After the Mingxing studio management accepted Zhang Shichuan's decision to promote Hu Die as the company's top actress, the future movie "Empress" garnered a succession of plum screen roles in films that were increasingly and unabashedly commercial, often patterned on those coming out of Hollywood at that time. One such film, very successful at the box office, was a crime story featuring a glamorous amateur detective assisting the police, and in fact solving the crime, despite the opposition of the regular police. Further twists were that the investigator's own family were the victims, and the investigator herself was in harm's way during the course of her inquiries. Since the film is lost, we cannot be certain how graphic was the girl detective's luring of the mob boss: from the handful of movies that survive from that era (and the written synopses of others), it is obvious that Chinese movies then were no less daring or overt in their sexuality than the pre-code Hollywood movies of that era. In other words, the lady may have gone somewhat beyond mere flirtation.
Nü Zhentan (1928) 女侦探 (The Girl Detective)
Mingxing. B&W. Silent. 10 reels. Premiered November 14, 1928 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai. Direction: Zhang Shichuan. Screenplay and Program Notes: Zheng Zhengqiu. Cast: Hu Die (the girl detective), Zheng Chaofan (chief of detectives). Also: Wang Jiting, Huang Junfu, Tang Jie, Tan Zhiyuan, Gong Jianong, Hu Shan, Xia Peizhen, Zhao Jingxia, Wang Xianzhai, Wang Mengshi, Xuan Ruilong.
A wealthy but dysfunctional family consists of five people: the father, a heavy drinker; the mother, a spendthrift who squanders money on frequent and frivolous shopping sprees; their son and his wife, but she is so mistreated she decides to leave him. The fifth family member, the daughter, is a normal young woman and student. After she graduates, the daughter takes a vacation trip, and during her absence the family home is invaded and ransacked by a criminal gang who injure the family physically and financially. When the daughter hears the news, she immediately returns home and involves herself in the middle of a complex criminal case. She first reports to the police station, offering to assist in bringing the gang to justice. The chief of detectives, a handsome young man proud of having never left a case unsolved, has taken personal charge of the case, and is reluctant to bring in a well-meaning amateur. He declines her offer of assistance. But as the case drags on he grows increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress. The lack of success causes the girl to fear the police will fail, so she decides to conduct her own investigation. When an underworld figure is killed, a man whose past record included offenses similar to this one, she suspects he may have been involved with the gang.
[below left, Hu Die (right) consoles a mobster's widow (Hu Shan); click on any picture for larger image]
She visits the deceased man's widow, and learns from her the gang leader's
identity. In the guise of a sexy playgirl, the girl goes to a night club frequented by he mob boss, meets and lures him into trusting her. Through the boss she infiltrates the gang and uncovers the evidence needed to convict them. She contacts the chief of detectives, the gang's headquarters are raided by police, and all are rounded up. Afterwards, the girl and the chief of detectives get together.
[right, Sex as a weapon: the lady sets a trap]
