"Three Smiles" (1969, alias "San Xiao") was one entertaining adaptation of a Huangmei Opera. Even though my knowledge of Huangmei Opera is painfully limited, I still didn't have much of a problem enjoying "Three Smiles". Actress Ivy Ling Po portrays a male (!) named Tang Bohu, a famous scholar who develops a major infatuation for a maiden called Autumn Fragrance (the slightly- rotound and ultra-lovely Li Ching). As in real life, once one has seen Li Ching/Autumn Fragrance smile at least three times, one can get hooked to her like a bee to a flower or pasta sauce stuck to a wall! Through most of the film, Autumn Fragrance has no interest in Tang Bohu, but Tang is desperate to woo her and earn her hand in marriage.
I have to commend actress Ivy Ling Po for her performance in this film; she seemed convincing enough as a male even though she looks like a woman. Then again, as a man, even if I were a woman, I' d still have the hots for Li Ching (as she was born in 1948, she's about the same age as my mother. Boy, I wonder if there are any Gen-Y Raquel Welch fanboys? How do they cope with finding the image of a starlet, from the 1960's and 1970's , alluring in this day and age of 2004?)! Li Ching is still super-sweet looking and she does a good job acting, singing, and dancing in the film. I also have to commend director Griffin Yueh Feng and the filmmakers for putting a lot of emphasis on developing the romantic subplot between Tang Bohu and Autumn Fragrance; for the sake of taste, we don't get to see Tang Bohu and Autumn Fragrance smooching or "getting it on"!
The musical numbers are fun to watch and, for a commercial film, the film maintains an aesthetic mood; the film has good pacing and the film is less than two hours. This flick avoids wearing out its welcome. Also, Autumn Fragrance has some layers to her character and she's not merely window dressing. A lord's two sons also have the jones for Autumn Fragrance, but they don't act with the same kind of gallant attitude that Tang Bohu maintains. There's a scene where Autumn Fragrance asks herself in a monolouge, "Why do they always hit on me?"
There's a scene where a fisherman (Li Kun) takes Tang Bohu by boat to see Autumn Fragrance as she stays at a house near a riverbed. From the boat, Tang looks at Autumn in that "stare". Autumn, still not interested in Tang Bohu, splashes stagnant water from a bowl on his ("her") face. Tang doesn't even blink or respond as he maintains the "stare". The fisherman jokingly tells Tang, "It's raining."
Tang snaps out of the phase and he asks, "It's raining?" This film wins points for the light, feel-good tone it leaves behind. This film isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. Some may find a female as the male lead and a female as the female lead in a romantic, Huangmei opera comedy, well, "dirty". Oh, well. If one can tolerate opera and operatic tradition, then "Three Smiles" is highly recommended!
Ah, more vile garbage from director Lu Chi! 'Sexy Playgirls' is about as bad as 'Sexy Girls of Denmark'. He sure knows how to torture an audience with sleaze and gimmicks. The mid-1970's must've been the beginning of the end for Li Ching's fame. She's a human angel who falls out of the sky and she hits the ground with a loud thud! I still love her as a fan, though. She's appeared in better movies, thank goodness. In 'Sexy Playgirls', Li Ching is Peipei; she becomes a maternal figure to her sister(Chen Ping)when their mother passes away. To pay for her sister's bone-marrow operation, Peipei exchanges sexual favors with her boss for money. When she finds her boss dead the following morning, she goes insane and Peipei is put in a mental hospital. Peipei's released from the hospital and she becomes a recluse from society. Peipei's sister and a local singer Tao(Zhong Hua)try to lift Peipei's spirits and help her gain back her sanity. Peipei and Tao end up falling for eachother, but Peipei's sister also covets Tao. There's also a local pervert who keeps trying to rape Peipei? Will any of these characters find happiness? Will anyone care? Aside from some decent acting and some decent production values, this movie still manages to be junk!
'King Eagle' (1970), for me, was a pleasant surprise from director Chang Cheh. Aside from the lack of cinematic depth, the brief eighty-minute running time, the usual hammy acting, the formulaic feel of a Shaw Brothers-produced film, etc., 'King Eagle' has a number of redeeming factors working for it. Jin Fei (Ti Lung), the King Eagle (Ying Wang in Mandarin Chinese), is a skilled swordsman who wants to retire from the jiang hu (martial world) and live in peace. However, deadly, power-hungry, members of the Tien Yi Tong clan, a school with a good reputation, want to recruit Jin Fei. When he boldly turns them down, they make numerous attempts on his life. After having his world turned upside down on numerous occasions, Jin Fei decides to stop ignoring them and accept their challenge.
The sweet, lovely, talented Li Ching plays dual roles in 'King Eagle': she portrays a good, noble swordswoman named Yuk Lin and Yuk Lin's younger, cold-blooded, power-hungry, evil sister, Bing Er. With the use of stand-ins, optical effects, and Li Ching's caliber as an actress, she does a convincing job portraying a protagonist and an antagonist in the same film. 'Li Ching vs. Li Ching' could be a good, unofficial, alternate title for 'King Eagle'. Aside from a fair amount of bloodshed, 'King Eagle' isn't as visceral or blood-soaked as Chang Cheh's 'One-Armed Swordsman Returns' or 'Five Element Ninja'. The fight scenes, staged by Tong Gaai/Tang Hsia and Yuen Cheung Yan, aren't too breathtaking or revolutionary, but they still pack a good punch. Ti Lung, as usual, holds his own as a noble, anti-hero swordsman. He was one of the most well-known leading men in wu xia pian swordplay films. Some of John Barry's 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' score (one of my favorite 007 films) is used when Jin Fei's comrade-in-arms is brutally killed by the villains' swords ("He had a lot of guts!")! 'King Eagle' may not be one of Chang Cheh's most memorable films, but it's quite good.
'Sexy Girls of Denmark' (1973) is eighty-eight minutes of agony! As Terence Lee's post at [another web site] claims, and I quote, "Movie queen Li Ching should be spanked for appearing in this film." Indeed! A businessman's son, Kwok-Chuen (Chung Wa), travels from Hong Kong to Denmark to take care of a deal for a movie studio. While in Denmark, he meets and falls "in lust" with actress Ann Charolette (Birte Tove). Later on, Kwok-chuen finds out that Ann is actually a soft-core porn actress, she has no plans of leaving the industry, and she has no plans of having a commitment with Kwok-chuen. Kwok-chuen later meets Ms. Fang (Li Ching), a Chinese woman living in Denmark. Kwok-chuen wants to seduce and earn the love of Ms. Fang. Will he succeed? Should we care?
Do people in Denmark speak English? I swear I saw "telefon" on a pay phone in the movie. This could be a mistake on the filmmakers part. When I saw 'The Blacksheep Affair', I knew something was wrong when every Russian in that film spoke in English. Talk about un-PC! Not only should Li Ching receive a spanking for her involvement in this film, but director Lu Chi is a filmmaking hack that could use a slapping against the back of his noggin'! The wobbly camera work made me dizzy, the bizarre editing was odd and disconcerting, and the extreme close-ups of people kissing each other (with tongue) made me want to puke! Oh, yeah, Birte Tove and other Danish women are constantly nude in the film. Li Ching and Karen Yip stay clothed as they are considered legitimate actresses. This film was eighty-eight minutes of torture. It was like that John Wayne movie, 'The Conqueror': The cast and crew of that flop suffered so much and they got little good out the film. Filming 'The Conqueror' at an old atomic bomb testing site didn't help much, either. I watched this film just to check out Li Ching; she was squandered in this "jade vase" role. This is definitely a cinematic skeleton in her proverbial closet. I may have to watch 'West Chamber' dozens of times before I can remove the "aftertaste" of this film! I only recommend this film to those who want a masochistic experience or if one is a die-hard Li Ching fan. Li Ching did appear in 'Clans of Intrigue' years later and that Chu Yuan film is worth more of one's time than this piece of...you get the point. Aside from some decent acting, Li Ching, and a few effective gags, there's not much use recommending this film.
Li Ching, wei shemme?
Li Ching, why?
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she has to grow up, wow the tongue and tongue kissing is great, I think she likes Tsung Hua.
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