| 'Apartment for Ladies' (1970) is one of my favorite Inoue Umetsugu films that he made for the Shaw Brothers studio. I haven't seen any of his Japanese films, yet, and I hope they become available one day. I wouldn't be too surprised if most of his Shaw films where remakes of his earlier work. Anyway, Betty Ting Pei is Miss Yau Suk Man, a dancer/singer from Taiwan who comes to Hong Kong to search for her missing sister. Yes, the plot could be used as a pilot for a TV show. While in Hong Kong, a couple of would-be-rapists try to prey on Miss Yau! A nice, music composer, played by Yang Fan ('Torrent of Desire') conveniently drives up in a car, out of nowhere, and he rescues Yau Suk Man. While in Hong Kong, Miss Yau rents a room from a landlord (Ouyang Shafei) in an apartment with mostly female tenants on the same floor. Yau Suk Man and her friends have to deal with a playboy and night club owner, George Chan, who has seduced and dumped many women who live among Yau. Could he know something about Yau's missing sister? With help from the songwriter (Yang Fan) and friends that she makes around town, Yau Suk Man searches for her missing sister.
For you kung fu cinema connoisuers, a young Lily Li co-stars as the girlfriend of the landlord's son. The landlord's son, I am not sure what his name is, also appeared in 'The Merry Wife' as a kid who has a crush on Li Ching, as stunt co-ordinator Xia Li Hong in 'The Yellow Muffler', and a college kid pretending to be rich in 'We Love Millionaires'. Kuo Man No appears as one of the tenants in the film. Kuo Man No, a solid AND voluptuous actress, also appeared in Umetsugu's 'The Five Billion Dollar Legacy'. Kuo Man No? Kuo Man Yes!!!
Inoue Umetsugu seems to enjoy fetishistically filming certain parts of exterior, female anatomy, but he usually...USUALLY...does it in a tasteful manner. There's a fair share of scenes where women shower (no nudity...in this film alone) and scenes where women are in their underwear. I used to have a lot of unfavorable opinions about Betty Ting Pei as she was the last woman to see Bruce Lee alive and she did jump on the "Bruce-ploitation" bandwagon with 'Bruce and I'. Now, I've forgiven her, more or less, now that I've seen some decent work from her Shaw films and she is quite comely. Actor Yang Fan looks a little like Andy Lau (the actor/pop singer, not director Andrew Lau) to me, at least, and he does a capable job as Yau Suk Man's love interest. In 'Apartment for Ladies', director Inoue Umetsugu seems to put an emphasis on comedy, drama, and mystery. There's also some romance, cheesecake, and musical numbers, as well. The director puts his cast to good use, as usual. There's still some flaws: Lulu, one of the ladies who lives among Miss Yau, cries when her boss dumps her for Kuo Man No's character, but she abruptly stops weeping when Miss Yau inquires about a song that begins with, "Life is like a boat..." As mentioned earlier, Yang Fan's character saves Miss Yau right at the exact moment when she needs him. In real life, Miss Yau may not have been so lucky. Oh, well. 'Apartment for Ladies' is just a movie. Also, Inoue Umetsugu is bound to have some detractors as well as fans. He was a skilled and imaginative filmmaker, even though he did rehash a lot of his earlier work and his films don't seem too pretentious. What 'Apartment' lacks in story and character depth, it makes up for with color and fun. |
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