The Chinese Mirror

《A Home Truth》(1925)

    As noted in earlier posts, 1920s Chinese cinema was dominated by three genres:  first, comedy shorts (mostly slapstick) imitative of the American comedies of Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, etc.  As Chinese productions transitioned from shorts to full length features, "mandarin ducks and butterflies" romances became dominant, and toward the end of the decade martial arts fantasies became the mania.  While the titles credited with touching off that mania are the entries in the《Burning of Red Lotus Temple》series, there were earlier martial arts films, which while often popular, never achieved the heights of success that the《Burning》series did.  One popular entry was this early 1925 release that seemed to have something for everyone:  it was a romance co-starring the athletic action hero Zhang Huichong and his real-life wife and frequent leading lady Xu Sue; it was a crime film, with a cruel murder and a frame-up of the hero; and it was an action film, giving Zhang ample opportunity to show off his fighting skills.  Before Zhang Huichong went into full-time filmmaking he was an officer in the Chinese merchant marine, and in several of his films his characters were also former sailors.  This film continued that trend.  

Qing Hai Fengbo (1925) 情海风波 (A Home Truth)

    Lianho.  B&W.  Silent.  Premiered January 17, 1925 at the Carlton Theater in Shanghai.  Direction:  Zhang Huichong.  Screenplay:  Wu Baoying.  Cinematography:  Xu Wenrong.  Principal cast:  Zhang Huichong (Di Zhiguang), Xu Sue (Rong Ruyue), Zhang Meilie.

    When her husband dies at an early age, a young widow is left to raise the couple's son by herself.  She does a good job and the boy, Di Zhiguang, grows up to become a naval academy graduate and ship captain.  But when the political situation grows turbulent, he leaves the service and returns home, where he meets and falls in love with Rong Ruyue, a local girl of good family who lives with her own widowed mother, Madame Gu.  But when the young couple express their desire to marry, the very traditional Madame Gu forbids it, in the belief that marital choice is wrong.  For some time, a wealthy but frivolous cousin of Ruyue named Hu Litu has wanted the girl for his wife, and through currying favor with Madame Gu by bringing her gifts of money and goods, he has obtained her promise to give no one but him permission to marry her daughter.  Ruyue has steadfastly opposed this marriage, even more so after meeting Zhiguang.

[right, a young woman (Xu Sue) begins to appreciate her own beauty when she finds true love.  Click on images to view full size.)

    So Zhiguang and Ruyue take to meeting secretly.  One evening, as they are sitting on some rocks by the seacoast talking of love, they are discovered by Hu Litu.  Overcome with jealousy, he goes to Madame Gu and tells her of this.  Furious, Madame Gu goes to the young couple, curses Zhiguang, and drags her daughter home.  Zhiguang is upset, and in his frustration and anger he strikes Litu, knocking him down.  Just before Madame Gu had burst on the scene, as Zhigguang and Ruyue were sitting and talking, they had been about to cut up some pears to snack on, and in the ensuing commotion the pears and knife were dropped to the ground.  After Litu is knocked down, he sees the knife, picks it up and, seeing Zhiguang's name on the handle hatches an evil trap for his rival. 

[left, lovers are forced into clandestine meetings.  Zhang Huichong and Xu Sue]

    Late that night, he goes to Ruyue's home, scales the wall and sneaks into the house where he stabs Madame Gu to death, leaving the knife next to the corpse before he flees the scene of the crime.  Investigators find the knife and immediately arrest Zhiguang, charging him with manslaughter.  Although Zhiguang vigorously denies the charge, he has no evidence to clear himself.  Ruyue knows he is innocent, but each time she visits him, the two can only sit in silent sorrow.  Worry about her son causes Zhiguang's mother to fall ill, and as her condition worsens, she begs to see her son one last time.  Ruyue goes to the jail to plead for his release, and the warder, who had once received a kindness from Ruyue's father, agrees to release Zhiguang on his own recognizance.  Zhiguang races to his mother's bedside and embraces her, holding her and crying until she at last dies in his arms.  After the mother dies, Ruyue persuades Zhiguang to take this opportunity to escape. During his flight, the police pursue him for over 100 li [about 30 miles], and during the chase he has several struggles with the police, finally jumping into the sea to shake them off.  After his escape, Zhiguang changes his name and exiles himself to a rural area, and it is several months before he contacts Ruyue, who has been distraught since Zhiguang fled. 

    Hu Litu, meanwhile, renews his pursuit of the girl, often bringing her clothing and jewelry, which she steadily refuses to accept.  At last he attempts to force himself on Ruyue, kissing her, but she yells for a servant who comes to her aid and drives Litu from the home.  Giving up on ever winning Ruyue, Litu seeks and finds a new love.  But this woman turns out to have even looser morals than his, and after they marry he finds she continues to have other sex partners.  He finds out where she is having a tryst, and taking a pistol, surprises her with one of her illicit lovers.  But as the two men struggle over the gun, it goes off, mortally wounding Hu Litu.  As he lays dying, he tells detectives that he wants to get something off his conscience, and confesses to having murdered Ruyue's mother Madame Gu and framing Zhiguang for it.  The next day, the newspapers publish the story of Hu's confession and Zhiguang's innocence.  This publicity prompts Zhiguang to return from the countryside and stand trial.  He is quickly acquitted.  After this, the couple pay the money to get the warder out of trouble for freeing Zhiguang, then they marry and look forward to a new life together. 

《Suspicious Couple》(1926)

    Although this successful production is not particularly noteworthy either for its plot or its moralistic message (that a husband and wife should believe in and be tolerant of each other), it is notable in its casting, specifically the number of Mingxing studio stars - both current and emerging - who appeared in relatively small roles.  These included such marquee names as Wang Hanlun, star of the 1923 smash hit that actually rescued the then struggling studio from fiscal collapse, as well as Li Minghui and Xuan Jinglin, who usually acted the female leads in their films.  Although the surviving documentation does not specify what roles these performers played, since several of the film's scenes were set in a dance hall, they may have been dance hall employees or patrons.  The practice of casting stars in bit parts or as extras has been done since, in both China (e.g.《The Founding of a Republic》 and in the West (e.g.《Around the World in Eighty Days》), but I find it often distracts from following the story ("Isn't that Vicki Zhao? ... Was that Frank Sinatra? ... What just happened?")]

Xinren de Jiating (1926) 新人的家庭 (Suspicious Couple)
literal English title:  The Newlyweds' Family 

    Mingxing.  Silent.  11 reels.  Premiered January 4, 1926 at the Carlton Theater in Shanghai.   Direction:  Ren Jinpin.  Consultant:  Chen Shouyin.  Screenplay:  Gu Kenfu.  Cinematography:  Bu Wancang.  Sets:  Dong Tianya.  Titles:  Bao Tianxiao.  Art:  Maxu Weibang.  Cast:  Zhang Zhiyun (Du Wenbo), Yang Naimei (Miss Lu), Wang Yuanlong (Liu Chilong), Zheng Xiaoqiu (Minsheng), Xu Sue (Zhao Xilan), Zhang Huichong (chief of detectives), Wang Sutong (Du Wenjing), Wang Xianzhai (Zhang Bohua), Wang Jiting (Qi Yiqing).  Also:  Zhang Meilie, Wang Hanlun, Fu Wenhao, Li Minghui, Xuan Jinglin, Zhao Jingxia, Wang Suyun, Fu Lühen, Huang Yunzhen, Wang Fuqing, Ren Chaojun, Huang Junfu, Zhao Chen, Tang Jie, Shao Zhuanglin, Wen Shaoru.

[Dance partners now, but illicit lovers soon:  Yang Naimei, left, and Wang Yuanlong]
    
    Young bank manager Liu Chilong would appear to have it all:  appointed to a responsible position while still relatively young, he is considered a rising star in his city's financial community.  In addition, he and his wife Du Wenbo are a loving couple blessed with a small son they name Minsheng.  But one day the couple argue over some trifling matter, and Chilong suspects his wife no longer appreciates him.  He decides he needs  new recreation so takes up dancing.  His wife, stuck at home with a child, begins to suspect his new pastime is just a means of getting away from her.  On one of his evenings out, he meets Miss Lu, a well-known socialite.  Miss Lu is a frequent hostess of dance parties, and when she invites Chilong he readily accepts, hoping to widen his circle of acquaintances.   But Miss Lu is actually an ambitious golddigger who has targeted Chilong, seeing the banker as her route to making profitable contacts in financial circles.  Her lover Zhang Bohua has another idea, however, and together they hatch a plot to get the young banker's money as well by luring him into an affair with Miss Lu.  Chilong quickly succumbs to her charms, but his lack of discretion leads to his wife Wenbo learning of the extramarital relationship.  She sues for divorce, and when the plotters realize that Wenbo may now get the bulk of her husband's resources, leaving them with nothing, they go a step further and arrange for some thugs to kidnap Chilong and Wenbo's son.  Through excellent detective work, the child is rescued, and the kidnappers implicate the plotters.  Miss Lu and Zhang Bohua are arrested.  The next day, Chilong goes to see his son, and when he meets with Wenbo, the two talk things over and agree to reconcile.  

《Cycles of Debt》(1926)

    One of the more successful Chinese movies of 1926 was the Great Wall studio's (still extant)《A String of Pearls》, adapted from the 19th century French story "La Parure" by Guy de Maupassant.  The Chinese film version delivered a cautionary message, a strong warning to women of the dangers of vanity, blaming the principal female character for the financial and personal ruin brought to her family by her desire to show off an expensive piece of jewelry.  It also criticized her best friend for almost destroying her own marriage through a similar act of vanity.

    Blaming women for domestic problems seems to have been a popular theme at the time, for later that same year this film from the Da Zhonghua Baihe studio carried the same warning.  However, instead of a domestic tragedy, it related its story as a comedy with a crime subplot.  There is no indication the film was an adaptation, but with its trio of couples playing multiple games of musical beds and carrying on romantic liaisons in love nest hotels,《Cycles of Debt》might well have been taken from the works of another 19th century French writer, the farceur Georges Feydeau.  The movie's title is actually a double entendre, implying emotional and romantic debt as well as financial.

[left, a wealthy woman's love of money and luxury brings problems; Zhou Wenzhu.] 

    A departure from other films of the time is the character whose heroic actions bring matters to a successful conclusion.  Instead of a brave young man or a virtuous maiden, the heroine was a golddigger, a young woman of easy virtue; and instead of changing her ways in the end and moving onto a righteous path, she is content to go back to her former life as a professional mistress.

[right, a promiscuous young woman becomes an unlikly heroine; Tang Tianxiu.]

Lianhuan Zhai (1926) 连环债 (Cycles of Debt)

    Da Zhonghua Baihe.  B&W.  Silent.  10 reels.  Direction and Screenplay:  Zhu Shouju.  Cinematography:  Zhou Shimu, Yu Shengsan.  Principal Cast:  Zhou Wenzhu (Mrs. Wang), Tang Tianxiu (Zhou Aizhu), Wang Naidong (Huang Zheng), Wang Zhengxin (Xu Ming).

    Wang Zaixi is a businessman, head of the Near East Trust Company.  Though the business is a large and prosperous one, bringing him a great deal of personal wealth, Wang himself is very thrifty.  His wife however, loves to flaunt their wealth, which upsets Wang Zaixi, who would prefer they live more simply.  Wang has two young deputies at his business:  one, Xu Ming, has recently married; the other, Huang Zheng, is unmarried but romantically involved with Zhou Aizhu, a young woman of loose morals who has had a succession of lovers, even including Xu Ming at one time.   Of all her romantic relationships, Aizhu exploits the one with Huang Zheng the most:  his infatuation with her and eagerness to keep her satisfied leads Huang to spend all his savings, and even borrow money to keep his lover in the lifestyle she wants. When legitimate lenders turn him down, Huang turns to a local gang for his loans. 

    One Sunday afternoon, as Wang Zaixi and his wife are leaving a movie theater, they run into Xu Ming and his wife.  The two couples share a taxi, and during the ride Zaixi becomes very favorably impressed with his subordinate's young bride.  Similarly, Zaixi's wife finds Xu Ming an attractive young man.  So she begins inviting the younger couple over to their home from time to time.  

    One day when Mrs. Wang doesn't feel well her husband wants to take her to the hospital.  But just as he is about to leave work, something unexpectedly crops up which demands his immediate attention.  So he asks Xu Ming to accompany Mrs. Wang to the hospital.  Huang Zheng, already jealous of  Xu Ming's growing personal relationship with the Wangs, is even more resentful of his colleague's being given this assignment.  The next day, Mrs. Wang arrives at the business seeking her husband, but he and Xu Ming are at a meeting elsewhere, with only Huang Zheng there to receive her.  The two have a very pleasant conversation, after which Mrs. Wang invites Huang to her home for dinner that evening, which he accepts.  But as it happens, that very evening Wang Zaixi has a tryst with Mrs. Xu, while her husband Xu Ming is secretly meeting with Huang's girlfriend Zhou Aizhu.  So Mrs. Wang and Huang Zheng are left to have an intimate dinner for two.  

    Huang Zheng has fallen increasingly under the control of the gangsters he owes money.  One day, a client has 100,000 yuan in government bonds delivered to the trust company, but since it is after banking hours, Wang Zaixi entrusts Xu Ming to take the bonds home with him and deliver them to the bank the next morning.  Huang Zheng tips off the gangsters, and that night they steal the funds.  The next morning, Xu Ming discovers the money is missing and reports this to Wang Zaixi.  But Wang accuses Xu of embezzlement and has the younger man arrested.

    The robbers have had the Wang residence under observation, and when they note how expensively dressed Mrs. Wang is when she goes out, they decide the residence should be worth burglarizing.  Because Huang Zheng is familiar with the home, they have him help plan the heist, and to get Mrs. Wang away, they have Huang write her a note setting up a tryst at a local hotel.  Before going to the Wang home for the burglary, Huang keeps a date with Zhou Aizhu at her apartment, but forgets to take the note with him when he leaves.  Aizhu finds it and her suspicions aroused, disguises herself as a man and goes to the hotel, where she learns of the plot.  She immediately goes to Xu Ming's home, informs Mrs. Xu of the situation, and sends her to report it to the police.  Aizhu herself goes directly to Wang Zaixi to warn him, then goes to the Wang home.  There she finds the thieves have already broken in, and seeing her false lover standing watch outside, Aizhu scales a back wall, enters the home, and finding the thieves in a room they are burglarizing, locks them in.  The police arrive and arrest the thieves, who expose Huang Zheng as their inside man.

    The denouement:  Xu Ming and his wife find they are more in love than ever, while Zhou Aizhu goes back to her dissolute life, as before.  The person most shaken by these events is Mrs. Wang, who resolves to stop flaunting her wealth and always dress simply and plainly.  Her husband's happy reaction to this is, "If you had dressed like this before, how could there have been any robbery!" 

Shang Guanwu (? - 1938)

    Shang Guanwu 尚冠武 (? -1938) was an early Chinese film actor who specialized in negative roles.  His father had a very large business, but the son rejected the chance to take it over.  Although ambitious, Guanwu wanted to get away from relying on family connections to make his own way.  After he decided on an acting career he began in movies in 1926 with the Youlian (Friendship) Film Company, making his screen debut with a major supporting role in the first episode of 1927's《Heroic Son and Daughter》.

    He appeared in various martial arts films over the rest of the decade, quickly becoming typecast in such roles as evil landlords, gang bosses or collaborationist traitors.  (His character in《The Big Road》was all three.)  In 1934, he joined the Lianhua studio, appearing in several of China's screen classics of the 1930s.  Although his characters continued to be villains, he was cast against type in 1935's《Song of China》as a loving but rigidly traditional Confucian family patriarch.  Shang Guanwu's last film was 1938's《Sunrise》, and by now his acting had developed to the point he was getting approving critical notices, standing out even as a supporting player.  In early 1938 Shang was married to a young woman named Yin Yueqin 殷月琴, the niece of Shang's fellow screen "heavy" Yin Xiucen, who we will discuss in a future post.   Shang took some time off after the wedding, returning to work in the summer of 1938.  But sadly, as he was working on a sound remake of the silent martial arts classic《Four Heroes of the Wang Family》he was stricken with typhoid, and died shortly after, in August, 1938.  Records do not indicate his age at time of death, but he was probably in his early to mid-30s.
____________________

Filmography (as actor, unless noted otherwise):

1927:
Heroic Son and Daughter, I (aka Thirteenth Sister Smashes the Nengren Temple)

1929:
Heroic Son and Daughter, III (Thirteenth Sister Disturbs the White Cloud Convent) 
A Narrow Escape
Red Butterfly, II
Red Knight Errant, I (also assistant director)
Burning of Winding Temple, I, II
The Final Verdict (aka A Narrow Escape, II 
A Giant Kingdom 

1930:
Swordswoman of Huangjiang, I-VII, (actor in parts I-III, director of parts I-VI, VII)
Heroic Son and Daughter, IV (aka Thirteenth Sister Destroys the Zhang Clan's Fortress)
Red Knight Errant, II
Evil Shadows in the Temple

1931:
Murder in the Dance Hall (aka Dancer's Blood)
One Full Moon
Heroic Son and Daughter, V (aka Thirteenth Sister Destroys Fuhu Ridge)
Swordswoman of Huangjiang VIII   (also director)

1932:
Gallant Woman

1933:
Southern Swallow
Stirrings of Love

1934:
Song of the Fishermen
Homecoming
The Big Road

1935:
Song of China
Four Sisters
A Hero of Our Time
Shadows

1936:
Bloodshed on Wolf Mountain
Girl in an Isolated City

1937:
Story of Loyalty on a Northern Battlefield
Song of a Kind Mother (aka Mother's Song)
Lianhua Symphony, episode 7:  Wild Rhapsody
Artistic Scene, episode 1:  Cinema City
So Busy
The Lost Pearl
Secret Code 

1938:
Sunrise 

《The Detective's Wife》(1929)

    In the West, a popular subgenre of detective literature and motion pictures has been the investigation and solution of crimes by a husband and wife team of investigators, who may be a combination of professional and amateur, or a pair of talented amateurs.  In the U.S. there have been such notable combinations as Nick and Nora Charles, and Pam and Jerry North; British fiction has given us Jane and Dagobert Brown, Henry and Emmy Tibbett, and of course Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane.  Other countries probably have their own such pairings.  The earliest example of this sub-genre I have found in Chinese film is this 1929 production from the (real-life) husband and wife team of Zhang Huimin and Wu Suxin, whose Huaju studio specialized in martial arts action/adventures.   But instead of placing their stories in some vaguely defined period of ancient China, the usual setting for the swordsman fantasies that dominated Chinese screens at the time, Huaju placed its stories in modern, contemporary settings.  As a result, while their films were usually categorized as "martial arts," in retrospect they would more accurately be classified as what we today would refer to as "action/adventure" films.  A point of interest about this film is the role of the wife:  instead of just advising her detective husband, she takes on most of the personal risk.

    The popularity and success of this production raised the possibility of a series of movies featuring this crime-busting couple, but unfortunately a depressed economy combined with political turmoil drove the Huaju studio out of business and terminated what could have become a classic series.

[left, while no individual stills from the film have survived, this collage of stills composed an advertisement for the movie.  Wu Suxin can be seen in man's clothing, hands in pockets, in the center.  Most interesting is the lower right corner picture, in which she appears to be dancing on a table while partying with other gang members. Click on image to enlarge.] 

Zhentan zhi Qi (1929) 侦探之妻 (The Detective’s Wife)

    Huaju.  B&W.  Silent.  9 reels.  Premiered May 27, 1929 at the Palace.  Direction:  Zhang Huimin.  Cinematography:  Tang Jianting.  Cast:  Wu Suxin (Madame Wu), Zhang Huimin (Ji Keren), Zhou Juanhong ("The Fly").

    A certain city has been terrorized for some time by a criminal organization, and while the police have had some success in reacting when a crime is committed, they have less progress in accomplishing their main objective:  apprehension of the brains of the gang, a shadowy figure known only as "The Fly."  The problem is complicated by the presence of mob informants within the police.  The city leaders decide to go outside for help, and bring in detective Ji Keren, the top detective in another city.  Ji Keren knows there is no one in the police he can trust fully, and the gang may know his every move.  But unknown to the gang the detective has a covert assistant, his wife Madame Wu, who often helps him in his investigations, sometimes by going underground.  While Ji Keren proceeds with what appears to be normal police procedures, Madame Wu disguises herself as a man, and succeeds in joining the gang.

    After gaining their trust, she learns from other gang members the real identity of "The Fly" and where he can be found.  She also learns who are the informants within the police.  Armed with this information, Ji Keren has the spies arrested before they can tip off the others, then he leads a police raid that rounds up the gang and most importantly, "The Fly." The criminal mastermind is tried and sentenced to a five-year prison term, but on being taken away he vows to have revenge on the couple, aiming his strongest threats at the woman who outsmarted him and deceived his top lieutenants.  The detective couple don't take the threats seriously and return to their home city to resume normal life.  But one day Madame Wu receives an anonymous letter telling her that another gang will soon begin operations in their home city, and that she can stop it in the same way.  The letter even tells her how to do it.  But her husband advises her to use caution, so she doesn't follow up on the tip.  Actually, the letter has been written by "The Fly," who in addition to seeking revenge, is also planning to rebuild his criminal organization and operate it from prison.  

    One day while the couple are out for a walk, they happen upon a group of thugs molesting a girl selling flowers, and he intervenes to drive them off.  But the flower girl is really working for "The Fly," and the whole incident was a setup.  The next day, sent by her boss, she visits the couple to express her gratitude for their help. During the visit she casually mentions her suspicion that there may be criminal activity going on at a certain temple near her flower stall.  The couple go there to investigate, but too late realize they have fallen into a trap.  An underground stream runs beneath the temple, and Keren jumps in.  When he doesn't come up, the gang celebrates, thinking he has drowned.  But Keren has actually swum away underwater, and returns with police who subdue the gang and rescue the detective's wife.

《Her Sorrows》(1926)

    One of the more successful releases of 1926 was this feature from the Mingxing studio, and it is easy to understand why.  Released at the height of the public demand for "Mandarin ducks and butterflies" romances, with a screenplay by the writer whose name was synonymous with that literary school, it provided the added twist of a crime subplot, exploiting the growing interest in Hollywood crime stories among Chinese audiences.  There was also criticism of the (then) still-common practice of requiring parental consent for marriage, the root cause of the young couple's future problems. When added to that was a top-notch cast drawn from the Mingxing studio's stable of performers, the film's success was assured.  There is a hole in the plot that the surviving written sources do not explain:  how was the hero, himself of limited financial means, able to obtain the excellent legal counsel that rescued the heroine?  This may have been the result of a prior relationship, such as an old classmate (a favorite device of early Chinese screenwriters, e.g. in the same year's《Midnight Lovers》), but without the actual film we cannot be certain.  

[left:  poster for《Her Sorrows》.  The film's title is at the top, director's name at the right, leading lady Yang Naimei's at the left, and the studio at the bottom.  The drawing in the center is a good likeless of Yang. Click on any image to view full size] 

Tade Tongku (1926) 她的痛苦 (Her Sorrows)

     Mingxing.  Silent.  11 reels.  Premiered October 7, 1926 at the Palace theater in Shanghai.  Direction:  Zhang Shichuan.  Screenplay:  Bao Tianxiao.  Cinematography:  Dong Keyi.  Cast:  Yang Naimei (You Lingsu), Song Chanhong (You Jiqing, Lingsu's father), Huang Yunzhen (You Jiqing’s wife, née Li), Zhu Fei (Qiu Shaofu), Tan Zhiyuan (Qiu Yintang), Li Shifan (Qiu Yintang’s wife, née Lu), Zheng Erqiu (Qiu Shaoyun), Wang Jiting (Cheng Yancheng), Zhao Jingxia (Yang Liu), Wang Xianzhai (Tang Yuzhen), Huang Junfu (detective), Xiao Ying (Qin Dagang, the lawyer), Wu Jichen (Yu Weifan), Yi Fangshuo (judge), Hong Ji (Xu Zhonghao), Tang Jie (elderly man), Qin Haha (Ren the elder).

    As an independent, modern young woman, You Lingsu desires freedom of marriage, so she arranges her own betrothal, to a young man named Qiu Shaofu, scion of a wealthy family.  Shaofu's mother had died when he was very young, after which his father Qiu Yintang took a second wife, née Lu.  After she bears her husband a second son, Madame Lu dotes on her own boy to the point of spoiling him, while virtually ignoring her stepson.  When Shaofu announces his intention to marry You Lingsu, Madame Lu convinces her husband that the You family is beneath them, so he refuses to give his permission for the marriage.  But, just as Madame Lu hoped he would, Shaofu goes against his father's wishes and elopes with LIngsu, leading the elder Mr. Qiu to publish a newspaper ad announcing he is terminating their father-son relationship and disinheriting his elder son, making the younger son the sole heir.

[right: Can love really conquer all?  A young couple struggles to survive financially.  Yang Naimei and Zhu Fei]

    The struggle to make it financially on their own makes life for the young couple increasingly difficult:  they begin to quarrel, each blaming the other for anything that goes wrong, until at last Shaofu can bear it no longer and moves out.  Before their breakup, the young couple had liked dancing, and at the dance hall met a young businessman named Cheng Yancheng.  When he first learned of the couple's economic difficulties, Cheng had lent them $1,000 to help out, after which he became a frequent visitor  to their home, ostensibly as a caring friend of the couple, but actually because of his admiration and desire for the young wife.  After the couple separates, Cheng continues calling on Lingsu, and these private meetings lead to his renting a place  where they can live together.  He then convinces Lingsu to divorce her husband and move in with him, with the promise of marriage later. 

[A caring "friend" comforts a distraught young wife.  Wang Jiting, left, and Yang Naimei]    

    But while Cheng Yancheng appears to be a businessman, he is actually a racketeer involved in various illegal activities, in collusion with another man named Tang Yuzhen, and Cheng's mistress, a young woman named Yang Liu.  Not long after marrying Lingsu, Cheng re-establishes his relationship with his former cronies, this time in a plot involving counterfeit money.  After they pull off a scheme which makes them a sizable haul, they steal all of Lingsu's personal savings, in the process framing her by making it look as if she is involved.  But before the now-destitute young woman is brought to trial, one of the city's top lawyers surprisingly shows up to represent her.  He provides information to the authorities which enables them to apprehend and arrest the fugitive trio, and in addition persuades the court to try Lingsu separately from the others.  The case against her having collapsed, Lingsu is quickly acquitted, while the others are convicted.  It turns out that Shaofu rescued his ex-wife by providing the police the clues used to locate the fugitives, and in addition had arranged for her legal representation.  When Lingsu learns all this, she agrees to a reconciliation.  The reunited couple decides to move to the countryside and take up farming, a livelihood which will not demand reliance on outside financial aid. 

《The Industrial Magnate》(1927)

    Although made in the late 1920s, this film is reminiscent of Depression-era Hollywood gangster films which highlighted how society and forces beyond the subjects' control can turn innocents into criminals out of desperation, and appealed for societal reforms.   In this Chinese version, contrary to the frequent American ending, the criminal fully repents and voluntarily goes to pay his debt to society, and not end up bleeding to death on a city sidewalk.

Shiye Dawang 实业大王 (The Industrial Magnate)

     Tongji.  Silent.  Premiered March 6, 1927 at the Palace.  Direction:  Hong Ji, Zhou Kongkong.  Screenplay:  Li Cihang.  Cinematography:  Chen Yongkang.  Sets:  Wei Daxing.  Makeup:  Liu Banchi.  Chinese program notes:  Zhou Wanlan.  English program notes:  Jin Zigang.  Cast:  Tang Mali (Chang Baihua), Shen Baobao (Chang Baihua as a child), Chen Wuwo (Gu Yuzhang), Li Cihang (Chang Daochang), Fu Beiqiu (Mrs. Chang), Qiao Hehe (Ren Tiefeng), Qiu Yuanyuan (Feng Zhigong), Huang Yueru (Feng Xiuhua), Zhou Kongkong (Luo Liangcai), Huang Wengxian (Luo's wife), Gan Xiaobin (Bai Huazi), Liu Banzhi (investigator), Jiang Kailing (plant manager), Su Zhi (Bai Chichi). 

[as his mother lays dying, a little boy faces a very uncertain future]    

    Born into desperate poverty, an orphaned boy turns to crime at an early age, and grows up to become a career criminal.  One day, he makes his big score, stealing a sizable amount of money from a rich man.  Seeing his opportunity, the young man moves to a distant city, changes his identity and decides to go straight.  He invests the loot by purchasing a struggling business, which he turns into a thriving company. In 10 years he has become a prestigious industrial magnate, a pillar of his community.  He marries and has a family.  But as more years pass, his conscience begins nagging at him over his past transgessions, to the point where he can bear it no longer, so he hires a private investigator to find out what consequences resulted from his robbery.  At last, he meets with the man's family, and their now impoverished life shames the thief into repentance.  The former criminal hands over his entire fortune to the community, bids his family goodbye, and turns himself in to be tried for his past crimes.  The court sentences him to 5 years in prison, and although he has to give up his family and comfortable existence, for the first time in his life he feels content, his soul and conscience finally at ease. 

《The Pearl Cap》(1930)

Zhenzhu Guan (1930) 珍珠冠 (The Pearl Cap)

    Da Zhonghua.  B&W.  Silent.  Premiered February 17, 1930 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai. Direction and Screenplay:  Zhu Shouju.  Cinematography:  Zhou Shimu.  Principal cast:  Ruan Lingyu, Zhuang Jiaona, Zheng Jiduo, Zheng Yisheng, Wu Yixiao, Zhang Fufeng.

         The "Pearl Cap" is an expensive piece of jewelry owned by a wealthy woman.  Master thief Lu Bin draws up an elaborate scheme to steal it, which involves gaining the trust of the woman's household. But in the course of carrying out his plan he finds himself falling for the woman's maid.  After a complicated series of events, he at last abandons his quest for the jewelry, proves he can be trusted, and wins the girl he loves.

[right, a maid (Ruan Lingyu, standing) helps her mistress in 
putting on her prized necklace] 

《Real and False Daughters》(1927)

    Another of the popular movies of 1927 was this story of inheritance and greed, combining a romantic triangle, a kidnapping and a climactic fight, interspersed with some comedy throughout.  Two veteran characters actors, Wang Xianzhai and Huang Junfu, nearly always cast as serious villains, in this film portrayed comic bumblers.

Zhenjia Qianjin (1927) 真假千金 (Real and False Daughters)

    Mingxing.  B&W.  Silent.  9 reels.  Premiered August 24, 1927 at the Palace theater in Shanghai. Direction:  Zhang Shichuan.  Screenplay:  Yin Minwei.  Program notes:  Zheng Zhengqiu.   Cinematography:  Dong Keyi.  Sets:  Dong Tianya.  Cast:  Xuan Jinglin (Chang Manying), Zheng Xiaoqiu (Chang Guoying), Huang Junfu (Chang Songzhai), Wang Xianzhai (Hu Yuanfang), Zhao Jingxia (Li Aijuan), Zhu Fei (Kong Buan), Wang Jiting (Gu Shaoru).

    When Chang Xuzhai, a widower and the richest man in the county, dies in early middle age, he leaves behind two teenage children:  a teenaged son Guoying, and his slightly older sister Manying. Always believing his wealth would guarantee his children's futures, Mr. Chang devoted his time to making money, giving little attention to their upbringing and education, either formally or socially.  As a result, Manying just wants to party and have fun, while Guoying thinks of little other than sports.  Both are naive, ignorant of the dangers in the world and how treacherous other people can be.

[plotting to get their niece and nephew's fortune:  Huang Junfu, left, and Wang Xianzhai]

     The father's will stipulates that two-thirds of the estate go to Guoying, with the remaining one-third to Manying as her future dowry.  The size of the estate and the orphans' youth brings out a swarm of relatives and others hoping to share in the inheritance.  Particularly covetous are uncles Chang Songzhai and Hu Yuanfang, who keep hatching schemes to get the fortune, none of which ever work.  Manying steps up her busy social life, and spends lavishly on parties and clubs.  Her circle of friends expands.   One of Manying's girl friends is Li Aijuan, who has a boyfriend named Kong Buan she introduces to Manying.  Another of Manying's new acquaintances is a shady character named Gu Shaoru, also covetous of the heiress's fortune. 
    When Manying expresses a desire to learn to dance, Kong says he is also interested in learning, and offers to be her partner.  As the two frequently go to dancing classes together, and become better acquainted, they begin falling in love.  Li Aijuan grows increasingly  angry and jealous about what she sees happening.  Kong wants to extricate himself from this romantic tangle, and at last decides on Manying, telling Aijuan it is over.  Aijuan angrily goes to see Manying and accuses her of betraying her and stealing her boyfriend.  They have a bitter quarrel, but just as the argument is about to get violent, Guoying intercedes and tries to be a peacemaker.  Aijuan leaves.  Two old friends have now become enemies.  Seething with anger and bitterness, Aijuan approaches Gu Shaoru with the proposal the two of them kidnap Kong, then demand a large ransom sum from Manying, an idea he immediately approves.        Manying is understandably alarmed when she receives the ransom note, but having already squandered so much of her inheritance she is unable to meet the demands.  So she turns to her brother for help, and he generously agrees to amass the necessary amount of ransom money.  The ransom note also instructs Manying to personally deliver the money, and fearing for her safety, Guoying dresses as a girl and goes with his sister.   When they arrive at the ransom drop-off location, they meet the two kidnappers disguised as street thugs, but the brother and sister quickly see through the ruse.  A struggle ensues, but the criminals are quickly overpowered by the athletic Guoying and his sister, who then set free Kong Buan. 
    When the three return home, the police are there to notify them they have captured two additional kidnapping subjects:  it turns out to be the greedy uncles Chang Songzhai and Hu Yuanfang.  When the two had observed the brother and sister preparing the ransom money, they secretly took some of the banknotes, unaware that the bills had been marked beforehand, and the authorities instructed to arrest anyone later attempting to cash them.  So the two uncles had to suffer the embarrassment of being jailed, then having to rely on their niece and nephew to bail them out.  

[Manying (Xuan Jinglin) identifies her two conniving but ultimately incompetent uncles]

《A Pitiful Girl》(1925)

Kelian de Guinü (1925) 可怜的闺女 (A Pitiful Girl)

    Mingxing.  B&W.  Silent.  12 reels.  Premiered November 23, 1925 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai. Direction:  Zhang Shichuan.  Screenplay:  Bao Tianxiao, adapted from his novel, Temptation. Cinematography:  Dong Keyi.  Program notes:  Zheng Zhengqiu.  Cast:  Zhang Zhiyun (Shen Huiying), Song Chanhong (Shen Yushan), Huang Yunzhen (Shen's wife, née Li), Wang Jiting (Wang Xiaolian), Wang Xianzhai (Huang Dagui), Xuan Jinglin (Seventh Aunt Yang), Zhu Shunfang (Elder Sister), Zhu Fei (Qin Jingting), Zhao Weisan (Qin Shuhe), Wen Mei (Qin's wife, née Zhou), Zhao Chen (Wu Shijia), Li Shiyuan (Concubine), Chen Lerui (Second Concubine), Shen Wenjun (Miss Wu).

[left, a scoundrel and one of his female victims.  Wang Jiting and Xuan Jinglin.  Click on any image to enlarge.]  

    A pimp named Wang Xiaolian specializes in deceiving women by setting up hoax situations in which it appears he is rescuing them, then after gaining their gratitude and trust, lures them into prostitution. One such victim of the phony "hero" is a naive young woman named Shen Huiying.   As she is turning over her earnings to him one day, a reporter secretly photographs the exchange and makes it his paper's lead story, which results in her fiancee Qin Jingting angrily breaking off their engagement and her father vowing to kill his unfilial daughter.  Huiying runs away from home.  One day, she again runs into Wang Xiaolian, who demands she go to a hotel with him but she escapes and runs away from him.  Abandoning all hope, Huiying decides to beome a Buddhist nun.  Then a woman called Seventh Aunt Yang, who had also been ruined by Wang Xiaolian, comes forward to expose his crimes, and when she also tells Jingting of this, the two persuade Huiying to return home.  Wang Xiaolian is arrested and brought to justice.

[right, deceived and disgraced, an innocent girl is hauled before a family court for judgement]