Angela Yu: Hong Kong Beach Bird

 from Hong Kong Movie News (August 1967)

Bai Guang: Let There Be Light

Ask and you shall receive. A year ago I asked Oldflames, my trusty hook-up for the soft stuff, if he happened to have a color photo of Bai Guang in a bikini. And lo and behold, look what arrived in my email this week: some potent solar mojo to dispel the gloomy fog that's been blanketing the Bay Area ever since my return from the torrid zone two weeks ago.

Here comes the sun... here comes the sun... and I say... it's all right...

Soft Film Goes to the Beach

Here's a trio of treasures that I brought back from my recent trip to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. First up is a rare swimsuit photo of Lucilla Yu Ming — right on the cusp of sweet sixteen — gracing the cover of Screen Voice (August 1952). Lucilla made her debut that year at Shaw and Sons with the film Love in Bloom (玉女懷春).



Now we move from sweet to saucy with the following cover of Spotlight (ca. 1956), featuring baby bombshell Man Lei Hung in a delicious cheesecake pose. She signed up with Shaw's Cantonese division in 1956 but eventually switched to the studio's Mandarin division, where she was reborn as the one and only Fanny Fan.



And last but not least, here's lovely tomboy Allyson Chang Yen on the cover of Companion (September 16, 1964). Like Fanny, she was a product of Shaw's Cantonese unit. When it shut down in 1963, Allyson was kept on by the studio but never quite found a place in the spotlight among the new crop of starlets (Li Ching, Chin Ping, Cheng Pei-pei, et al.).

A Little Chung Ching to Chase Away those Winter Blues

I'm definitely starting to feel a little depressed now that the days are getting shorter, the skies greyer, and the air colder. With a rainstorm on the way, all I want to do is crawl under my comforter and sleep for a long, long time.

Then I remembered this bright and cheery Chung Ching pinup that Oldflames sent me back in June. It's just the tonic for turning my sad into glad!

Helen Li Mei: Hong Kong's Bikini Queen

I've been waiting for just the right moment to post this 1960 calendar pinup of Helen Li Mei that Oldflames kindly sent me earlier this month.

Eat your heart out, Jantzen!

Helen Li Mei and the Jantzen Swimsuit Affair

"Fetchingly attired in an oriental style dress, Chinese actress Helen Lee Mei uses the Chrysler building as a backdrop as she poses atop a building here Oct. 3rd. Miss Mei, who was supposed to represent the Far East in swim suit fashions in New York, said Oct. 4th that she will not pose in a bathing suit because she considers it immodest. She will be flown back to Hong Kong by the swim suit manufacturer." —UPI Photo, October 4, 1958

Helen Li Mei refusing to pose in a swimsuit because she thinks it immodest? Hmmm... that doesn't sound like the Li Mei I know.

While not quite an international incident, Helen Li's unexpected refusal to model for Jantzen, after being flown to the United States by the swimsuit manufacturer, was nonetheless noted by International Screen as one of the "Ten Biggest Events in 1958" (ranking third, right after Our Sister Hedy's Best Picture Award and Lin Dai's second Best Actress Award at the 5th Asian Film Festival). While it's impossible to know what really happened, the wildly different accounts in the American and Chinese press hint at — to put it nicely — a lack of cultural respect and understanding.

On October 1st, 1958, Helen arrived in New York to help publicize Jantzen's latest international collection of swimsuits and sportswear. Here's a news item showing her doing some preliminary publicity on the day of her arrival with the three other models participating in the promo tour.

INTERNATIONAL VIEWERS . . . The international model set was well represented by this quartet of lovelies who attended the premiere of the film "The Big Country" as Astor Theatre in New York Wednesday. From left, they are Helen Connor, England; Fay Vitucci, Rome; Mamo Howell, Hawaii; and Helen Lee Mei of Hong Kong. The first three are wearing variations of the chemise while Miss Lee Mei is wearing a traditional style Chinese dress.

—The Daily Review, October 6, 1958

However, it was soon being reported in the American press that Helen was refusing to wear a swimsuit for Jantzen.

No Swimsuit, No Publicity

NEW YORK (AP) — A Chinese model-actress from Hong Kong, flown here to help publicize a line of bathing suits, is being sent back home. She won't wear a bathing suit.

The wasted trip of beautiful Helen Lee Mei was described by a spokesman for the swimsuit manufacturer. He said Miss Mei agreed to come here and appear in the Jet Age International Show at Idlewild airport Tuesday, along with top-flight models from other countries.

Miss Mei arrived in New York Wednesday, and it soon became apparent there had been a misunderstanding.

"The other girls have created no difficulties," said the spokesman. "However, Miss Mei refuses to wear a swimsuit."

Miss Mei was not available for comment.

—Albuquerque Journal, October 5, 1958

So, what happened? Like I said earlier, Helen was no stranger to the swimsuit. In fact, she was one of Hong Kong's top pin-up girls, as this July 1958 calendar photo clearly attests.



According to Oldflames, International Screen had a quite different account of the Jantzen affair. Apparently, when the company had approached Helen's studio (MP&GI) and invited her to the United States to promote their new collection, they weren't very organized and never showed her the contract. However, since a press conference had already been held by MP&GI to announce the tour, she decided to just go ahead with it.

Evidently, when Helen finally arrived in New York, instead of welcoming her like the top star that she was, Jantzen only sent a low-ranking promotions assistant to get her signature on the contract. It is at this point, according to the American press, that Helen became "difficult" and refused to wear a swimsuit out of an alleged (and implied as inscrutable) modesty. But according to Helen, the real reason that she refused to cooperate with Jantzen was because their assistant was rude to her and the company had acted unprofessionally.

Rather than try and patch things up with her, Jantzen warned Helen that she might be deported if she did not change her mind. Upon hearing this, Helen became so angry that she decided to sever her relations for good. She even went so far as to make a public statement that she was not at all adverse to wearing a swimsuit but rather did not like the way that Jantzen treated her.

Again, it's hard to say what really happened, yet it is not so difficult to imagine a possible chain of events from Helen's perspective: a less than respectful welcome; continually, and incorrectly, being addressed as Miss Mei rather than Miss Li (see the news items above); and perhaps even being given the "China doll" treatment (this happened, after all, during the "Suzie Wong" era).

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this. Maybe Helen was a bit of a diva... I don't know. But looking at Helen, especially in the picture at the top of this post, I see a proud woman who was willing to stand up for the respect she deserved.

Further Reading
Helen Li Mei biography by Paul Fonoroff

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

Diana Chang: The Most Beautiful Creature in Free China

"The Most Beautiful Creature in Free China"... that's what they called her.

This 1958 pinup of Diana Chang Chung-wen amply demonstrates why she was the reigning sex symbol of Hong Kong cinema during the late 50s. Was she a secret Cold War weapon deployed by the Nationalists to win the hearts and minds of undecided Chinese men around the world? I don't know, but Diana was definitely a Z-Bomb with immense seductive power.

Once again, a big big thanks to Oldflames for providing this tasty piece of cheesecake! If you would like to see a more mature, but just as sexy, pinup of Diana taken only three years later, then take a look over here.

Further Reading
Diana Chang biography by Paul Fonoroff

Nancy Chan: Riot Girl

I always thought that Connie Chan's fans took first prize for extreme devotion, but after reading the following account about Nancy Chan's fans from A Movie Queen Chan Yunshang, I'm not so sure anymore.

Film fans got so frantic about Nancy Chan that whenever she appeared she would be mobbed by hundreds of people. She could hardly escape from the seige and sometimes she had to be escorted by the police.

One summer's day, the Zhangyuan Swimming Pool, which had been taken over by Zhang Shankun [the famous Shanghai movie producer], was opened officially. In order to make the ceremony more significant and to attract more clients, Mr. Zhang invited Nancy Chan to cut the ribbon.

Almost 100 baskets of flowers were displayed around the pool; tri-coloured ribbons were strung over the water, fluttering in the breezing. The platform was filled with people eager for Nancy Chan's appearance. The tension built up.

At 11 o'clock sharp, the smiling Nancy Chan appeared. Her red-flowered swimming costume and white leather shoes enhanced her youthful, healthy body. The crowd cheered and applauded.

In the boisterous atmosphere, Nancy Chan ascended the platform. Raising the silver scissors she cut the ribbon. As the six pieces of ribbon flew out in all directions, the whole audience rose with frantic applause.

When she was about to descend from the platform, wave upon wave of frenzied fans pushed towards her, a momentum that could not be resisted. Nancy Chan was weeping, unsure of how to escape. Although she was protected by three rows of people, the huge crowd was almost uncontrollable. Seeing this, Mr. Zhang asked the Swimming Pool staff to bring her to safety. But the situation was deteriorating. The crowd surrounded her tightly, shouting to her to jump from the platform.

Unable to get close to Yunshang, Mr. Zhang tried to reason with the crowd and explain why she could not jump. Nobody listened. Numerous fans charged the platform, insisting that she should jump. It was impossible. Both sides came to a halt. Nancy Chan was almost fainting. Mr. Zhang got an idea. He asked his staff to put a ladder out of the window of the Enquiry Office to make a way for Nancy Chan to escape. But the ladder was thrown aside by the crowds.

There seemed to be no way out. He ordered his bodyguards to fight a way through. When at last they managed to escape, Nancy Chan was on the point of collapse. She and Mr. Zhang jumped into the car and made off quickly.

In the car they both gave a long sigh of relief. "I was terribly worried about your safety", Zhang said, "the fans have lost all their rationality". He gently mopped her brow. "But, looking at it in another way, it shows how important you are in their minds. There is no doubt that you are the number one star in Shanghai".

The incident taught her to be more careful about her own safety. She had to accept the advice of the police and use a car that could give electric shocks when anyone touched it. Such cars were made especially for Heads of State. But it was necessary, in order to avoid over-turning by excited film fans. Of course, the car itself caused no injury.

Nevertheless, Nancy Chan Yunshang understood the over-enthusiastic action of her fans. "Without the fans, there would be no actors or actresses", she would say. "They please me, no matter what they do. But I do have to adopt some measures to avoid danger".

From then on, she refused to attend any ribbon-cutting ceremonies....

*A great big thanks to Oldflames for sharing the fabulous Nancy Chan magazine cover!

Before She Was a Vamp: Sweet Angela Yu

Wow... Angela Yu Chien sure was a sweetie before her tenure as Shaw Brothers sexpot.

My first encounter with the sexy Angela was in her role as the nymphomaniac rich girl in the 1969 melodrama Torrent of Desire, a Hong Kong version of Douglas Sirk's Written on the Wind. Boy, did she burn up the screen in that film! As Oldflames so nicely phrased it, Angela was part of Shaw Brothers' "Bombshell Trinity" (along with Fanny Fan and Tina Chin Fei) during the late sixties. Although she was often cast in small roles as the sexy other woman, Angela always made an impression much bigger than the screen time allotted to her.

It came as a slight surprise to me when I discovered the sweet, pre-sexy Angela. One of her very first supporting roles was Betty Loh Tih's soft-spoken secretary in The Dancing Millionairess (1964). Angela was as sweet and gentle as the pastel yellow cardigan she wears in the film. Her next major role was backing up Lin Dai in The Blue and the Black. The film was scheduled for a 1964 release but was left unfinished by Lin Dai's death that July. It was finally completed and released in 1966, and the following year Angela received a much belated Best Supporting Actress award at Taiwan's 5th Golden Horse Awards. That should have propelled her into the top tier of Shaw actresses. But it was too late: by then Angela was already playing a sexy, man-eating spider demon in Cave of the Silken Web (1967) and dancing wildly, dressed in a fishnet bodystocking, in King Drummer (1967).

Somehow, Angela had been fast-tracked into becoming one of Shaw's resident sex bombs. She was clearly capable of other roles, but let's be honest — not every actress can play the bad girl. Angela was simply the best qualified candidate for the position. Can you imagine any of Shaw's other stars performing this role? Li Ching... too cute. Cheng Pei-pei... too wholesome, when she isn't scowling. Chin Ping... come on, the girl can't even crack a smile. Ivy Ling Po... don't make me laugh!

While I'm sure that being typecast is disappointing to an actor, perhaps Angela relished the uninhibited expressiveness afforded by her sexy roles. If the characterization of her as a naughty tomboy from the following interview in Southern Screen No. 78 (August, 1964) is true, then she probably would have felt constricted by the burden of being a jade girl. (The recent tribulation of Gillian Chung is proof that playing the jade girl is not without its pitfalls, even in the 21st century.)

"Cover Girl" Angela Makes Good

Few people know that before she joined Shaw Studio two years ago, Angela Yu Chien was a "cover girl". Her sweet, dimpled face adorned the cover of a popular women's magazine in Hong Kong.

A native of Tientsin, Angela was born to a large family. Though she has grown up into an enchanting young lady, she was considered by her mother a tomboy and one of the naughtiest of her children.

While studying in Taiwan, she decided to make acting her career and enrolled in the Shaw-operated Southern Drama Group in Hong Kong, from which she graduated with flying colours.

Since then, she has appeared in a number of Shaw productions, including "The Dancing Millionairess" and "The Story of Sue San".

Recently she guest-starred in a German-Swiss film called "A Melody of Hong Kong", playing an enchanting Oriental girl.

You can download a PDF (604 KB) of the original article here. As you can see from the photos, Angela is no less sexy for being sweet.

Yeh Feng: Red Hot Mama

In the spirit of the record-breaking heatwave we are experiencing in California right now, here is a pinup of Julie Yeh Feng guaranteed to make your temperature rise. Grrr... I love that swimsuit!

(From the May, 1963 issue of The Screen & Stage Pictorial.)

Flapper on the Beach

This postcard is for Loreto, who recently posted about Art Deco illustrator Rafael de Penagos. Penagos had a penchant for drawing flappers and modern girls, so much so that "la mujer Penagos" (the Penagos woman) became the emblem of the new woman in Spanish culture. As Loreto points out, the bathing beauty on the beach symbolized the emergence of women in the public sphere. The woman on the beach charted a new freedom of movement, both in relation to physical space and to the physicality of her own body.

I'm not sure who this lady is, but I'm wondering if she may be 1920s Shanghai actress Ni Hongyan (if DJ of The Chinese Mirror is reading this, maybe he can identify her). In any case, she is definitely a sister of "la mujer Penagos".

Gliding on the Sea with Alison Chang Yen!

Oh... Alison... although you were never admitted to the elite ranks of Shaw Brothers stardom, you will always have a special place in my pantheon of Hong Kong actresses. Let the other fans fawn over Li Ching, Cheng Pei Pei, Lily Ho, Chen Ping, and Jenny Hu. That just leaves more of you for me!


What a shame that your sexy girl-next-door look and sporty personality were squandered at Shaws. If I had been the boss, I would have featured you in a series of beach party musicals (costarring Ho Fan and Peng Peng of course), along with a generous smattering of spy thrillers and wuxia films.


Alas, the only thing I can do now is try to draw attention to your under-recognized charms... and maybe start a fan club too!

These pictures appeared in the August, 1967 issue of Hong Kong Movie News. Click here for the original spread.

Everything You Wanted to Know about Blue Warblers and Hong Kong Mermaids

Allow me to give a big thanks to Dev Yang for answering a question that's been burning in the back of my mind ever since I bought this cool flyer about eight months ago. I've been dying to know more about the star of Hongkong Mermaids (1950), but the only information about her in English I could find was that this was her first film (which, as it turns out, is not quite true). So, when Dev posted about Lan Ying-ying earlier this week, I was practically jumping for joy.

Dev writes primarily for his Chinese-language blog, so it's always a treat when he posts to his English-language blog. If you're at all interested in or curious about the rich history of Chinese film, do yourself a favor and check out The Golden Age of Chinese Language Cinema.

Sexy but Serious: Diana Chang Chung-wen

Here's another Shaw Brothers pinup: this centerfold of Diana Chang Chung-wen appeared in Southern Screen No. 41 (July 1961), accompanied by the following English text.

Sexy but Serious: Diana Chang Chung-wen

Original name: Chang Chung-wen
Native of: Peking
Her recent films: "The Lost Love", "Bride Napping" (in Eastmancolor and Shawscope), and "Empress Wu Tse-tien (in Eastmancolor and Shawscope)

Diana Chang Chung-wen, often billed as the "most beautiful animal of Free China" and rightly so, decided to turn serious in her roles about a year ago.

She took the starring role in three serious productions. They were "Flames of Passion", "Twilight Hours", and "The Lost Love" which were immediate successes.

Diana herself is happy about the change. "At last I can do more than just look Chang Chung-wen on the screen," she had once said.

Off-screen Diana is frank and amiable. She makes friends easily and has a most pleasant disposition.

In her recent films, Diana Chang Chung-wen is making guest appearances in two Eastmancolor Shawscope productions. One of them is "Empress Wu Tse-tien" in which she plays the role of Empress Wang, and the other is "Bride Napping" in which she plays the role of a fighting amazon.

Further Reading
"Diana Chang Chung Wen: the Hottest Girl in the 50s"

Darling of the Screen: Patricia Lam Fung

This centerfold of Lam Fung appeared in Southern Screen No. 29 (July 1960), accompanied by the following English text.

Darling of the Screen: Patricia Lam Fung

Original Name: Fung Suk-yi
Native of: Shun Tak, Kwangtung
Her recent films: "Sleeping Beauty", "Revolutionary Heroine", "Her Foolish Heart", "Love and Chastity", and "First Love"

Three years ago she packed up her school books and walked out of the school gate into a new life, a screen career, the dream of every girl but which only comes true for a few.

Those who had known her then would remember a fresh young thing whose dark silken tresses hung almost to her waist.

Now three years and some 20 films later Patricia Lam Fung has clipped her tresses short and she has acquired that touch of sophistication and glamour, which are the marks of a movie queen. But she has not lost any of her freshness and charm, which makes her the darling of the screen.

Lam Fung owes her success to no one but herself. She had not started off playing opposite any of the big name leading men. She had always beens starred with young blood like herself.

She is without doubt the most treasured star of the Shaw Cantonese section. Last year she went to Singapore and Malaya for a series of three films which were shot there. The three were "Merdeka Bridge", "When the Durians Bloom" and "Bride Abroad".

On her return Lam Fung had just one thing to say: "My ambition is to travel around the world".

Shaw's Bathing Beauties

This picture from the August 1964 issue of The Screen & Stage Pictorial shows seven beauties who were being groomed by Shaw Brothers to become the new generation of starlets that the studio desperately needed at that time. Just one month previously, one of Shaws' greatest assets, box office queen and award-winning actress Lin Dai, killed herself from an overdose of sleeping pills. Her final completed film, The Last Woman of Shang, was released that August. Almost as if waiting in the wings for a chance to take center stage, all seven of these young ladies had bit roles in the film backing up Lin Dai as palace dancers.

Two months later, Cheng Pei Pei got top billing in Lovers' Rock. Three months after that, Li Ching starred alongside Ivy Ling Po in The Mermaid and became known as the "Baby Queen" of Shaw Brothers after receiving the Best Actress Award at the 12th Asian Film Festival for her performance in the film. And in October 1965, Chin Ping helped launch Shaw's "Action Era" with her lead role in The Temple of the Red Lotus. All three actresses became superstars during their tenure at the studio. As for the remaining four, Fang Ying, Angela Yu Chien, Margaret Hsing Hui, and Allyson Chang Yen, they never made it big. It's true, Yu Chien did win Best Supporting Actress Award in 1966 at the 5th Golden Horse Awards for her performance in The Blue and the Black, but after that she got stuck with supporting roles that only capitalized on her sex appeal.