Chan Yau-San
2021The Bride Napping
Yan Jun
Betty Loh Ti, Ding Ling
The ethereal Lok Dai plays a pivotal role in the 1962 Shaw Brothers screwball costume comedy The Bride Napping. Based on a chapter of author Shi Naian's The Water Margin (AKA: Outlaws of the Marsh), the action kicks off when Liu Yuen Ying (Ding Nung) is "bride-napped" by a bandit who's out to make her his wife! The bandit's sympathetic sister returns Ying, but that's only the beginning of the mistaken identities, social satires, and cross-dressing confusion as Ying's disappearance and return wreaks havoc with the locals! A delightful costume comedy that combines screwball antics, musical interludes, and even a little action, The Bride Napping is a fun and entertaining way to catch the legendary Lok Dai at her most beautiful and charming!
The Bride Napping
楊貴妃
Li Han-Hsiang
Li Li-Hua, Yan Jun
Perhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).
The Magnificent Concubine
宋宮秘史
Kao Li
Ivy Ling Po, Cheng Miu
It seems that Li Zhenfei was once an imperial concubine, who often found herself competing with her rival Madame Liu for the emperor's sole, undivided attention. When Li gives birth to the Emperor's child, the jealous Liu switches the boy with a cat and commands a servant named Kou Zhu to kill the baby. However, Kou Zhu ignores the order and gives the prince-to-be to the emperor's brother, a decision which eventually leads to the boy being adopted by the emperor himself! But as fate would have it, to go along with his new son, the emperor has a new wife as well - Madame Liu! As this strange new family unit is being constructed, poor Li Zhenfei has been confined to the forbidden palace, condemned to never see or speak to her son, the prince. But destiny reunites her with her son, but will this family reunion be a happy one? And will Madame Liu finally be punished for her treachery?
Inside the Forbidden City
血手印
Chan Yau-San
Ivy Ling Po, Chin Ping
Ling Bo is Lin, a young man engaged to the daughter of a rich man, who now despises Lin because of his family's declining status. Lin visits his beloved fiancee before he heads towards the imperial city to participate in the civil service examination, only to find her maid lying dead in blood. Lin is then accused of murder. How can Judge Bao prove his innocence?
The Crimson Palm