116 SB ROMANCE : ‘ Rose, Be My Love ‘

‘ Rose, Be My Love ‘

Cast: Li Ting, Pat Ting Hung, Kwan Shan, Ling Yun
Director : Chin Chien

Synopsis

A loving couple Li Ting and Kwan Shan were separated when a war broke out. Several years later when they met again, Kwan was in a dilemma as he had engaged to Li's best friend, Pat Ting Hung .

To end their relationship, Li eventually accepted Kwan's brother Ling Yun's marriage proposal. However, the latter was later discovered to have contracted an incurable illness......

Li Ting, Pat Ting Hung and Kwan Shan excel in their roles, but young and dashing Ling Yun shines with his impressive performance.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars of 5

115 SB KUNG FU : ‘ Men From The Monastery ‘

‘ Men From The Monastery '

Starring : Chen Kuan-tai, Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-juan
Director : Chang Cheh

Synopsis

The movie comprises of a few subplots.

The first subplot is about Shaolin disciple Hung His-kuan. He fights and kills the Manchus but realizes that he could only do that much as one man.

Next is another Shaolin disciple Fang Shih-yu. He fights his way out the " death alley " in order to pass out from the Shaolin temple, afterwhich he helps some oppressors by defeating a villainous Manchu.

The third subplot is about Shaolin disciple Hu Hui-chien. He avenges for the death of his father by challenging his foes with the assistance from Fang Shih-yu.

The three Shaolin disciples are brought together when the Manchus burn the Shaolin temple . They gather other Shaolin disciples and go into hiding until the Manchu fighters track them down in the explosive finale .......

Director Chang Cheh’s stereotyped kung fu flick with fantastic fighting choreography …

Rating : 3 stars of 5

114 DIRECTOR : Ho Meng-hua ( part 2 )

(05) Shaw Bros Director : Ho Meng-hua ( part 2 )

In the early ‘70s, Ho Meng-hua has made an explosive erotic movie “Kiss Of Death” that brings actress Chen Ping to stardom. In this controversial movie, Chen Ping plays a rape victim who seeks revenge; playing opposite her is Lo Lieh. A follow-up with this box-office hit is “ The Sinful Adulteress” with Chen Chun, another erotic thriller.










During this period, Ho has diversified to make some fantasy movies as “The Mighty Peking Man” (starring Danny Lee), “The Black Magic I, II ” (starring Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Tien Ni), “The Oily Manic” ( starring Danny Lee, Chen Ping )…









With his innovative instinct, Ho directed a kung fu movie “The Flying Guillotine” (starring Chen Kuan-tai) in the mid-70s which is another box-office hit, followed by “The Dragon Missile” ( starring Lo Lieh, Liu Yong).










Now his classic wu xia genre.

Ho’s earlier swordplay movies are restricted to the familiar plot of vengeance. “The Killer Darts” (starring Chin Ping, Yue Hua), “The Lady of Steel” (starring Cheng Pei Pei, Yue Hua) and “Vengeance Is The Golden Blade” (starring Chin Ping, Yue Hua) are those traditional avengers movies.










In “The Lady Hermit’ (starring Cheng Pei Pei, Shih Sze, Lo Lieh) and “The Long Chase” (starring Yue Hua, Lo Lieh, Li Ching), he makes a breakthrough in terms of plot and fighting choreography and these movies make a hit in the box-office. The recognition of his achievements in swordplay movies has motivated him to make two more wu xi pian “The Golden Lion” and “Ambush” ( both starring Li Ching). However, that era is the decline of wu xia pian genre.

Ho Meng-hua – another all-times favorite director !

113 SB SWORDSPLAY '70s : ‘ The Lady Hermit ‘

‘ The Lady Hermit ‘

Cast : Cheng Pei-pei, Lo Lieh, Shih Sze
Director : Ho Meng-hua

Synopsis

A master swords woman was injured in her attempts to reform a villain, thereby hid her identity to work as a cook to recuperate and to plan her revenge. Then she met a young swords woman who was bent to learn martial arts from her...

Excellent hack-em and slash-em fighting choreography! Engrossing plot with a triangular romance! Dashing performances of Cheng Pei-pei as the dynamite 'Lady Hermit' and Shih Sze as her peevish and self-centered disciple.

Rating : 4 stars of 5

112 REVIEW : ' The Adulteress '

' The Adulteress '

Starring: Li Li-hua, Kwan Shan, Yang Chun
Director: Li Han-hsiang, Ho Meng-hua

Synopsis

One of the sensational scandals in Qing Dynasty !

An ill-fated beauty Xiao Bai Chai, who in love with a literary hero Yang, was forced to marry a peddler. After her marriage, she had been a faithful wife but rumors of her affair with her ex-lover were spread far and wide in town.

Meanwhile, the son of a magistrate was infatuated with Xiao . He schemed to drug and rape her one day but in the nick of time, Xiao's husband came to her rescue and later fell sick after that incident.

Xiao approached Yang who was well versed in medicine. With the prescription, she bought the medicine from a pharmacy, not knowing that the medicine was poisoned by the magistrate's son. The peddler died after consuming the poisoned drugs. The town was again upset by the rumors of the foul play.

The peddler's cousin went to the magistrate and accused Xiao of the murder. Eventually, the magistrate came to know the truth. To protect his own son , he instigated Xiao to frame up Yang ...
.
Rating : 3 stars of 5

111 STAR : Kwan Shan

( 24) Kwan Shan

From a scholar in ‘The Adulteress’, a fisherman in ‘The Shepherd Girl’ and a patriotic youth in ‘The Blue and The Black’,

Kwan Shan's acting versatility could be seen and thus he became one of the top leading man in Shaw Studio in the ‘60s ….

110 SB MUSICAL : ' The Venus Tear Diamond '

’ The Venus Tear Diamond '

Cast : Lily Ho , Ling Yun
Director : Inoue Umetsugu

Synopsis

Two rival jewel thieves had targeted to steal a precious diamond named “ Venus Tear ”. Never did they expect that love sparkled between them in due course...

A silly musical slapstick that revolves around theft and romance. Watch this movie just for the photogenic stars pairing Lily Ho and Ling Yun.

Rating: 2 stars of 5

109 SB KUNG FU : ‘ The Convict Killer ‘

‘ The Convict Killer ‘

Cast : Ti Lung, Liu Yong, Pao Piao, Ching Li
Director : Chu Yuan

Synopsis

The story began with the search for a person named "Black Leopard" whom nobody knew his true identity.

A framed ex-convict vowed to track him down to avenge for his 15 years unjustifiable imprisonment. A mysterious woman came desperately looking for him in view to find out the whereabout of her 15-years missing-in-action husband. Complications arose when more characters came into play -- an undercover cop and seven killers, all with different intents.

Superb twist-n-turn plot ! Impressive performances of all casts !

Rating : 4 stars of 5

108 SB SWORDSPLAY '80s : ' Shaolin Intruders '

' Shaolin Intruders '

Cast : Derek Yee, Pai Piao, Liu Yu-po
Director : Tang Chia

Synopsis

A swordswoman was implicated in multiple murders of several prestigious gang masters. Determined to clear her name, two of her friends barged into the highly protected Shaolin Temple thrice in view to find out the real culprits. When they thought they had gotten rid of these culprits, the mysterious murderers strike again, followed by a series of intense pursuits for the ultimate villain…..

Excellent fighting choreography ! Thrilling detective plot ! Highly entertaining movie with good and feature innovative actions integrated with engaging plots and characters… Thumps up !

Rating : 4 1/2 stars of 5

107 REVIEW : ' West Chamber '

‘ West Chamber ‘

Cast : Ivy Ling Po, Li Ching, Fang Yin
Director : Yueh Feng

Synopsis

A scholar was enchanted by the beauty of a maiden who stayed at the East Chamber of a temple. He pleaded with the abbot to put him up at the West Chamber so to be near to his dream girl. Then rebels attacked the temple with intent to abduct the maiden …

Ratings : 2 ½ stars of 5

106 STAR : Fang Yin

( 23) Fang Yin

Fang Yin’s sweet and pure image in her first huangmei film ‘ A Maid From Heaven ‘had won the hearts of many moviegoers.

Henceforth, she starred in many movies of all genres.

From huangmei diao‘ The Female Prince ‘, contemporary drama ‘ Auntie Lan ‘ , period thriller ‘ Gun Brothers ‘ to wuxia pian ‘ Iron Buddha ‘, Fang Yin had shown her acting versatility in her subsequent movies ….

105 SB KUNG FU : ‘ Duel of Fists ‘

‘ Duel of Fists ‘

Cast : David Chiang, Ti Lung, Ching Li
Director: Chang Cheh

Synopsis

An architect traveled to Thailand upon the request of his dying father to locate his lost brother. He met a boxer who was hounded by some corrupted boxing promoters. There he began to face a world of deadly Thai kickboxing..

Ti Lung makes a credible Thai boxer, for his diligent training in Thai boxing prior to filming. David Chiang does his kung fu flicks with his usual flair. The plot is simple but interesting. A unique auctioneer highly recommended !

Rating : 4 1/2 stars of 5

104 SB MUSICAL : ‘ Moonlight Serenade ‘

‘ Moonlight Serenade ‘

Cast : Li Ching , Chin Feng , Li Ting , Yen Chun
Director : Yen Chun

Synopsis

A village girl Jing Jing was in love with a woodcutter. However, a tyrant of the village was attracted by her beauty and schemed to break up the couple ………

Li Ching exudes her charm with this sweet and witty role. Chin Feng is good as her young and righteous lover. Many familiar San ker songs as in another Shaw movie “The Shepherd Girl”. The major flaw is the inconclusive finale.

Rating : 2 stars of 5

103 SB SWORDSPLAY '70s : ' The Golden Lion '

' The Golden Lion '

Cast : Li Ching, Chao Hsiung, James Nan
Director : Ho Meng-hua

Synopsis

A Robin-Hood like bandit called Golden Lion was ambushed and poisoned by his rivals. Fortunately , a righteous doctor agreed to develop an antidote for him . Together with the doctor’s courageous daughter , the trio set off on a perilous journey where there were many enemy’s ambushes along the way into the mountains …..

Hmm….a fast and furious actioner that sweeps from the plains to the mountains .. to the sound of slashing swords… Impressive brawl in the rain lashed forest… Thumps up !

Rating : 4 stars of 5

102 SB ROMANCE : ‘ The Blue And The Black , I & II ‘

‘ The Blue And The Black , I & II ‘

Cast : Lin Dai, Kwan Shan, Pat Ting Hung
Director : Doe Ching

Synopsis

A romance in China during the Japanese occupation ...

A young and attractive lady met her prince charming at her aunt’s birthday party. They fell in love at the first sight. Once she stayed overnight to nurse her beloved who was injured. She was then reprimanded and detained in the house by her aunt whom thought that her act had disgraced her family. Soon the rebellious lady escaped from home and found a job in a hospital. She urged her beloved to elope with her but was rejected. That provoked her hatred …

In spite of the little mismatch of roles for Lin Dai and Kwan Shan to play their ‘teens’ in the earlier part of the movie and the replacement of Lin Dai in the latter part, generally this is still a beautifully-staged and well-acted epic melodrama set during the tumultuous years of World War II. Thumps up!

Rating : 3 ½ stars of 5

101 STAR : LIN DAI

(22) Lin Dai

Lin Dai won the hearts of critics by winning 4 ‘Best Actress’ awards at the film festivals.

She was a versatile actress who could handle different genres with aplomb.

Her tearjerker ‘ Love Without End’, huang mei films ‘ The Kingdom and The Beauty ‘, ‘ Madam White Snake’, musical comedy‘ Les Belles ‘ and period drama ‘ The Blue and The Black’ were some of her megahits of the ‘60s …

100 SPECIAL ...

' 100th Special '

Finally, the 100th post !!!

I started this blog since April 30, with intent to consolidate my movie reviews, stars pics and share with all moviegoers. Currently, these are categorized accordingly to their respective subjects.

A glance at the right column of the page, under the heading “ Labels “, there is a catalogue which shows 58 movie reviews are written (47 Shaw Bros Classics related.), 21 Shaw Stars pics are posted, 3 reviews on drama serials and other miscellaneous subjects.

Hopefully my next 100 posts could include reviews of other Hong Kong movies besides those from Shaw Studio ….

Here my is one of favorite MVs to share with all ….... ‘ Big City , Small Love ‘

99 TAIWAN ROMANCE: ' First Come First Love '

' First Come, First Love '













Cast: Joan Lin, Alan Tang, Hsu Feng
Director: Wang Shi-zheng

Synopsis

Alan played a scheming, career-minded entrepreneur who aspired to out-wit his rival competitor, Hsu Feng. As his plan, he started dating Hsu with an intent to gather her company 's confidential information. Never did he expect to be infatuated with Joan, a country girl who was brought to his house by mistake.....

Joan Lin is adorable and sweet and Alan Tang is young and dashing. Also, it was interesting to watch Chin Han as a guest star who ably supporting the charismatic leads.

Rating: 3 ½ stars of 5

98 TAIWAN ROMANCE: ' Trio Love '

' Trio Love '




















Cast: Joan Lin, Charlie Lin, Tien Niu, Liu Wen Zheng
Director: Yang Tao

Synopsis

A movie about three hunks who met their ideal babes. They planned and implemented their "courtship" strategies to woo the ladies. Of course, all's well ends well.

A hilarious slapstick ! A "3" for the stars power and the two memorable songs by Fong Fei Fei.

Rating: 3 stars of 5

97 TAIWAN ROMANCE : ' The Spring Lake '

' The Spring Lake '
















Cast: Joan Lin, Chin Han
Director: Lai Chen Ying

Synopsis

Chin Han played a failure who had never succeeded in any business venture after his graduation. In his last attempt to start a new business with his childhood friend, he was cheated for a huge sum of money. He vowed to retrieve his money and started to track down his friend through Joan Lin, his friend's fiancée. Love developed between the two during the search....

A light-hearted comedy! Excellent choreography! Perfect cast!

Rating: 4 stars of 5

96 K-POP : ‘ WINTER SONATA '‘

A k-drama ...

‘ WINTER SONATA ‘















Cast : Bae Yong Jun , Choi Ji Woo , Park Yong Ha

Synopsis

The story begins with the transfer of the main character Jun Xiang to a new high school in search for his biological father and thereby he met his school mate You Zhen. The two young ones fall in love but circumstances and fate dictated that their love would never be.













When Jun Xiang discovered the relationship of his father and You Zhen’s mother , he suspected You Zhen could be his sister. Thus, he abruptly disappeared which led to rumors of his fatal car accident.















Many years later, while working on a ski resort project, the heart-broken and dispirited You Zhen met a guy that resembled Jun Xiang ….













Rating : 4 stars of 5