Lee Ying
In this drama, the harsh treatment of women in Chinese society is examined and subtly commented upon as it tells the tale of an impoverished woman living in Shanghai, circa 1910 who tries to support her brother and sister-in-law. A marriage to a wealthy man is arranged for her, and reluctantly she endures it, even though she does not love the man who is as cruel as he is wealthy. His mother is also brutally unkind to her. She then has a son, but her struggles are not over when her husband dies and only leaves her a modest inheritance. Her wretched life has made her bitter, and so she begins making her son suffer as she die; she also becomes addicted to opium.
Shaolin temples thousands of years ago were famous for their kung fu schools, and everybody has come to relate these temples with kung fu. Even the best fighters in the world didn't dare challenge the Shaolin students. During the Ching Dynasty, the reigning government had total control of the Shaolin temples and schools. The monk Chi Kong wasn't a real monk. In fact he was evil. He even accepted girls as students. He taught these girls the kung fu style. There were eighteen of them...
During the construction of luxury apartment buildings a huge nest of thousands of snakes is discovered. Francis Chang (the boss) refuses to delay the construction and orders to kill all the animals. He is repeated warned by his wife, who had some nightmares concerning him and the snakes. They do not manage to kill all snakes and so they take revenge on the construction workers and Francis Chang. Soon thousands of killer snakes under the lead of a giant Boa invades the building an kill all the new inhabitants. Even a snake master can't stop them.
Taiwanese adventure film that reunites Ivy Ling Po with ex-Shaw stars Ching Li and Lisa Chiao Chiao.
A masked mastermind named The Owl holds an exclusive auction every year, selling special slaves and rare objects of art. One of the customers requests that he obtain the 36th wife of the emperor, for the next auction. The Owl agrees and arranges for the woman to be kidnapped. The emperor sends a messenge to a trusted royal guard, assigning him the task of rescuing his wife. Unfortunately the guard has died, but his son, David Chiang, takes the assignment. He hunts up two of his father's friends for assistance. They have both retired, but their sons, Barry Chan and Eric Tsang, agree to help out. So David, Barry, and Eric go forward on their quest to rescue the woman and unmask The Owl.
Shaw legend Tony Liu Yung is the swashbuckling swordsman who takes on all odds. The Jade Hairpin is the only clue in a series of crimes that are carried out by the opera gang, a band of masked men of a poisonous family. Its weapon is a cunning plan of guts vs. skill and brains vs. survival in this epic!
Pairs of best college friends, Shen Jung (Brigitte Lin) and Li Lun-mei (Chelsia Chan); Chen Cheng-hsiung (Chin Han) and Fang Juei (Alan Tam) meet at the tennis courts. Fang Juei likes the ebullient Li Lun-mei, but after hearing the contemplative Cheng-hsiung at a school concert, is smitten by his talents and looks. However, as fate would have it, Cheng-hsiung is after the studious and gentler Shen Jung.
Millionaire Chu Te-Sa (Chiang) invests his considerable wealth into the rebel movement who are intent on usurping the ruling Mongol powers. His goals are impeded by a lack of support though and the supposed allies he has made in the town are merely eager to get their hands on his money. During an attack where these craven 'comrades' flee, Chu befriends three con-artists who relish the chance to show off their fighting skills. The trio subsequently agree to help Chu in his quest to end Mongol rule and hatch a plan to destroy a major munitions dump
When an evil land baron's son murders an innocent family, a Marshall is called in to escort him to be executed in the court of law far to the north. With the aid of an army of soldiers, the Marshall must fight off the Land Baron's assassins, who want to try and free his murderous son at every given chance.
An honourable carriage driver finds love and death when he battles particularly homicidal street punks
The movie is structured much like a murder mystery, albeit one that gives the viewer a fight scene every couple of minutes. There’s a murderer who goes by the moniker Devil Swordsman gallivanting around the countryside in an outfit that looks like a ninja cloak by way of a KKK robe who’s killing all of the major kung fu masters and clan leaders with a single swipe to the face. One of his first victims is the head of the White Dragon tribe, whose son, Shan, is played by Dorian Tan Tao-Liang. Shan naturally assumes the role of detective in order to avenge his father, since that’s what people do in these movies.
The year is 1366. The emperor makes a deal with a neighboring Manchu emperor, leading to a plot to frame patriotic General Shung in a court martial. Shung believes he will receive a fair trial and goes along willingly. But some of his supporters are not so trusting, and they shadow him on his journey to the palace & now the trouble really starts.
Chia Ling aka Judy Lee (SHAOLIN INVINCIBLES, QUEEN BOXER) stars as a woman summoned by a retired general to sing and play the lute for him, but as she performs, he attempts to assault her and in the process murders her. The general and his assistant throw her body and lute into a fire, but Master Ku, a scholar who was watching her father, finds the burnt shell of the lute which now contains her ghost. Together they will now try and bring the general and his henchmen to justice.
Fan Kao-to is a worker who had enough of corruption in Shanghai. He tries to crush the organization alone. An attempt has been made before but ended up with the big Axe Gang, several of their brands in the man. The man's sister arrives in Shanghai at the same time as Fan Kao-to go out on one-man war, and she wants to do her in the fight, also, she takes the war personally.
Chang Cheh-influenced swordplay film puts a female spin on the genre with its titular heroine. Helen Ma stars as the “can’t hear, can’t talk” swordswoman who makes off with some pearls and bloodily dispatches the many comers who futilely attempt to retrieve them from her. According to Jeff Goodhartz, THE DEAF AND MUTE HEROINE “trumps anything that King Hu or Chang Cheh were unleashing at the time.”
In "Forbidden Killing" Melinda Chen Man-Ling plays a highly trained swords woman who gets involve in a power struggle between two groups mandarins in the government.
The legendary first feature from CHINA BEHIND director Cecile Tang is a stylized period melodrama about a widow (Lisa Lu Yan) who upholds feudal virtue by suppressing her love for a cavalry captain (Roy Chiao) in favor of her daughter. One of the first modern Chinese films to achieve international acclaim.
The misadventures of a beautiful but bored housewife Wang Yui-chuan and her chauvinistic salary-man husband Chang Wei-min reaches madcap proportions upon his denying her the opportunity to work outside the home. With calculating smarts, Wang takes action with the help of her scheming neighbors Lily and her mother Mrs. Hsu to change her identity and land a situation in her husband's firm where she successfully advances within the ranks in direct competition with Chang for promotion. A madcap comedy of errors ensue.
Movie queen Ivy Ling Po is ideally cast as a male scholar in this historical Huangmei Opera romance. It’s a tragic love story between the scholar and a local beauty (played by Fang Ying). He polishes mirrors as a pretext to get closer to his love, who signals her approval by tossing him a bunch of lichees. From that point on the course of true love proves operatically rocky, complete with murder and suicide.
Some 40 years ago when warlords rode rough-shod over the Chinese people, circus acrobat Pao Te-cheng took to the hills and began robbing the rich to help the poor. His daring feats earned him the nickname of “The Masked Robber”. Trying to intercept a large sum of money to be turned over to public security chief Cheng Kuan-hsi, he is nearly caught. Partner Hsiao Chung is jubilant over his safe return. But in the government office, chief detective Ma Pu-yun frantically plots his arrest. Ma Chien-li, son of the chief detective, devises a clever trap set for Ma Pu-yun’s birthday party. Among the guests is Huang Tan-ping who is engaged to Doctor David Lee. Ma Chien-li proposes to her without knowing this.
Mona Lam, who works for a swindling syndicate under duress, scours a nightclub for her new prey and finds the rich heir Cheng Siu-chuen. Struggling to find true bliss, the lovers gain the blessing of Lam's second uncle. On the eve of Cheng's father's birthday banquet, Lam is pressured to strike again under the watchful eye of Lucy sent by the man who's pulling the strings on the marionette behind the scenes who has threatened to kill Cheng. The quick-witted woman aborts the operation, claiming to have spotted her previous victims from amongst the guests. Her confession gains Cheng's understanding, but not his father's. The ringleader brings the liaison to an end by blackmailing the father and putting Lam under house arrest. Helping the girl flee, Second Uncle is killed in the commotion. The police act on the father's tip-off and bust the gang, clearing the way for the lovers to tie the knot.
THE MONKEY GOES WEST is the first entry in the studio’s epic, four-part screen adaptation of “Journey to the West,” a 16th-century novel recounting the efforts of a Buddhist monk and his magical companions to travel to India and bring back Buddhist sutras.
Connie Chan Po-chu's character's father was killed by the triads, leaving behind two daughters. The elder sister makes a living as a singer at a nightclub, and is sometimes threatened by triad members. The younger sister (Connie Chan Po-chu), who knows karate, becomes an assassin who punishes villains. The first James Bond film was produced in 1962 and quickly became extremely popular worldwide. Quick-thinking Hong Kong filmmakers were inspired to make Chan into a heroine who upholds justice: wearing a tight, black unitard, speeding all over town in speedboats and sports cars, who at the same time embodies the innocence of a young woman. The youth culture and western modern lifestyles pursued by post-war baby boomers made Lady Bond the first of many films in the new Hong Kong genre of James Bond-style spy thrillers starring women.
Young love and its comedy of errors. Hsiao Fang, played by Li Ching, is a spunky young girl not afraid to fight back against hooligans. Unfortunately, she mistakes the handsome Ma Ta-hai, for one such hoodlum. The two are immediately attracted but refuse to admit their true feelings. The real hooligans are from a rich family led by a devious Madam who devise a revenge plot. With plot twists, mistaken identities, along with some terrific musical numbers, romance has never been this much fun.
Not a love triangle but a love rectangle, Rose, Be My Love is a romantic drama that represents the high standards achieved by Shaw Brothers in both star power and technical polish. Set on the eve of Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong's invasion by the Japanese, the tragic romance takes on added poignancy in light of the future fate of leading lady Li Ting, the "Rose" of Rose, Be My Love who committed suicide a mere three months after the movie's release.
It's a powerful melodrama about a thwarted romance in 1930s Tientsin, China, during the Japanese occupation, and it stars Linda Lin Dai, one of the era's most popular stars. It was part of Golden Horse's 100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films.
Six heroes are killed while investigating rampant lawlessness at Zhaoqing Temple where villains are posing as monks. The dead heroes’ senior brother Su-chen and his two apprentices pose as scholars in order to infiltrate the temple. When the life of the Emperor’s Inspector and his daughter are threatened, the trio leaps into battle as government troops prepare to storm the temple.
The Weiss Advertising Co under manageress Lo Yu Chun (Pat Ting Hung) and the Jen An Advertising Co. managed by playboy Tsao Chung Nien (Peter Chen Ho) are business rivals. The former works hard but without much success. The latter, with most of his staff perusing racing form or yellow journals, gets far more business. The anticipated arrival of a business tycoon from Malaya starts another battle and Lo Yu Chun goes all out to win over the prospective customer.
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.
The story revolves around Tian Yu Quan (Chin Feng) who rushes to the aid of an elderly fisherman who is bullied by an arrogant relative of the Qiu Shan ministry. In the heat of the ensuing battle he kills the said man and is hence chased by the district's officials. Trying to use the waterway to shake off his enemies, Yu Quan finds a true friend in the old fisherman's bark-stearing daughter, Hu Feng Lian (Ting Hung) who becomes his loyal accomplice. As symbol for his gratitude, Yu Quan bestows Feng Lian with a Butterfly Chalice to reflect their eternal friendship bond...
A member of the Red Peony troupe, singer Tang Pei Hua (Yeh Feng) is renowned for her beautiful voice and appearances. Her beauty, however, invites the unwanted attentions of cruel and lecherous warlord Cao Lin (Zeng Mei). In order to escape Cao's grasp, Tang and her lover Lin Ke Qiang (Chin Han) decide to run away to the south where they can live freely. But their plan is uncovered by Cao, and Lin gets captured. In order to save Lin, Tang must sacrifice herself and entertain Japanese guests at a banquet, throwing herself into danger's way.
Fan Chia-soo is a kind-hearted student whose heart is captured by the sweet song of Shen Feng-hsien. However, he is not the only one who has eyes for Shen. The General's henchmen are also determined to present the songstress to their superior as a gift. Fan received help from an unexpected quarter to save the woman he loves.
This gripping story centers on the romance between Wang Chin Lung and Sue San. Although they may be perfectly matched when it comes to their love for one other, the two come from remarkably different social ranks. While Chin Lung is the son of a respected government official, Su San is a prostitute, albeit a famous one.
The noted actress Li Li-hua, star of more than sixty films since 1947, beautifully portrays the drugged, then disgraced wife of a peddler in the waning days of the Ching Dynasty. To make matters worse, she’s soon framed for her husband’s murder by her rapist - the son of the local magistrate! And even that isn’t the end of her woes. It’s best to have a box of tissues nearby as two expert directors ratchet up the emotional suspense in this consummate tearjerker.
Based on one particular storyline from The Water Margin, Three Sinners weaves an intriguing story of romance, treachery, and death, all within the context of the traditional Huangmei Opera. Yan Jun casts his real-life wife, the elegant Li Li Hua, star of such Shaw Brothers films as The Goddess of Mercy and Vermillion Door, as one of the title characters, a woman who finds herself in the middle of a stormy love triangle involving her controlling husband (director Yan Jun serving double duty in a starring role) and a passionate lover (Chen Yan Yan).
Singaporean diva Li Ailian has arrived in Hong Kong to further her singing career. Xu Zhaofeng helps her land a job at Spring Wind Palace. Provoked by jealousy, Xu's long-time girlfriend Tao Haiyin, a local diva, insists on performing at the Palace, too. And when two divas strut their stuff, it's great tunes and hot action. Haiyin's brother Zhengsheng, the bandleader, has fallen out with his sister due to his infatuation with Li. Li misunderstands Zhengsheng's intentions initially but his devotion speaks volumes. Haiyin and Xu also reconcile.
In May of 1949, director Zhang Ying and screenwriter Zhang Che took people to Taiwan to shoot a film that reflected Taiwan's Gaoshan tribe. Unexpectedly, when it was completed, it coincided with the war between the KMT and the Communist Party in Shanghai. Later, the Kuomintang government completely withdrew from Shanghai to Taiwan, and the film crew stayed in Taiwan. The film was also premiered in Taiwan, becoming the first feature film in Taiwanese film history. The episode "High Mountain Green" was widely sung that year and became a classic in film music.
