South Sea Greetings

Sorry for the sudden disappearance! I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the past two weeks. I'm struggling to get back into my blogging routine but hope to share some of the finds from my trip in the coming days — like this lovely tropical Christmas card featuring Fanny Fan and Patricia Lam Fung.

The Enigma of Olive Young

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Olive Young (杨爱立) went to Shanghai and became one of Chinese cinema's earliest film stars. She died in Bayonne, New Jersey, at the age of 37 after collapsing in the dressing room of the nightclub where she was performing as a blues singer. Stay tuned for my attempt to piece together her mysterious life.

Jue Quon Tai: Pretty and Pantaletted

SHE'S CHINESE AND PRETTY AND PANTALETTED

The pantalette gown has reached the Pacific Coast. The first person to wear it in Oregon was Jue Quon Tai, the belle of Portland's Chinatown and daughter of a wealthy Chinese merchant. Miss Jue has stage aspirations.

— Evening Public Ledger, March 24, 1915

In August I'll be picking up the threads of Jue Quon Tai's fascinating story, which I started telling nearly a year ago and then left dangling in midair. Since then, I've been contacted by members of her family and have gathered more information and material about her life. In the meantime you can refresh yourself about her 1915 vaudeville debut here.

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:

When the King of Hollywood Met the Empress of Chinese Filmdom

Trust Clark Gable to find a stunner even in far-away Hong Kong. That girl behind the Hollywood-like dark glasses is Li Li-hwa, top glamour girl of the Chinese movie world. The stars took a cruise together around Hong Kong island, where Gable is starring in "Soldier of Fortune". — Associated Press, December 3, 1954

I really wish I could have been a fly on the wall during this historic meeting between Clark Gable and Li Lihua.





According to gossip columnist Walter Winchell, "Clark Gable left a Large Torch burning in Hong Kong. She is Li Li Hwa... Translation: Plum Blossom" (Syracuse Herald-Journal, January 3, 1955). Was there any truth to the rumor?





A previous news item suggests otherwise, reporting that "his press agents had started a story that he may marry Li Li-Hwa" (Fergus Falls Daily Journal, December 15, 1954). Evidently, it was one of many engagement rumors prior to Clark's marriage (his fifth) to actress Kay Williams in 1955.

Then again, Clark was a notorious ladies man. Were there actual sparks — and even flames — when the King of Hollywood met the Empress of Chinese Filmdom? Only the fly on the wall knows...

Chen Man: Better than Andy on Adam

A big thanks to dleedlee for turning me on to photographer Chen Man. I'd already seen, and dug, a lot of her fashion photography — especially her recent shoot for Esquire featuring actress Fan Bingbing as Che Guevara, Bruce Lee, Superman, and Elvis Presley — but never knew who it was behind the camera. After googling some of her other work, I'm really blown away by her trippy avant-pop sensibility.

Chen Man just had a show in Hong Kong, which I'm bummed about missing. But the good news is that a book of her photographs, Chen Man: Works 2003-2010, was recently published. I ordered a copy yesterday, and it's already on its way — hurray! I'll report back as soon as it arrives.

* The photos above were taken from Chen Man's blog. She also has a website.