Lee Yuet-Ching

A Hong Kong drama

This early leftist social drama from Hong Kong offers a panoramic portrait of a crumbling apartment complex and its down-and-out denizens, including a taxi driver, an unemployed teacher, a professional reduced to selling his blood and, of course, a venal landlord. In addition to establishing an omnipresent theme in Hong Kong cinema – the plight of the urban poor – the film is also a prime example of the popular melodramas of the time, which featured displaced Mainland film stars.

Early Shaw Brothers thriller.

Adapted from a popular 'three dime novel' the story revolves around two down-and-out buddies, one streetwise and quick-witted the other naïve and kind-hearted. This oddball duo go through up and downs and eventually get their break in life.

The movie tells the story of a playboy named Kam Ka Po, who puts chasing girls first and his career second. His father only wanted him to get married and start a family as soon as possible, and even used economic blockade to force him to submit.

When a young street thug becomes friends with the headmaster of a school, he gives up the triad life to enroll in the school.

Orphan Lee Dan-hung is made a scapegoat by her cousin Chor Kwai-ping. Facing drug trafficking charges, Lee is released on parole with the doctor To King-chung as guarantor. Lee works as a sanatorium nurse. The modest caretaker, Matriarch To plays matchmaker for her son To Ngan-sing and Lee. Ashamed of her past, Lee listens to the doctor's advice and keeps the Tos in the dark. Chor returns and coerces Lee into colluding with smuggling ring by threatening to kill her newborn daughter. The reluctant Lee is arrested in a police raid together with the gang members but is later acquitted. With a reputation to defend, To toughens his heart and expels Lee. Lee leaves for Borneo with a touring opera troupe but a yearning for her daughter brings her back several years later. Feeling for the upset in-law, Matriarch To grants her stay until his son's return from business in a few months' time. When To returns, he decides to make up for the wasted time by bringing Lee and her daughter home.

Reporter Yu Mong-yuen is recovering from a leg injury in his fiancee Man-wah's apartment. Bored, he looks out the rear window and observes the life of the neighbouring building. Among the tenants are a sugar-daddy and his mistress, a middle-aged man wants to marry a young girl, but she is in love with his son. Finally, she hatches a plot and makes the man agree to her marrying his son ; a sly fortune-teller ; a lively gym, a rich widow quarrels with the trainer of a gymnasium because his dog has bitten her cat ; and an opera school, a woman signs, leaning on the balcony, and a man tries to strangle her. In fact they are rehearsing an opera…… One evening, Wah is on the night shift, and Yuen watches the opera troupe rehearse to the end. Under the influence of drugs, Yu mistakenly believes that a divorced man has murdered a taxi dancer. He alerts the police, but the whole thing is nothing more than a misunderstanding.

Lee Sun-fung is renowned for adapting literary classics for the silver screen. To commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Union Film Enterprise known for producing quality films and co-founded by Lee, Human Relationships is adapted from writer Ba Jin's novel into film. The Yiu family moves into a manor. Mrs Yiu, while frustrated by the way her step-son is spoiled by her husband and mother-in-law, develops a friendship with a kid (Michael Lai) who steals flowers from the mansion's garden. She later learns that he is the son of the place's former owner whose downfall at middle age is the result of being spoiled when young. Lai was only a child but gained a foothold among seasoned veterans like Cheung Wood-yau, Ng Cho-fan and Pak Yin.

When both sides of the family move in with a married couple, chaos reigns.

The Talking Bird (能言鳥) is a 1959 Hong Kong musical fantasy film directed by Bong Luk. The film was produced by Shaw Brothers and is based on the screenplay by Tin Chi Ng.

The film features a conflict between a young wife and her mother-in-law, depicting the lives of ordinary people and their profound problems.

Poor teacher Chan Chi-hong, his wife Lee Yuk-mei and their five children survive on his meagre pay. When he is laid off by two schools in a row, the family runs into difficulties. The children resort to begging on the streets to pay the mother's medical bills. Turning to writing, Chan's novel fails to find a publisher and, worse still, he comes down with tuberculosis. Dealt a further blow by the death of the youngest daughter and the pressures from the loan sharks, Chan contemplates killing himself and his family but changes his mind when he witnesses the sacrifices made by other parents for their children. He vows to be a dutiful father and tries his best to overcome their adversities. His novel is finally published and sells well. Through thick and thin, the family at last sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Family" (1953), which launched the Union Film legacy, "Spring" (1953) and "Autumn" (1954) are adaptations of Ba Jin's highly regarded novel "Torrent Trilogy". In "Family", director Ng Wui skilfully condenses the voluminous first part of the novel into an emotionally powerful and intellectually focused story of youngsters struggling to survive oppression and repression in a feudalistic family. This well-received film quickly established the company's reputation.

Though her marriage with rich businessman Chan Hak-lit is crumbling, Anna Poon refuses to accept her childhood sweetheart Wong Kei-shu's courtship. Anna's younger sister Mei-na has a crush on Shu and treats Lee Man coldly. When she sees Anna being with Shu, she taunts Anna with stealing who she likes. Anna is hurt and goes back to Chan's house. Chan holds a house party and invites business celebrities. Shu attends it and when tells Anna he loves her when they dance. Anna rejects him and tells him never to see her again. Chan goes to the racecourse. When Shu falls down from a horse, Anna faints. Chan asks Anna what her relationship with Shu is. He warns her not to have any wrongdoing and ruin his reputation. Shu is fine and asks Anna to meet for the last time. Anna cannot turn down him and goes to meets him. Lit miscomprehends the situation and files a divorce. He even forbids Anna to see their daughter. A distressed Anna becomes a victim of love in a conservative society.

Chor Yuen started his directorial career with a bang. From its very first image, The Natural Son establishes Chor as a filmmaker of stylistic flourish, which would be sustained in various forms throughout his long tenure. Adapted from '30 cents' pulp fiction, it is a Kong Ngee melodrama made in the studio's mould, with Westernised characters and trendy middle-class lifestyles. Yet, Chor's first film is not exempt from the social urgency that characterises the Cantonese cinema of his father, Cheung Wood-yau. The film cloaks its entertainment in a moral deliberation on blood ties, its story about the raising of a bastard child a head-on challenge of archaic family values. An ostentatious start for a colourful and eventful career.

Autumn Comes to Purple Rose Garden

Cold Nights features great performances by both Pak Yin as a tough minded “new woman”, Shusheng, and Ng Cho-fan as her weak husband, Wang Wenxuan, whose spirits have been crushed by the Sino-Japanese war.

Chan Sai-wah abides by his late father's word and marries the wealthy Yam Suk-kuen. They have a son, Kwok-leung. Though Wah is manager of the hotel owned by his father-in-law, Kuen is not a good wife. For all the years of their marriage, Wah has never been happy. Attracted to the humble and honest Carrie Mui, Wah decides to leave his domineering wife Kuen, but is stopped by his father-in-law. The lovers set off to Macau for a new start. Their life has become increasingly miserable under the pressure from Yam's family. When Wah leaves to seek help from his son in Hong Kong, Carrie decides she should leave so that Wah can go without feeling any guilt or burden. On the other hand, Wah is too ashamed to face his son, and returns to Macau. He lives his life in misery. Years pass, the lovers meet again. Wah is reduced to begging in the streets while Carrie becomes an opera diva.

The film depicts the lives of Guangdong peasants who have gone through the suffering of the Sino-Japanese War only to experience home-grown oppression by a rapacious landlord in their village.

When the village is reportedly terrorized by a ghost of the mad woman, the superstitious great-grandfather refuses modern approach and insists to rely of witchcraft to solve the problems of the village, ensuing tragedy after tragedy.

Keung, Ho, and Ching are good friends who grow up together. However, when Keung discovers that Ho killed his fiancée, he seeks revenge and uses Ching to gather evidence against Ho. The three men's relationship deteriorates, and they end up as bitter enemies. Keung is determined to bring Ho to justice by any means necessary.

The swordsman Xie Xiaofeng and Yan Thirteen did not taste a defeat, the two met for a decisive battle, and Thirteen went to the appointment to learn that Xiaofeng had died. However, Xiaofeng did not die, he hid in a brothel and disappeared, hoping to quit the rivers and lakes. However, his identity was finally discovered, and he was retaliated by his old lover Murong Qiudi, and his belated decisive battle with Thirteen was finally staged.

Song Fangting was pursued by Li Kangrui, and the two could fight hot, but unexpectedly, Kang Rui later empathized with Jian Ruoqi and broke up with Fang Ting. Fang Ting followed her mother's advice and became a dancer, but unfortunately met someone else. Fang Ting met Kang Rui again, and the two communicated again, but Ruoqi found out that she insulted Fang Ting in front of Kang Rui, embarrassing Fang Ting. Fang Ting was arranged to serve a general in Thailand, after which the general was killed, Fang Ting got his property and devoted herself to developing her career, and she joined the entertainment industry and became a celebrity. Unfortunately, in the end, Fang Ting ended up bankrupt and owed a huge debt, she married Ruoqi's father Jian Ruiming for money, and wanted to take revenge on Ruoqi, and the struggle between the two became more and more fierce.

Huo Dongjue is Huo Yuanjia's son, and he and Huo Yuanjia's apprentice Chen Zhen are dependent on each other. The two travel around the world, enjoying their grudges. Chen Zhen has always been strict with Huo Dongjue, hoping that he can grow into an upright and promising young man. The Japanese martial artist Sato wants to dominate the Chinese martial arts world. In order to combat Sato's gradually rising power, Chen Zhen decides to rebuild the Jingwu Sect. Sato was very unwilling to suffer the blow, so he kidnapped Huo Dongjue, hoping to get Chen Zhen into committing suicide. After learning that Huo Dongjue had been kidnapped, Chen Zhen was extremely anxious and immediately decided to bravely break into the tiger's den alone. However, there were so many enemies that Chen Zhen was outnumbered, and was eventually killed by Sato's trick. However, before his death, Chen Zhen was so heroic that he greatly weakened the power of Sato's party and promoted the glory of China.