Spring in a Small Town

Spring in a Small Town 1948

7.09

A married couple living in a desolate small town in post-WWII China are paid a surprise visit by an old friend of the husband's.

1948

Fortress of Flesh and Blood

Fortress of Flesh and Blood 1938

1

Professor Lo Yeung-guo (Hou Yao) and his students escape death from the Japanese army, and call on villagers in the countryside to form a guerrillas group. His son Lo Yung (Lau Hark-suen), however, indulges in debauchery. Entrapped by the Japanese, chicken-hearted Yung leaks information about the guerrilla that leads to deaths and injuries in the group. Yeung-guo reprimands his son for being an invisible traitor, inflicting even more harm than an outright traitor. Placing righteousness before family, he decides to execute his own son. As a writer-director-actor in the film, Hou Yao proclaimed his unwavering stance on resistance on the screen, and delivered a scathing attack on the cowardly ‘invisible traitors‘ at that time. Not long after, Hou was sadly arrested and executed by the Japanese army in Singapore.

1938

Long Live the Mistress!

Long Live the Mistress! 1947

7.00

A man who becomes wealthy starts to have an affair and though his wife knows of it, she says nothing. Soon, the affair starts to have consequences and his business falls apart while the man’s sister starts to have a relationship with the brother of his wife.

1947

This Life of Mine

This Life of Mine 1950

7.20

Fifty years of modern Chinese history (1900-1950), including wars, revolutions and corrupt politics, as seen through the life and times of a simple Beijing policeman and his family.

1950

Black Cat, the Cat Burglar

Black Cat, the Cat Burglar 1956

1

Lee (Ng Cho-fan), who is the retired jewel thief the Black Cat Burglar, is suspected by the police in a string of burglaries. While fleeing from the police's search, he realises he can only prove his innocence by catching the new Cat in the act. Meanwhile, he is romantically caught in between a young girl from overseas and his goddaughter. As a Cantonese ripoff of Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955), this remake does not have the beautiful scenery from the French Riviera but is full of economical wonders. Director Wong Hang employs westernised filmmaking troops to enhance the film, making it outstanding from other Cantonese films of the same time. From high society gatherings to a hide-and-seek in a masquerade, the film demonstrates not only an elegant style but the versatility and adaptability of Cantonese films. Unlike Cary Grant, Ng Cho-fan manifests himself with a mysterious and artistic aura.

1956

How Wong Fei-Hung and Wife Eradicated the Three Rascals

How Wong Fei-Hung and Wife Eradicated the Three Rascals 1958

1

While Wong Fei Hung is away traveling, three ruthless villains pretend to establish a temple as a front for a range of criminal activities including kidnapping young woman to be used as sex workers. Wong’s wife is told about the goings on by a student and together they take on the gang. Eventually Wong Fei Hung returns and the operation is raided by the married couple and their students. But the villains have filled their temple with traps and secret rooms.

1958

The Watch

The Watch 1949

1

A street-wise and tough orphan called Maverick is arrested for a petty theft and sent to an orphanage, but succeeds in concealing a watch he had stolen from an old shopkeeper just before his arrest. At the orphanage, he is recruited by a crooked warder for further and more serious crimes. But when two more children are admitted to the orphanage -- a boy called "Fatty" and a girl called "Little Mouse" -- he makes the first friends he has ever had. But when Maverick learns the girl is the granddaughter of the old shopkeeper he stole the watch from, and what ruin it brought to her family, he has a crisis of conscience.

1949

Window to America

Window to America 1952

1

A New York City businessman meets a window washer hoping to commit suicide and decides to market his grief to the highest bidder in this acidic satire on American capitalism, one made even more memorable by the fact that the entire “American” cast are Chinese actors in whiteface. The greedy Mr. Butler (Shi Hui) convinces the suicidal “Charley” that he might as well endorse some cigarettes as he jumps out of his office window, and maybe wear a particular suit too. A true cinematic oddity, this Korean War–era propaganda piece is a satire that Frank Tashlin could envy.

1952

Platoon Commander Guan

Platoon Commander Guan 1951

6.50

A platoon commander gets the order to destroy the enemy's command center within three hours. However, the headquarter is located in an overcrowded orphanage.

1951