Let's Go Lin Dai! Spring Is in the Air (1954)

There is one song inextricably associated with Lin Dai — played so often that you either weep with sympathy or grimace in pain — and that song is Carrie Ku Mei's evergreen hit "Love without End" from the 1961 movie of the same name. Carrie wasn't the only singer who provided the vocals for Lin Dai in her films. Tsin Ting famously sang for Linda in the huang mei opera films Diau Charn (1958) and The Kingdom and the Beauty (1959).

It may come as a surprise then, as it did to me a few years ago, that Lin Dai was herself a singer of great note, if not great skill, and was a popular Pathé recording artist during the 1950s. However, as my buddy Dev Yang has written on his blog The Golden Age of Chinese Language Cinema, although Linda's singing lacks skill and sophistication, there is a genuine sincerity that is quite endearing.

Linda did not sing the songs in her debut film, Singing under the Moon (1953), however, in an odd turn of events, she ended up recording them for Pathé. The albums were a bit hit. In fact, Linda's version of the song "The Hot Blazing Sun" broke record sales set by renowned professional singers such as Yao Lee and Chang Loo.

Keen to continue Linda's success as a songstress, her mentor and lover Yan Jun made sure to include songs in the subsequent films they made together. Her second movie Humiliation for Sale (released in Singapore in 1954 but not in Hong Kong until 1958) included three songs. And her third, Spring Is in the Air (1954), incorporated the plot device of students preparing for a musical. It was a device that would be recycled in her later films, such as Merry-Go-Round (1956), a color extravaganza shot in Japan that includes a whopping ten songs and fantasy musical sequences with the all-girl Shochiku Revue.

While Spring Is in the Air is apparently unavailable (not even on YouTube), we can at least still hum along with the songs from the film, such as this delightful number, "Lovely Springtime". ((LISTEN))

The innocent Lin Dai we hear in this song would eventually lose her voice during her intensive commodification at Shaw Brothers — as they strove to create the ultimate and perfect movie queen.

Call me unsophisticated, but I'll take the thin-voiced Lin Dai of Spring Is in the Air over the ventriloquized Lin Dai of Love without End any day of the week!

* A very special thanks to Gilbert Jong for providing the above image from the movie booklet for Spring Is in the Air. Check out his fabulous collection of Lin Dai photos at his Flickr stream Enjoy Yourself Tonight.

References

• The Age of Shanghainese Pops (2001) by Wong Kee Chee
• "The Legend and the Beauty: Exhibition on Lin Dai" by Tong Kim-hung, Hong Kong Film Archive Newsletter, Issue 50 (November 2009)

Let's Go Lin Dai! The Queen and Her Mambo Girl

Here's a cheeky photo of Linda and Grace Chang courtesy of Oldflames (who happens to be a big Lin Dai fan). Linda looks like she's playing big sister, but in fact she was one and a half years younger than Grace. Cheeky, indeed!

Don't forget that Lin Dai week continues at Glenn's blog A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed with his reviews of Love Without End (1961) and Madam White Snake (1962).

Let's Go Lin Dai! Singing under the Moon (1953)

Four months after her suicide on July 17, 1964, Shaw Brothers released Beyond the Great Wall, Lin Dai's final collaboration with director Li Han-hsiang. Production on the film had actually begun as early as 1960 (see the February issue of Southern Screen) and by the end of the year an advertising poster had even appeared on the back of Southern Screen (November), but because of interruptions from other Shaw productions, Beyond the Great Wall took a long time to complete and wasn't publicly shown until November 1964. By that time, Linda was dead and Li had already left Shaw to establish his own film company in Taiwan. It was eleven years earlier that the both of them had made their respective debuts as actress and director with Singing under the Moon (1953).

In 1951 Linda — just 16 years old — was discovered and offered a contract by Yuen Yang-an, co-founder of the progressive film company Great Wall. Unfortunately, she soon found herself in the midst of the political divide afflicting Hong Kong's movie industry. When it became known that Linda's father had been a big player in the recently defeated Nationalist government, she was blacklisted by Great Wall's communist faction. Although she was already estranged from her father (Linda's parents had divorced when she was a child), she was compelled to write a confession denouncing him. Even so, the studio's directors were still afraid to offer her a role in their films. When Linda subsequently refused to renew her contract, the hardliners threatened her with a large debt, citing the money already spent on her wardrobe and publicity photographs. She protested by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. Linda was discovered in time, and ironically her attempted suicide might have helped catapult her to stardom. Her name was splashed all over the papers and magazines, alerting the public and the government to the revolutionary activism breeding in Hong Kong's film studios.

As a result of this incident, nearly a dozen leftist film workers were expelled from the colony in January 1952 and Linda was released from her obligation to the studio, as was fellow Great Wall star Yan Jun, who had recently begun an affair with her.

Yan Jun was determined to make Linda a star, and when he joined the Yung Hwa film company later that year he insisted on bringing her with him. Their first collaboration — and Linda's screen debut — was Singing under the Moon (1953), an adaptation of Shen Congwen's novel Border Town, a tragic coming-of-age story about an orphaned teenage girl and her elderly grandfather. Linda stars as the main character Cui Cui and Yan Jun plays dual roles as the grandfather and the younger of two brothers who both fall in love with her.

Although Yan Jun was ostensibly the director of the film, the novice screenwriter Li Han-hsiang, who had been hired as deputy director, ended up directing the film because Yan was so busy in front of the camera. In this way, Singing under the Moon also became Li's debut. The film proved to be a huge success and launched the career of one of Hong Kong's greatest actresses as well as one of its greatest directors.

Although Singing under the Moon is cited as no longer available by the Hong Kong Film Archive in the notes for their 2009 retrospective (The Legend & The Beauty — The Films of Lin Dai), clips from the film have miraculously shown up on YouTube, affording us a rare glimpse of the humble beginnings of Hong Kong's movie queen. Linda's performance in the scene below shows that her popularity was due not only to her natural charm but also to Chinese audiences' perennial love for the sassy girl-next-door type. Hopefully we will one day be able to see the entire film in a manner befitting its landmark status.



References

• An Age of Idealism: Great Wall & Feng Huang Days (2001) by Hong Kong Film Archive
• The Age of Shanghainese Pops (2001) by Wong Kee Chee
• Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century (2003) by Lily Xiao Hong Lee
• Li Han-hsiang, Storyteller (2007) by Hong Kong Film Archive

Let's Go Lin Dai! Fisherman's Daughter on a Motorbike

Here's un petit apéritif before I publish my post about Lin Dai's first film, Singing under the Moon (1953). I found this unique magazine cover while searching through my eBay archive for Lin Dai materials. This issue appeared on newsstands shortly before Linda made her silver screen debut. Very cool, don't you think? Not quite what you'd expect, especially during the beginning of her career, a period of which she is usually remembered as a pig-tailed village lass not a short-haired urban tomboy. It just goes to show that the legend of Lin Dai that's been passed down to us is an incomplete picture, even more so when we consider that the first half of her movie output is currently unavailable on home video. It's my hope that this week's exploration of Lin Dai's early films will broaden the perception of modern fans about Hong Kong's beloved movie queen.

Meanwhile, Glenn over at A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed has just posted his review of Beyond the Great Wall (1964).

Let's Go Lin Dai!

 Lin Dai and Soo Fung showing off for International Screen (October 1956)

I can't think of a more perfect picture to announce that starting tomorrow my blog buddy Glenn (A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed) and I will be celebrating the films of Hong Kong movie queen Lin Dai.

Glenn will review Beyond the Great Wall (1960/64), Love without End (1961), Madam White Snake (1962), The Love Parade (1963), and The Last Woman of Shang (1964) — all thankfully available on DVD. As for me, I'll be blogging about some of her early films that are either lost or languishing in home video limbo.

To bring you up to speed, check out Glenn's previous Lin Dai reviews: Diau Charn (1958), which garnered Linda her second Best Actress award at the 5th Asian Film Festival; Les Belles (1961), for which she received — not without some controversy — her third Best Actress award; and The Lotus Lamp (1965), posthumously completed with a stand-in and released a year after her suicide.

Whether you adore her or consider her overrated, Lin Dai is unquestionably a great actress and one of the top icons of Chinese cinema.

Lin Dai: A Tale of Two Covers

There's nothing out of the ordinary about Lin Dai being featured on the cover of two different Chinese movie magazines during the same month. After all, she was the biggest star of her time. But her simultaneous appearance in December 1957 as cover girl for both Shaw and Cathay highlights the war over talent waged between the rival studios.

Lin Dai sits comfortably for the inaugural issue of Shaw's new magazine

Lin Dai became an instant star with her 1953 debut, Singing under the Moon. Her popularity continued the following year with Spring Is in the Air. Both films were hits for Yonghua Studio but couldn't save the debt-ridden company from closure in 1955. Lin Dai subsequently signed a three-year contract with Shaw and Sons for three films a year. However, the contract failed to include an exclusivity clause. This enabled her to enter a secret agreement with Cathay chief Loke Wan Tho. He also offered her three films a year but at a higher pay. When Shaw found out, they immediately matched Cathay's rate. Lin Dai suddenly became Hong Kong's highest-paid movie star.

Superstar Lin Dai strikes a pose for Cathay's International Screen

Lin Dai's consecutive Best Actress wins at the Asian Film Festival — in 1957 for Cathay's Golden Lotus and in 1958 for Shaw's Diau Charn — consolidated her position as movie queen. She continued to make films for both studios up until 1960, after which she worked exclusively for Shaw Brothers until her sudden death in 1964. For more than 10 years, Lin Dai commanded the box office and ruled the silver screen. She is justifiably remembered today as one of Chinese cinema's brightest stars.

References
Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Twentieth Century (2003)

Lin Dai and Kirk Douglas

I found this photo when I was looking for material about Margaret Tu's early career at Shaw Brothers. It was taken during Lin Dai's 1958 trip to the United States. Here's the accompanying blurb as it appeared in Southern Screen No. 6 (May 1958).

LIN DAI WITH HOLLYWOOD STAR KIRK DOUGLAS

Taken at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where she dined with many famous stars. She was a guest of Bette Davis who entertained Lin Dai at her home in Beverly Hills. RAYMOND FRIEDGEN of Beverly Hills who has made several pictures in Hongkong is representing Lin Dai for her activities in Hollywood.

Linda was certainly wise to seek her fortunes back in Hong Kong rather than in Hollywood. I can't find any evidence that Raymond Friedgen was a mover or a shaker. In fact, it appears that he only produced one film in Hong Kong (and not much else of note): the decidedly "B"-looking Hong Kong Affair (1958), starring Jack Kelly, best known as James Garner's brother on the TV show "Maverick". Better to be a queen in Hong Kong than a "Suzie Wong" in Hollywood.

Celebrating Lin Dai

Lin Dai, as she appeared in Spring Is in the Air (1954)

Last Friday was the opening of the Hong Kong Film Archive's tribute to Lin Dai, "The Legend & The Beauty". The above photo (thanks Oldflames!), from the cover of a March 1954 issue of World Today, shows her when she was a bright young star rising on the horizon. Who would have thought that ten years later, at the peak of her career, she would take her own life.

The fall of Lin Dai struck a deep chord with Chinese audiences. News of her death was even reported in the American press. According to one account, "wailing women broke police lines ... and threw themselves on the hearse carrying the body of ... Lin Dai to her grave. More than 400 police wrestled with a crowd estimated at 60,000" (Long Beach Independent, July 20, 1964). Such a huge outpouring of grief had not been seen since the death of Shanghai superstar Ruan Lingyu (who also committed suicide) twenty-nine years earlier.

After Lin Dai's death, her husband Lung Shun-shing kept the furnishings and possessions in their room undisturbed for more than 40 years. Meant as a memorial to his departed wife, it was also a time capsule of an era long vanished. When Mr. Lung passed away in 2007, his son Lung Tzong-hann donated Linda's personal artifacts to the Hong Kong Film Archive. These items — furniture, fashion accessories, oil and photo portraits, award trophies, costumes, and other precious archival materials — are now on display at the Archive.

While I've never counted myself as a Lin Dai fan, I feel very fortunate that my upcoming trip to Hong Kong is coinciding with this rare opportunity to appreciate the life of Hong Kong's beloved movie queen.

Yu Ming and Lin Dai: Double Happiness

I don't think I've ever seen a lovelier pair of smiles! A big thanks to Oldflames, who dropped this in my inbox this morning.

Lin Dai: Still Shining Brightly

In memory of Linda Lin Dai (1934-1964), who passed away forty-five years ago today...





* Thanks to Oldflames for the 1962 calendar photo.

Lin Dai: Christmas in June

To celebrate the solstice, here is a charming pinup of Linda Lin Dai from Southern Screen No. 7 (June 1958). For Lin Dai fans, it will be like Christmas this coming August when the Hong Kong Film Archive launches an exhibition and retrospective devoted to the beloved movie queen. The exhibit will feature a recreation of Linda's bedroom and include some of her belongings which were left undisturbed after her death for 43 years as a memorial by her grieving husband. Her son has loaned these artifacts to the Archive especially for the exhibition.

It just so happens that I will be visiting Hong Kong at the end of August, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the exhibit, as well as some of her rare early films.

Further Reading

• "Where an Endless Love Reigns: Visiting Lin Dai's Home", HKFA Newsletter No. 48 (May 2009)


• "Lin Dai's Life Without End", The Star Online, April 20, 2008

Happy Easter!

This picture from International Screen No. 6 (March, 1956) shows Lin Dai dressed up for one of her numbers with the Shochiku Revue in Cathay's 1956 musical comedy Merry-Go-Round.

Hong Kong Hula Hoopers: Lin Dai

Look what I found in the pages of Southern Screen No. 11 (December, 1958): why, it's Lin Dai putting the hula to her hoop — and to her dress too!

Lin Dai and Han Yingjie

Movie queen Lin Dai and action choreographer Han Yingjie

While I don't count myself a Lin Dai fan, I've always been dying to see her one martial-arts film, The Swallow (1961). Directed by Yueh Feng and featuring fight choreography by Han Yingjie, it appears to have been an early attempt by Shaw Brothers to compete with the popular swordplay films that were being cranked out by the Cantonese industry at the time. Employing the same language that they used for the launch of their "Action Era" in 1965, Shaws promised audiences a superior, more realistic, martial-arts film.

Martial arts films of the past relied heavily on special effects to give the momentary thrill. Scenes of daggers being spat out of the mouth, hauling mountains and crushing waves and an array of invisibility powers such as disappearing into the earth, waters and fire were nothing more than cheap thrills.... 'The Swallow Thief' appeals to the audiences with its 'realism'... each move, block, throw, choke, and lock is broken down step by step.... In shunning the use of special effects, the cast has to master the martial arts to rise to the challenge in order to bring the real thing to the audience.

—extracted from the film brochure, translated in the HKFA online catalog

It's interesting to read that as early as 1961, Hong Kong filmmakers were already developing the foundations of the constructive editing — in this case, the breaking down of action into distinct and legible units — that would become one of the defining characteristics of Hong Kong action cinema. Besides making real martial-arts techniques look and feel more real, constructive editing also made fantastic feats, such as the "weightless leap", appear more real as well. The Swallow was a pioneering movie in this regard, as it was the first film to feature the use of trampolines in its action choreography. As Han Yingjie relates...

[I first used trampolines] when Griffin Yue Feng made 'The Swallow' in 1961. I was the double for Linda Lin Dai and experimented with a seven by five feet trampoline. I did a somersault, the camera followed with a vertical pan, and the 'weightless leap' was born!

—from the HKIFF catalog A Tribute to Action Choreographers

The other benefit of constructive editing is that — in combination with coaching the actors in basic martial-arts moves and stances — it helps reduce excessive stunt doubling and hopefully makes the doubling less obvious to the viewer as well. Anyway, here is a great article (894KB PDF) from Southern Screen No. 35 (January 1961) showing Lin Dai practicing her stances and sparring with Han Yingjie in preparation for her role in The Swallow.

BTW, although The Swallow was not among the Shaw films restored and released by Celestial Pictures — leading me to believe that it is missing from the Shaw library or perhaps too damaged for restoration — a print of the film was shown at the 1981 Hong Kong International Film Festival. It's not clear whether the Hong Kong Film Archive has a copy, since whatever Shaw Brother holdings they have are not publicly disclosed in their online catalog.

I'm hoping (but not holding my breath) that this pioneering martial-arts film will be seen once again some day.