Although I'm not a fan of director Chang Cheh, I quite like his early films (from 1966 to 1969) because of the way they embody the conflict between the long standing women-centered tradition of Chinese cinema and the values and aesthetic of
yang gang (or staunch masculinity) that he advocated. In this regard, I've always been fascinated by the opening title sequence of
Magnificent Trio (November, 1966), the film he made after the success of
Tiger Boy (February, 1966), a low-budget, black-and-white film—and the first over which he had total creative control—that he made to prove to Shaw Brothers that his plan to create movies anchored by strong male stars was financially viable.
The billing order in the credits of
Magnificent Trio reflects the legacy of a female-dominated star system but is boldly contradicted by the striking image of Wang Yu, Lo Lieh, and Cheng Lui running towards the camera against the abstract background of a blood red sky. Although billed as co-stars, these three men are the real stars of the film. In Chang Cheh's world, leading ladies Margaret Tu Chuan, Ching Ping, and Fanny Fan can only exist on the sidelines. Most striking of all is the burning flag that inaugurates the film. It loudly declares Chang's intention to shake up the Hong Kong film industry.
The following summer,
One-Armed Swordsman would earn Chang the title of "Million Dollar Director". The
yang gang revolution was well under way, and by the end of the decade, the battle had been won. Even veteran award-winning writer/director Tao Qin, who had made some of Shaws' greatest melodramas and musicals throughout the 60s, was forced to adapt to the times. His last film was a wuxia movie; he died of stomach cancer in 1969 before it was completed. Chun Kim, the renowned Cantonese director who had moved to Shaw Brothers in 1965 and made several melodramas with top actresses Jenny Hu and Julie Yeh Feng, also died that year. He committed suicide in the studio's staff quarters. Two years earlier, his wife, actress Jeanette Lin Tsui, had run off with the One-Armed Swordsman himself, Wang Yu. And then there were Margaret Tu Chuan and Fanny Fan. At the beginning of the 60s, they were bright and sexy young stars making romantic dramas and comedies, but in 1969 they starred together as "loose women" and eventual murder victims in what what would be their final film, the simultaneously sleazy and puritanical
Diary of Lady-Killer. Several months after the film's release, Margaret Tu Chuan killed herself with sleeping pills...
Further Reading"Chang Cheh's Revolution in Masculine Violence" by Sek Kei
