Movie Stars in the Cartoonist's Eye

Check out these delightful caricatures by cartoonist P. L. Chang from the May 1934 issue of the Shanghai pictorial magazine Young Companion. For those of you who read Chinese, here are the captions. For those who can't (and that includes myself), I'll attempt to conjecture about some of the situations depicted.


Chen Yumei
Remember Chen Yumei, who battled Hu Die for the title of China's movie queen? Supposedly when rising star Hu Die left the Tianyi Film Company in 1928 and signed on with rival Mingxing, Tianyi boss Runje Shaw (the eldest of the Shaw Brothers) decided to take Chen Yumei — one of his actresses — as his second wife and make her the studio's new top star. In this way, it was rumored, the notoriously stingy Shaw wouldn't have to pay a high salary to his leading lady. Poor Chen Yumei... all she could do was dream of getting that crown, while sleeping with rats on a patched mattress.


Wang Renmei
"Wildcat" Wang Renmei had married Korean hunk (and Shanghai's "Emperor of Film") Jin Yan at the beginning of 1934. Jin Yan was an avid hunter and outdoorsman, and if this cartoon is accurate, then "Wildcat" Wang also shared his love of rifles and campfires.


Ai Xia
This cartoon shows Death coming to claim the rebellious modern girl Ai Xia, who committed suicide during the Lunar New Year of 1934. She was China's second female scriptwriter and had written and starred in the film A Woman of Today (1933) before her death. In a traqic turn of events, director Cai Chusheng — who was rumored to have had an affair with Ai and who blamed the Shanghai paparazzi for her death — made a film about her life called New Woman (1935), starring Ruan Lingyu as her fictional stand-in. The press responded to Cai's attack by hounding Ruan Lingyu, who ended up taking her own life shortly thereafter on March 15, International Women's Day. It clearly wasn't easy being a "modern woman" in modern Shanghai.


Li Minghui
A singer turned movie star, Li Minghui was the daughter of "Father of Mandopop" Li Jinhui. In 1934 she married one of China's most famous athletes, football star Lu Zhongen. To read more about Li Minghui, check out The Chinese Mirror, your one-stop shop for information (in English!) about early Chinese cinema.


Hu Die
Here's Queen Hu Die looking a little uptight. I don't know what's going on in the cartoon, but I wonder if it's a reference to Hu Die's suit against her fiance for the annulment of their long-standing engagement. She also demanded monetary compensation for being taken out of the marriage market for such a long time (I believe they were engaged for three years). According to one American newspaper account, Hu Die was "never loath to use her affairs of the heart as stepping stones for her career" (Salt Lake Tribune, March 1, 1936).


Hu Ping
All I can tell you about Hu Ping is that she played the mad woman in Song at Midnight (1937), an adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera that was later remade in Hong Kong during the 90s as The Phantom Lover, starring Leslie Cheung. I'm curious to know more about her, so please leave a comment if you have any information.


Xu Lai
My buddy Oldflames helped me identify this one and was kind enough to translate the caption, in which Xu Lai says, "I couldn't live another day if I can't dance." I guess she was known for her terpsichorean passion. And to think, I only knew her as the first Chinese actress to do a bathtub scene.


Ruan Lingyu
And last but not least is our beloved Ruan Lingyu, whose winning smile and lanky beauty is perfectly captured by cartoonist P. L. Chang.

I hope you've enjoyed these as much as I have!

Hong Kong Cowgirl: Connie Chan

The one and only, pistol-twirling Chan Po Chu!

Buried Treasure: The Missing Shaw Films, Part 3

Here's a final batch of unreleased Shaw movies that I'd love to see. According to my buddy Glenn, who visited the office of Celestial Pictures yesterday, it's up to IVL, who distributes the Shaw Brothers DVDs in Hong Kong (and around the world for those of us with all-region players), whether the remaining titles will be released. Like I've said before, I'm keeping my fingers crossed but not holding my breath. Now let's take a look at five more missing films:


Double Trouble (1968)
This movie was directed by Sit Kwan, who helmed the delightful Cheng Pei-pei musical Blue Skies (1967), but there's only one reason — and it's a big one — that I want to see this film: my favorite fatty, the irresistible Peng Peng. He gets top billing (after Margaret Hsing-hui) in this comedy about two bumbling fools trying to help a pretty young girl escape an arranged marriage to an old millionaire.


Three Swinging Girls (1968)
Essie Lin Chia (center), Jean Li Chih-an (right), and Irene Chen Yi-ling (left) play the three swinging girls who share an apartment — and more — in this romantic-revenge comedy by veteran director Chun Kim. None of the actresses were big stars, but that makes me all the more curious to see this film. I'm hoping it's one of those overlooked and unexpected gems that I so love.


Dear Murderer (1969)
In a dark twist on his "ladies' man" image, Peter Chen Ho plays a company man bent on moving up the corporate ladder by marrying his boss's daughter (Betty Ting Pei). When he finds out his former sweetheart (Pat Ting Hung), a typist at the firm, is pregnant and demanding that he do the right thing, he knocks her off. But soon after his honeymoon, he becomes haunted by her ghost.


Long Road to Freedom (1970)
A girls-in-prison movie directed by Inoue Umetsugu — need I say more? Essie Lin Chia, who plays the lead, is someone I've always liked whenever I've seen her. According to IMDB, she is of mixed Chinese and Portuguese heritage and was discovered by King Hu. And, are my eyes deceiving me — or does it say in her filmography that she starred with Jim Kelly in Black Samurai (1977)?! Yep, that's Essie in the movie's trailer at the 1:35 mark.


Mini Skirt Gang (1974)
Speaking of 'sploitation, here's one for all you fem doms and male subs. Directed by Lui Kei (who was the screen sweetheart of Cantonese teen idol Connie Chan before he started directing soft-core sex comedies at Shaws) and featuring exploitation queens Birte Tove and Chen Ping, Mini Skirt Gang — much to my surprise — was actually released on DVD last year... in Denmark! Check out the Celestial Pictures logo in the bottom right corner of this DVD cover. Proof positive perhaps that the remaining Shaw films are restored and ready to go for those willing to take a gamble on releasing them.

Scenes from Shanghai's Night Life

Check out these wonderful postcards that went for auction on eBay recently. I'm not absolutely certain, but I think they're the work of cartoonist Friedrich Schiff, an Austrian Jew who lived in Shanghai during the 1930s and 40s.

Born in 1908 into an artistic family (his father was a painter, his mother an actress), Schiff studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

In 1930, at the invitation of his cousin, Schiff visited Shanghai and fell in love with the city and its people. He ended up living there for 14 years, until 1947 when he moved to Buenos Aires.

Schiff had worked as a newspaper cartoonist in Vienna and continued this line of work in Shanghai. Soon he became famous for his amusing caricatures of the city's inhabitants, from beggars and expats to sailors and sing-song girls.

In 1934, he began a fruitful collaboration with photojournalist Ellen Thorbecke (who was the wife of the Dutch ambassador to China). Like Schiff, Thorbecke was also a Sinophile. Together they created a series of illustrated travel books about China's major cities: Peking Studies (1934), Shanghai (1938), and Hong Kong (1938). From what I've read (see the link below), the books are quite charming. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to peruse them, since they apparently fetch a pretty steep price in the rare book marketplace.

However, there is a compilation of Schiff's Shanghai sketches called Vicissitude of Old Shanghai (老上海浮世绘), which I am dying to get my hands on. I found it for sale at a Chinese online bookseller only to discover, after I had successfully managed (with the help of Google Translate) to set up an account, that the book is currently out of stock. Boo-hoo for me... but I'll track it down. I don't give up easily once I'm on the hunt!

Further Reading

• Images from Maskee: A Shanghai Sketchbook by Schiff (ca. 1938)
• "Records of Hong Kong: Arthur Hacker profiles two out-of-the-box 1930s Hong Kong artists"

Ketchup: A Boy and His Dog and Guitar

"Carefree Loser" by Ketchup (play song)

Hong Kong folk singer Ketchup, aka Ken Tsoi, reminds me of a lone hawk quietly soaring above the glitz and schmaltz of the city's Cantopop scene.

I first became aware of Ketchup when I picked up a quirky little gem of an album called Freeplay (2004), featuring him, Chet Lam, and The Pancakes playing each other's songs in various combinations. The next time I came across Ketchup was on Rebecca Pan's My Dream My Way My Indie Music (2009), where he performed a fabulous cover of her 1967 hit "Solid Gold Rickshaw" — it was my favorite song on the album.

Two months ago in Hong Kong, I spotted his most recent CD His Master's Voice — thanks in no small part to the cool cover art, which features him and his dog in a clever reinvention of the iconic HMV logo.

Singing in English, Ketchup crafts a gently psychedelic sound that alternates between joie de vivre and melancholy like the warmth of the sun playing hide and seek on a cloudy day.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that His Master's Voice is available online, but you can get two of Ketchup's previous albums at HMV Hong Kong: Old Fashioned Blue Sky (2003) and In Love Again (2005).

*A great big thanks to Ketchup Ken for letting me post a song from his latest CD!

The Mysteries of Ruan Lingyu

Ruan Lingyu's Puzzling Interlude at Owl Hollow

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled — like a proverbial Alice — across an astonishing series of paintings devoted to silent film star Ruan Lingyu. I was completely surprised and enchanted by these strange tableaux which featured an actress so familiar and beloved to me.

Compelled by Ruan's tragic life and sad beauty, artist Kamala Dolphin-Kingsley created this trinity of works that became the centerpiece of her 2005 exhibit Somnium at Seattle's Bluebottle Art Gallery. In her artist statement she wrote that the paintings are "a tribute of imagined dreams, of a different world free from the torments of humanity, to inhabit Ruan Lingyu's self-imposed sleep."


Ruan Lingyu's Tangible Delectation

Through the alchemy of Dolphin-Kingsley's art, Ruan's suicide becomes a shamanic passage into the underworld. Accompanied by a retinue of animal guides — the wise owl, all-seeing peacock, lucky goldfish, and mercurial octopus and salamander — she travels through the hollow of death to emerge as the eternal Goddess.


Ruan Lingyu and Octopus

To see more of Kamala Dolphin-Kingsley's amazing work, visit her website and Flickr page.

Hong Kong In The 60s: My Fantoms

I can't help but feel some synchronicity in the arrival of these four new songs by Hong Kong In The 60s in the midst of the fallen stars, lost movies, old vinyl, and deteriorating photographs that have haunted Soft Film in the past few weeks.

The band's melancholy pop and meticulously crafted sonic landscapes are the perfect soundtrack for my mood of late. I'm really looking forward to the release of their nearly finished debut album, My Fantoms. In the meantime, give a listen to the fab tracks below, and go to Amazon or iTunes to download their first EP, Willow Pattern Songs.

Don't Look Back

Haunted by Ruan Lingyu

*Image courtesy of heman8

Josephine Siao: Cantopop Gunslinger

I was a little surprised at the enthusiastic response to my recent post about Josephine Siao, but I really shouldn't — after all, Fong Fong is pretty cool, isn't she!

Here's the soundtrack EP for her 1967 film The Lady Killer (玉面女殺星), also known as Bat Girl. It's a real shame that this and Fong Fong's other "Jane Bond" films — the title given to Hong Kong's female action movies of the late 60s by critic Sam Ho — are not available on DVD. To give you a taste of what we're missing, check out this awesome flyer (front, back).

Well, at least we can listen to the soundtrack and imagine what the movie is like. First up is the killer B-side, followed by Cantonese variations of "The Wedding (La Novia)" and another well-known Western pop song, the name of which escapes me at the moment (help me out folks!). The English titles are my own unqualified translations. If I got them wrong, please let me know.

Finally, the gentleman singing with Fong Fong is supposedly Lui Kei, who stars with her in the film, but I can't say for sure that it's really him who is singing.

Happy listening!

夜總會之歌 ("Song of the Nightclub") (play song)

我愛蝙蝠女 ("I Love Batgirl") (play song)

蝙蝠俠影 ("Batgirl's Shadow") (play song)

*Here's the back cover of the EP with Chinese lyrics

Buried Treasure: The Missing Shaw Films, Part 2

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.)

Hong Kong Cowgirl: Josephine Siao

I'm very excited to announce that — thanks to my buddy Ral — I can start sharing some of my vintage Hong Kong vinyl here at Soft Film. First up is the soundtrack EP for Josephine Siao's 1967 "Jane Bond" thriller Lady in Pink (紅粉金剛), also known as The Female Agents.

Hope you like it!

"Gold Finger" (脂粉神鎗) (play song)

"For a Few Dollars More" (歡舞今宵) (play song)

*Here's the back cover of the EP with Chinese lyrics

Buried Treasure: The Missing Shaw Films, Part 1

After I posted that tantalizing still from Dark Rendezvous in my recent entry about Tina Ti, my buddy Eddy sent me a link which reminded me about those last remaining Shaw Brothers films that have yet to be released on DVD. (Unfortunately, these do not include the titles which were not a part of Celestial Pictures' acquisition of the Shaw film library: namely the studio's Cantonese movies and black-and-white Mandarin movies from the late 50s and early 60s.)

Even though I cry in my soup every day about the injustice of not being able to see the early films of Patricia Lam Fung (who was known as the "Jewel of Shaw"), I console myself with the fact that Celestial is still sitting on a treasure chest of titles that are sure to be released sooner or later. It was rumored that they were going to be rolled out at the end of 2009. Obviously that didn't happen, but the release two weeks ago of Ann Hui's Shaw film Starry is the Night (1988) has got me crossing my fingers again.

Here are some of the Shaw movies that I'm hoping will pop out of the oven by year's end:


The Second Spring (1963)
This one was made by Lo Chen, one of Shaw's four "Ace" directors (the other three were Li Han-hsiang, Tao Qin, and Yueh Feng). As you can see, it stars the great Li Lihua. It also features Margaret Tu Chuan, who famously threw a fit at the 1963 Golden Horse Awards when she won Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The petulant Miss M evidently felt that her character was not a supporting role and that she therefore deserved Best Actress. Seems like the princess had her eye on the throne. But as I've mentioned here previously, the tale of little Miss Margaret did not have a happy ending.


The Black Forest (1964)
Shot on location in Taiwan, this big-budget romance between a lumberman and an aboriginal girl put Margaret Tu in the upper echelons of Shaw's galaxy of stars, alongside established movie queens Lin Dai and Betty Loh Tih. Also featured is Fanny Fan and a young Taiwanese star by the name of Chiao Chiao. These three ladies find themselves competing for the love of leading man Paul Chang Chung (who passed away just this last month).


Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore (1965)
This cosmopolitan confection was a co-production between Shaw Brothers and Filipino filmmaker Albert Joseph. Tao Qin, Shaw's master of musicals before Inoue Umetsugu took over the reins in the second half of the 60s, directed the Chinese version (starring Peter Chen Ho as a jet-setting womanizer), and Albert Joseph directed the Filipino version (with Néstor de Villa in the leading role). The three geographically discrete girlfriends were the same in both versions: Landi Chang, Angela Yu Chien, and Filipina actress Maggie dela Riva.


Squadron 77 (1965)
More than 40 years before The Message and Lust, Caution, Shaw Brothers made this spy thriller set in occupied Shanghai. Li Lihua stars as the woman who is thrust into the role of nationalist freedom fighter when she discovers that her husband is a collaborator with the Japanese.


Downhill They Ride (1966)
Filmed on location in the snow-capped mountains of Taiwan, this appears to be an early entry in Shaw's campaign to reboot the wuxia genre. Set in Northeast China during the early Republican Era, it stars Paul Chang Chung as a gun-toting knight-errant who helps defend Pat Ting Hung and her fellow villagers from a gang of bandits. In a contemporary review, it was disparagingly described as a hybrid of "Japanese samurai and American cowboy films... transplanted into the Chinese soil", but that actually sounds pretty good to me.

Stay tuned for more of Shaw's buried treasure!

A Legendary Woman: Tina Ti (1945-2010)

A legendary woman (奇女子): that's what they called Tina. And lest you think the title was only on account of her magnanimous bosom, check out this article. Did you know that she worked as a spy for the People's Republic of China!

If the stories in the article are true, then Tina Ti indeed lived an extraordinary life. However, I must take task with the statement that she was the first Hong Kong actress to appear nude (in Li Han-hsiang's The Warlord).

To the best of my knowledge, that particular honor goes to the incomparable Fanny Fan. She bared her booty on the silver screen in The Golden Buddha (1966) — a full six years before Tina. Furthermore, in Diary of a Lady-Killer (1969) — which stars both bombshells — while Tina stands around with her arms modestly covering her breasts, it's Fanny who reveals her "points" in a steamy shower scene with Ivy Ling Po's husband Chin Han.

As for Tina's notorious scene in The Warlord (1972), according to her it was unscripted and director Li Han-hsiang filmed more than he promised — sneaking that shot of Tina's backside with a hidden camera. Contrast this with Fanny's scene in The Golden Buddha, where she stands totally naked with her back to the camera and then turns her head and throws a smile to the audience, as if to say: "Look at me, boys!"

Of course, none of this detracts from Tina's status as a sex goddess. But remember: before Tina, there was Fanny.

Even though I obviously don't worship at the Temple of Tina, I'm still a fan, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, in the wake of her passing, Celestial Pictures will consider releasing the erotic thriller Dark Rendezvous (1969), which features her in a special cameo.

Rest in peace, Tina. Long live your legend!


Tina Ti and Ling Yun in Dark Rendezvous

2 x Wonfu

OK, here's some infectious bubblegum pop from my new favorite band Wonfu to cleanse your palate after yesterday's death-filled post. The following songs from their 2007 album Dance of Youth are sure to put a smile on your face. Look out for their dog (and bandleader) Ringo, who makes an appearance in both videos.


"Everyday"


"Wei Wu"

Remembering Those Who've Left Us

My most recent guest post at the Asian Art Museum blog is up now: check it out here. The museum is screening two movies this coming Sunday in tribute to Ruan Lingyu: A Spray of Plum Blossoms (1931) and Stanley Kwan's biopic Center Stage (1992), starring Maggie Cheung (seen above) as the legendary Shanghai film star.

It was the 75th anniversary of Ruan's suicide this past March 8 (which is also International Women's Day). I was meaning to post something in memory of her but was just too burned out after my Hong Kong trip.

Earlier this week, as I was watching the sad — yet beautiful — Center Stage and trying to articulate my thoughts and feelings, I heard the news that Jadin Wong, former Forbidden City dancer, and Tina Ti, Hong Kong movie bombshell, both passed away.


Jadin Wong (1913-2010)


Tina Ti (1945-2010)

I don't have the time right now to write a proper memorial, but they were both smart and savvy ladies who relied on their brains as well as their beauty. After she retired as an entertainer, Jadin Wong started a talent agency for Asian American actors. As for Tina Ti, she also became a businesswoman, establishing aerospace and satellite navigation companies in Mainland China.

The last two months also saw the passing of Shaw star Paul Chang Chung and director Inoue Umetsugu, who rebooted the Mandarin musical for Shaw Brothers in the late 60s.


Paul Chang Chung (1931-2010)


Inoue Umetsugu (1923-2010)

If you've followed the DVD releases of the Shaw film library these past years, then you probably know Paul Chang as one of Shaw's "James Bond"s. He appeared in the The Golden Buddha (1966) and Black Falcon (1967) but actually got his start at Shaw back in the late 50s. One of his early films, The Golden Trumpet (1961) by Tao Qin, was selected for the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Inoue Umetsugu's death didn't seem to get any coverage in the Hong Kong press, but it's undeniable that HK cinema would have been a little less bright without his madcap musicals. My buddy Glenn wrote a nice tribute to him.

Finally, I can't finish this post without paying my respect to the great Leslie Cheung, who took his life seven years ago today. Every time I see one of his films now, I can't help shedding a few tears for him. Rest in peace, Leslie.


Leslie Cheung (1956-2003)

Sorry for so much death in one post! Remember: be thankful and cherish each day.

* Photo of Jadin Wong courtesy of the eBay Archive; photo of Tina Ti courtesy of Oldflames; photo of Inoue Umetsugu courtesy of Frédéric Ambroisine.