Wuxia Sweethearts

Polly Shang Kuan Ling Feng


Connie Chan Po Chu

DVD Spotlight: Wild Rose (1932)

"Comrades in arms! Tell me that you love your country. Those who love China, raise your hands!"

If you find yourself irresistibly following the command of patriotic charmer Wang Renmei — shown above in a memorable scene from her debut film, Wild Rose (1932) — stop reading right now and order a copy of the recently released DVD of this silent classic. If you still need a little convincing, then read on.

Written and directed by Sun Yu, Wild Rose is an early example of the left-wing film movement that arose in response to Japan's aggression against China during the 1930s. According to the memoirs of Wang Renmei, Sun wrote the script in response to the September 18th Incident (1931) and subsequent occupation of Manchuria. Filming started at the end of the year and finished just as the Japanese army launched its attack on Shanghai on January 28th.

Knowing about these events definitely adds to the viewing of Wild Rose, but the heart of the film — a simple story of love and friendship — has a universal appeal which requires no familiarity with that turbulent era.

Korean Chinese actor Jin Yan plays an idealistic rich-kid artist who finds his muse in sassy village girl Wang Renmei. After she loses her father in a fire, he takes her to Shanghai, where they end up living in a tenement with his two buddies. Their makeshift family is broken apart by the trials of poverty, but they are finally reunited during a demonstration to save China.



Prior to her debut in Wild Rose, Wang Renmei was a member of the famous Ming Yue Song & Dance Troupe (founded by Li Jin-hui, the father of Chinese pop music). In 1931 after the group signed a contract with the Lianhua Film Company, Wang caught the eye of Sun Yu, who'd been scouting the group for new actresses. Sun wrote the script for Wild Rose with Wang in mind, and by her own admission, she essentially played herself in the film.

While Wang's ingenuous charm is enough to make her eminently watchable, she more than proves her acting chops by gracefully handling the film's many shifts from comedy to romance to drama.




She even performs a little slapstick in one of Wild Rose's funniest scenes, in which Jin Yan dresses her up and takes her home to meet his father. Unaccustomed to wearing heels and stockings, Wang makes a hilariously disastrous first impression.



It's easy to see why Sun Yu chose Wang Renmei as his own muse. She's the perfect embodiment of the vitality and optimism that characterized his films.

Known in his heyday as the "Poet Director" (and recognized nowadays as Chinese cinema's first auteur), Sun was also a meticulous craftsman who strove to raise the technical quality of Chinese filmmmaking to Hollywood standards. Wild Rose features the first crane shots to appear in a Chinese film. Wang Renmei recalls that Sun commissioned the construction of a "steel-framed, hand-operated camera crane over 13 metres high" to help him portray the crowded spaces of Shanghai's tenement buildings.

"Those kind of people don't know anything about art. They have no idea what you've achieved!"

All of these elements combine to make Wild Rose an indisputable classic of Chinese cinema. Until now the film has only been available on a poor quality VCD with untranslated intertitles and no music. But thanks to the efforts of Richard Meyer (Board President Emeritus of The San Francisco Silent Film Festival), Wild Rose can finally be seen in the manner it deserves.

Expertly translated English intertitles are presented alongside the original Chinese titles, and the film is accompanied by a beautiful score composed by pianist Donald Sosin, who has worked his music magic on such films as Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Donald's playing exhibits an extraordinary sensitivity that's perfectly attuned to the nuances and depths of Sun Yu's lyrical cinema.

The Wild Rose DVD can be ordered directly from The San Francisco Silent Film Festival. It's a must-buy not only for Chinese movie fans but also for connoisseurs of world cinema.

What... you're still not convinced? Then take a look — and listen — at the following clip.



Note: Translated excerpts from Wang Renmei's memoirs were published in Griffithiana 60/61 (October, 1997), which also includes several articles by and about Sun Yu.

Connie Chan: The Girl with Long Hair

OK, folks! It's time to bring on Hong Kong's beloved ass-kicking, cross-dressing, opera-singing teen idol of the 1960s: the one and only Connie Chan.

Here's the soundtrack EP for Connie's 1967 film The Girl with Long Hair (長髮姑娘), in which she plays a cop assigned to capture the "Filial Thief", a righteous Robin Hood who steals from the rich who treat their parents poorly. The "Filial Thief" is played by opera star Lam Kar-sing.

You'll notice right away that these songs are more traditional than you might expect from the modish EP cover. Drawing on Cantonese opera and folk music rather than Western pop, they are an example of the grassroots influence in the early development of Cantopop.


Lam Kar-sing and Connie Chan, heroes on opposite sides of the law
* Photo comes from the Yau Leung collection 昨夜星光 (1940s-1960s)

雌雄鬥口曲
(play song)

掃蕩羣魔 ["Root out the Demons"]
(play song)

長髮姑娘賊孝子 ["The Girl with Long Hair and the Filial Thief"]
(play song)

Back cover of the EP with Chinese lyrics, plus another picture of Connie as she appears during the scene featuring the first song presented above:

eBay Find of the Week: Sexy Ling Po

Here's a rare look for Ivy Ling Po. Rather saucy, don't you think? Ivy is best known for her male roles in Shaw Brothers' huang mei opera films, such as Love Eterne (1963), The West Chamber (1964), and The Mermaid (1965). She also played the lead in Shaw's Lady General Hua Mulan (1964).

Along with fellow cross-gender actress Connie Chan, Ivy epitomized the ideal boy next door of the 1960s. Both stars inspired a fervent devotion among their large following of female fans, many of whom wished for a big brother, boyfriend, or husband just like Ivy or Connie.

But as you can see, Ivy certainly had what it takes to charm the lads as well.

* This unusual photo is up for auction right now on eBay.

Ting Hao: What's Up, Tomcat?

This post goes out to YTSL, who mentioned Kitty Ting Hao's gender-bender You Were Meant for Me (1961) as one of the Cathay films whose DVD release she had been eagerly awaiting. Alas, it failed to materialize before the series was discontinued, and the movie now remains tantalizingly just out of sight.

I'm sure that YTSL and I aren't the only ones turned on by the notion of seeing Kitty in drag. Doesn't she look dashing with suit and cigarette? Whenever I look at this photo, I can't help but think of Anita Yuen in She's the Man, He's the Woman (1994) — that wonderful film which helped turn me into a Hong Kong movie fanatic so many years ago.

Hopefully, Kitty's You Were Meant for Me will become available to the masses some day in the not so distant future. In the meantime, long live the People's Republic of YouTube!



* Photo of Kitty comes from the Yau Leung collection 昨夜星光 (1940s-1960s).

Mai Ling: Tomboy in Pink

I love the reserved, slightly defiant look of Mai Ling on this cover of Screenland. The pink dress and pink plastic flowers can't cover up the motorcycle-riding tomboy. There's a hint of unwillingness on Ah Ling's part to play the expected role of eager young starlet, whether innocent or sexy. Maybe that's why she remained a second string player for most of her career.

It takes more than just beauty and talent to become a superstar. Besides simple luck, it helps to have connections and the shrewdness to use them. Take for example "Little Darling" Kitty Ting Hao, whose relationship with MP&GI general manager Robert Chung enabled her to climb the studio ladder. Knowing that, it's a little hard to stomach her innocent country girl act in the following clip from Beauty Parade (1961). Call me biased, but I'd much rather see more of Mai Ling, one of the "mean girls" in the film.



* Thanks to Oldflames for the cover!

Motor Maid Mai Ling

Oldflames has definitely fanned the flames of my fascination for Mai Ling with this awesome photo of her and her motorcycle — does anyone know what make it is? — from the cover of The Asia Pictorial (August 1957).

I love Ah Ling's look and style, especially her signet ring with the cursive L. She's so cool!

Soft Film Video Jukebox: Connie Chan

Before I started this blog, I spent nearly two-and-a-half years creating and maintaining a website devoted to Connie Chan, 1960s Cantonese teen idol extraordinaire. Yep, Connie did it all: Chinese opera, action, comedy, martial arts, melodrama, romance — sometimes all within a single movie!

Connie's contemporary films almost always featured a couple of songs, which were also released on 45rpm EP records. Mixing elements of Cantonese folk melodies and Western popular music, her songs helped give birth to what would later become known as Cantopop.

A splendid example of Connie's hybrid pop sound is the following song from Lady Bond Strikes Again (1966), which takes "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music and turns it into “Let’s Practice Kung Fu Fighting”!

Although Connie's legendary Lady Bond movies are criminally unavailable on DVD, you can at least get a taste from M59's wonderful homemade music video. The translated lyrics below are courtesy of Connie Chan fans Webbburt and Cindy Law.

“Let’s Practice Kung Fu Fighting”
from Lady Bond Strikes Again (1966)

Throwing a punch and a kick requires method
(repeat verse)

The energy and agility must be appropriate
(repeat verse)

Eyes in four directions, while ears in eight
Keep the cool, facing battle without haste

(Practice our kung fu, even better than James Bond
The fast paced attack is fun)

Attack the enemy while he is not on guard
(Let’s practice till we are strong as King Kong)

Hope everybody will be diligent in practicing
(But we must strengthen our physique first)

This kung fu tactic is fierce as it uses both fists
(Yes, this one is very fierce)

This kung fu tactic is to target the enemy’s stomach
(Yes, hit the enemy’s stomach)

This kung fu tactic is to make the enemy underestimate our tiger-fierce attacks
(Yes, this tactic is really tricky and very effective)

Attacking the enemy with a few quick punches is hard to defend
(repeat verse)

This kung fu tactic flies like a butterfly, stings like a bee
(repeat verse)

This kung fu tactic flies like a ruthless eagle
(repeat verse)

This kung fu tactic kills without the enemy even knowing
(repeat verse)

This kung fu tactic gives the enemy a misty eye so he can’t defend
(repeat verse)

Jeanette Lin Tsui: Beloved Tomboy and Girljock Extraordinaire

Lin Tsui sporting her MP&GI Studio team gear

Last week I posted about some of Lin Tsui's uncharacteristically sexy film appearances in the late 60s (as a bikini-clad spy and an undercover bellydancer). Some may find it a little pathetic to see her resorting to sexpot routines, but I think she was just having a little fun. I'm reminded of an astute observation from the Hong Kong Film Archive's publication The Cathay Story: "Lin Cui, nicknamed 'Student Lover', was frequently given athletic, tomboyish roles. Yet there seems to be a sexuality yearning to burst out." Hmm... I wonder if Lin's affair with macho man Jimmy Wang Yu was what brought out the "woman" in her...

Although I was eagerly curious to see a sexy Lin Tsui, I must say I prefer her beloved tomboy persona, which I first fell in love with in Our Sister Hedy (1957), Spring Song (1959), and Sister Long Legs (1960) — all highly recommended and all available on DVD.

Anyway, here a few choice items showcasing Jeanette in classic tomboy mode...

Lin Tsui and Sports

Lin Tsui who will star in "Spring Girl" [Spring Song] together with Grace Chang is probably the best athlete among all the actresses. Ever since she was a child she has been fond of sports more than anything else. At the age of five she had accomplished the art of roller skating. In school she was one of the top scorers of her basketball team. Today she is a polished athlete [who] excels in horseback riding, swimming, archery, golf and fishing.

—from International Screen No. 26 (December, 1957)
Original article available as PDF

Young Vagabond (1958)


Darling Daughter (1959)


Lin Tsui waterskiing in Spring Song (1959)

Further Reading
Lin Tsui biography by Paul Fonoroff

Going, Going, Gone!

On your mark, get set, bid!

The race to acquire this extremely rare and super cool photograph of pioneering martial-arts star Wu Lizhu has gotten off to an early start, and — sadly — it's already priced way beyond my wallet. Known as the "Oriental Female Fairbanks", Wu started her career in Shanghai in 1925 and sometime around 1940 or 1941 moved to Hong Kong, where she continued to make martial arts movies, such as Female Robin Hood (1947) and The Story of Wong Ang the Heroine (1960).

Stay tuned for the final price...