favor and left Shaw Brothers at some point (only to return a couple of years later). And since Shaw shut down its Cantonese division in 1962, Lam Fung and Au Kar-wai were no longer to be seen on the covers of Southern Screen.

The first graduates of Shaw's in-house drama academy started to make their appearance as cover girls: Li Ching (4 covers), Fang Ying (3 covers), Cheng Pei-pei (3 covers), and Chin Ping (2 covers). And let's not forget Julie Yeh Feng (3 covers), who left MP&GI and joined Shaw Brothers in 1963.

I must say that, as a group, the first 50 covers are more attractive than the second 50. The first batch had a greater variety of types of shots, including the medium and full shots which I prefer. In the second batch, the predominance of close-ups becomes quite monotonous. And the color quality is not as good. I don't know if it was a case of bad lighting or bad printing, but some of the pictures are just horrible. Check out poor Li Lihua on No. 63; she's as red as a lobster! And even on No. 55, she seems to be afflicted by sunburn (yet still manages to look stunning).

Tu Chuan gives us her classic look on No. 51, but by No. 64 her look is starting to look a little garish.

Ivy Ling Po wasn't exactly a newcomer when she first appeared on the cover of Southern Screen, No. 60, since she'd been a big star in Amoy-dialect cinema since the late 1950s, but here she looks like a girl-next-door caught in the big-time bright lights. Contrast that with her demeanor on No. 89, two years after her success in Love Eterne (1963) catapulted her to movie queendom.

Speaking of movie queens, the picture of Lin Dai on No. 71, just half a year before her suicide, seems to foretell her downfall with that detached, slightly sad, look in her eyes.

Lin Dai's last cover, No. 77, was published the month she died. And heralding the new generation of Shaw stars, the fresh-looking Cheng Pei Pei appears for the first time on the cover of the very next issue, No. 78.

Finally, to wrap things up: Worst Hairdo goes to Ling Po, No. 76; Best Smile (hands down!) goes to Julie Shih Yen, No. 58; Best Cover goes to flying swordswoman Chin Ping, No. 92; and a Special Memorial award goes to Li Ting, No. 86 (who hung herself in her room at the Shaw Brothers dormitory the very next year).