Cathay Classics2 min read
Reading Time: 3 minutesCOMING SOON to Sinema Old School.
Air Hostess 空ä¸Ã¥°Ã¥§
1958 | Mandarin | Colour | 107mins
Director : Yi Wen / Cast : Ge Lan, Qiao Hong
A romatic drama and comedy which follows the lives of three air stewardesses through air hostess school, on-the-job adventures and their daunting search for husbands. Shot in an era when air travel has just started to become popular in Asia and being an air hostess promises much glamour and opportunities for a better life. Audiences will be charmed by scenes of different Asian cities in the late fifties as well as some memorable musical numbers from the ever vivacious Ge Lan.
Mambo Girl 攺¼Ã¦³¢Ã¥¥³Ã©Æ’Ž
1957 Mandarin B/W 92mins
Director : Yi Wen / Cast : Ge Lan, Chen Hou
Li Kailing is a high school student, nicknamed “the Mambo Girl” for her gifted talent in music and dance. Kailing does not suspect anything although no one else in her family seems to have such talents. In fact, she is regarded very lucky by many, for she has a doting father, a loving mother and an adorable younger sister. Just before her twentieth birthday, Kailing discovers in great shock that she is adopted and sets out in search of her birth mother.
Wild Wild Rose 锡ŽçŽ«Ã§”˜°Ã¤¹”¹Ã¦”¹
1960 Mandarin B/W 124mins
Director : Wang Tianlin / Cast : Ge Lan, Zhang Yang
This musical noir casts a temptress, Wild Rose with a heart of gold, striking an alluring balance between music, benefaction and seduction of an engaged man. The poor sap is Hanhua, a music teacher turned piano lizard who, upon being seduced, deteriorates into a murderous drunk. Adapted from Bizet’s opera Carmen and Josef von Stenberg’s The Blue Angel, The Wild Wild Rose is undoubtedly one of the classics from Cathay.
Cinderella & Her Little Angels 五˜Ã¨£³Ã¨”°³Ã¥Å½
1959 Mandarin B/W 96mins
Director : Tang Huang / Cast : Lin Dai, Chen Hou
Lin Fu, an employee of a fashion house, has great admiration for Wang Danning, an orphan girl. He invites her to model at a fashion show. Danning accepts the offer without the approval of the Matron, hoping to use the money to repair the dilapidated orphanage. The Matron rejects the money and threatens to expel Danning. One stormy night, the alert Danning raises the alarm and manages to save her fellow orphans from the collapsing building.
Our Sister Hedy Ã¥”º”ºÃ©-´Ã¥Æ’锡”˜
1957 Mandarin B/W 115mins
Director : Tao Qin / Cast : Lin Cui, Ye Feng
Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress – 5th Asia-Pacific Film Festival, 1958
The story revolves around four vivacious sisters, particularly second sister Helen the sex siren and third sister Hedy the tomboy. Not surprisingly, the course of true love never runs too smoothly, with sultry Helen charming every man in her path including her sisters’ beau. The conflicts thus arising from sisterly love and sibling jealousy imparts much vivacity and tension to the dramatic brilliance of the picture.
