Here are five more missing Shaw films from the 760 titles that Celestial Pictures acquired from the studio in 2001. During a period of five years some 550 Shaw films were released on DVD at the wallet-emptying rate of 8 to 10 titles per month. Yet, when the releases suddenly stopped at the end of 2007, there were many eagerly awaited films that had not yet appeared. Fans were afraid that Celestial, not making the profit it expected, had decided to cut its losses.
Since then, rumors have occasionally surfaced about the remaining titles. Most recently, an unconfirmed announcement last summer predicted that DVD releases would start up again at the end of 2009. Alas, that never happened. Speculations about future releases are now greeted with the same skepticism as the boy who cried wolf. But the fact that these missing films are listed on the Celestial website, with synopses and sample stills, gives me hope that it's just a matter of time before something is done with them.
The Joy of Spring (1966)
I've always wanted to see this simply because it includes one of my favorite tomboys,
Allyson Chang Yen (that's her in the white short shorts). But after recently learning that part of the film involves the characters visiting Shaw Brothers' Movie Town (where they meet Li Lihua, Li Ching, and a host of other Shaw stars playing themselves), I want to see it even more. Although this teen musical melodrama evidently features two suicide attempts, it was hyped in
Southern Screen as "the sort of film guaranteed to give you a lift and make you feel great to be alive".
The Mating Season (1966)
Fanny Fan is reason enough to want this film. There she is under the hair dryer, along with perennial playboy Peter Chen Ho. This screwball romance stars Peter and Pat Ting Hung as the managers of rival advertising firms, who — no reward given for guessing this outcome — wind up getting married by the final reel.
Kiss and Kill (1967)
I haven't come across anything about this spy thriller, starring veteran bombshell Diana Chang Chung-wen, in my spotty collection of late 60s
Southern Screen magazines, but the stills on Celestial's site are quite enough to hook me. Also featured are Shaw's resident "James Bond" — Paul Chang Chung — and sexy modster,
Tina Chin Fei.
The Rainbow (1967)
I'm a sucker for melodramas, and if it involves a depressed, crippled girl (played here by Chin Ping) and psychologically revealing mise-en-scène (like that above), then sell me a front row seat (I'll also settle for a DVD, thank you). Directed by Lo Chen, one of my favorite Shaw directors,
The Rainbow promises to be just as deliciously overheated as his
Torrent of Desire (1969) and
My Son (1970), two films that I absolutely love.
That Tender Age (1967)
"The Season of Youngsters 15 to 20 Years Old" — that's an awkwardly literal translation of the film's Chinese title but undoubtedly a precise description of its target audience. "Made for the young and played by the young", this musical melodrama features "uninhibited performances of the Twist, Pachanga, and the A-Go-Go" (
SS). The film was directed by Tao Qin, whose superb melodrama
My Dreamboat — available on DVD — was released the same year. (BTW, that's Lily Ho leading the youth train in the photo above.)
