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The Lady Thief (1948)
Character: Zhao Lingru
Known as Great China's most charming star at the time, Li Lihua starred as Zhao Lingru, a female Robin Hood-esque hero who fights for the poor. Her brother (Yang Zhiqing), however, is the tyrannical leader of a gang. For the sake of justice, Lingru has no choice but to turn her back on family. Producer Yan Chuntang, who gave Li her start on the silver screen, made good use of Li's Peking opera training and transformed Li into a righteous action heroine. Her sword fight opposite Yang is a highlight of the film, showcasing Li's physical agility. Spending a significant part of the film with part of her face covered as the Lady Thief, Li's fierce glance is already enough to express a myriad of emotions. Also worth noting is the film's costume design, which adds an interesting contemporary flavour to the Republic-era setting of the story.
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小鳳仙 (1953)
Character: N/A
General Chai and Lady Balsam
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小鳳仙續集 (1955)
Character: N/A
Lady Balsam's Conquest. A sequel of General Chai and Lady Balsam.
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茶花女 (1955)
Character: N/A
A Mandarin adaption of Camille directed by Chang Shan-Kun and Evan Yang.
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Blood Will Tell (1955)
Character: N/A
Legendary thief Hai Tang Hong (Wang Yin) is about to retire when he accidentally kills his wife's lover
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黑夜鎗聲 (1960)
Character: N/A
A Shaw Brothers film starring Li Li Hua
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雪裡紅 (1956)
Character: Xue Lihong
A behind the scenes story of a small time folk opera troupe and other performers in Northern China in the 1930s.
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春雷 (1949)
Character: N/A
Li's first directorial work in Hong Kong is adapted, by himself, from the Hollywood movie The Great Lie (1941) starring Bette Davis. When a husband disappears in an accident, the wife is dismayed by a social butterfly pregnant with her husband's child. To preserve the husband's blood line, the wife takes care of the expectant mother and raises the child. Featuring the two ravishing beauties Li Lihua and Sun Jinglu, Our Husband foregoes juicy feuds between the leads and delivers an allegorical message: parents should provide an ideal environment for the next generation. Addressing the rocky times in China, it is equally overt in its remonstration as Yung Hwa's earlier works, The Soul of China and Sorrows of the Forbidden City.
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一毛錢 (1964)
Character: Yeh Lan
The story of a self-disciplined singing girl who has different love endings and experiences.
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滿園春色 (1952)
Character: N/A
This is a 1952 Hong Kong drama film directed by Bu Wancang, Kuang-Chi Tu, Wang Yin and Shankun Zhang. It stars Chou Man-Hua and Li Li-Hua.
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第二春 (1963)
Character: N/A
Lin Yong Kang has an affair with Xu Mei Fan. She gets pregnant and they lose contact as the Japanese invade Hong Kong.
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碧雲天 (1953)
Character: N/A
Xin Shu (judge) is judging a murder case and the prisoner Jia Lan Fang is mentally crazy and can not respond. Xin asks for the doctor's opinion, but the doctor must first understand Fang's past before proceeding. Apparently Judge Xin Shu has loving feelings towards the prisoner Jia Lan Fang because of the enormous resemblance to an ex-girlfriend named Yu Xiaocui.
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寒蟬曲 (1953)
Character: N/A
Composer Shi Tian Sheng, suffers from an illness and the increased medical expenses prompts his wife, Lin Ying Hua, to sing at a nightclub to cover the expenses. This action creates a misunderstanding between them which leads to a separation. They reunite years later and hope that time heals all wounds...
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少奶奶的秘密 (1956)
Character: N/A
Liu Lizhen is in love with her colleague, Zhang Li'an but marries her wealthy cousin, Lei Yingsun. She later gives birth to a child, who's father is Zhang Li'an which creates complications to her married life.
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三女性 (1947)
Character: Jian-Hua
Three young women navigate modern life in post-World War 2 Shanghai. Directed by Feng Yueh. Starring Hao Wang, Li Hua Li, and Helena Law.
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萬里長城 (1955)
Character: N/A
Based on the legend of Lady Meng Jiang.
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寒山夜雨 (1942)
Character: N/A
At a hotel near Cold Mountain, travelers find a book titled Cold Mountain Night Rain in the library. The story goes: One stormy night, two officers escorting a young convict arrive at a house seeking shelter. The master, knowing the prisoner was a dutiful son, welcomes them. Later, a merchant and two travelers also arrive. During the night, a woman visits the convict but, impressed by his virtue, helps him escape. Meanwhile, a woman appears in the merchant’s room, but she vanishes when he calls for help. Later, the travelers rob the merchant, killing an officer, but are killed themselves after trying to assault the women. The convict escapes, and the merchant awakens near an ancient tomb, surrounded by officers and thieves. After finishing the story, a wise man reassures the travelers, saying the author used ghosts and gods to vent frustration with the world.
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手鎗 (1961)
Character: Bus passenger
Long unemployed and stone-broke, Shen Jiaguang is dealt a further blow when his wife Lu Xiaoyin has fallen seriously ill and their son Xiaoguang has to quit school.
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五對佳偶 (1971)
Character: N/A
Comedy about five married couples — a pair of parents and their four daughters and sons-in-law. Li Li Hua plays the eldest girl, opposite her real-life husband Yean Chuan.
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假凤虚凰 (1947)
Character: Fan Ruhua
Young widow Fan Ruhua feigns the daughter of a tycoon and solicits husbands on papers. But Fan bumped into Yang Xiaomao, a barber, who similarly pretends to be a suiter for a broke businessman to court a daughter from a wealthy family. After a series of misunderstandings, Yang and Fan finally give up vanity and live honest lives.
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仲夏夜之戀 (1953)
Character: N/A
A Midsummer Night's Love is about a couple, Li Yuqin and Zhang Tianshi, who faked their marriage but the lies became real, unleashing a series of comic situations.
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春情烈火 (1954)
Character: N/A
Girl on the loose is a 1954 Hong Kong film, directed by Wang Yin.
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喜臨門 (1956)
Character: N/A
A woman is fired from her job because she's pregnant. The husband, who's a teacher, needs to get another part-time job as a waiter, to cover the expenses which causes problems at his school. He starts to resent children but there's hope as the husband is able to get another job and start to appreciate his family...
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黑狐狸 (1962)
Character: N/A
The Black Fox (黑狐狸) is a 1962 Hong Kong thriller film directed by Yan Jun. The film was produced under the Shaw Brothers banner in the Mandarin language.
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風蕭蕭 (1954)
Character: N/A
Xu Ning meets secret agents Bai Ping and Mei Haozi and falls in love with Ping. Bai Ping becomes involved in a plot to steal confidential documents and faces subsequent danger...
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六福茶樓 (1971)
Character: N/A
A Shaw Brothers production that was filmed in Taiwan
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电影香江：俪影倾情 (2003)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Hong Kong cinemas had a wide range of glamorous female stars during the golden age of the 60's and 70's. The series will take the audience on a sentimental journey to the good old days and once again look at the expansive epic costume dramas and huangmei operas in which actresses played both the male and female roles. Rare interviews with Sir Run Run Shaw, stars Ivy Ling Po, Shaw Yin Yin, Tanny Tie Ni and Cheng Pei Pei are also featured.
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勾魂艷曲 (1952)
Character: Kong Ku-lan
Sweet Song For You (勾魂艷曲) aka Song of Romance is a 1952 Hong Kong musical romance film directed by Yin Wang. The film was produced by Runde Shaw for Shaw and Sons and is based on the screenplay by Tan Liu.
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紅玫瑰 (1952)
Character: N/A
This was a HK musical produced by Nanyang Film Company and distributed by Shaw & Sons.
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山河血 (1969)
Character: Ah Lan
Hong Kong and South Korean co-production war film starring Li Li-Hua.
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凌波仙子 (1943)
Character: N/A
A Chinese fantasy singsong film.
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說謊世界 (1950)
Character: Su Man Na
As China falls into hyperinflation following the end of the war, people fought tooth and nail to get their hands on the only reliable currencies in the world: gold and American dollars. This is a story that shows how seven bars and two thousand US dollars bring together an interesting mix of characters: an opportunistic manager, a materialistic courtesan, a con artist posing as a commissioner of the Treasury, a white-collar worker who will do anything for a promotion, a man who specialises in conning women, a father who marries off his daughter for money and a sorcerer who fakes his magic. In this dog-eat-dog world, the only truth is that everyone is lying for his own gain. Playing the courtesan who longs to be part of high society, Li Lihua steals the film with a feisty performance opposite the amusing Yan Jun, whose con artist character has a tendency to flirt with lyrics from Peking operas.
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秦香蓮 (1964)
Character: Qin Xiang-Lian
The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian is a Hong Kong Chinese Opera musical starring Jackie Chan in a child role.
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孽 海 情 天 (1953)
Character: Zhu Liyu
This is a historical drama that was produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio.
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怒海情仇 (1965)
Character: Mrs Chiang
The son of the town bully lusts after a local beauty in this action-filled thriller of the passions and violence to be found in a fishing village.
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風雨牛車水 (1956)
Character: Jiang Li-zhen
Jiang Lizhen's husband, Wang Gensheng, went to Nanyang to make a living. After ten years of separation, there was no news. Jane took her daughter to find her husband, but found out that she was born into a wealthy family.
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故都春夢 (1964)
Character: Shen Feng Shian/Ho Li Shia
Fan Chia-soo is a kind-hearted student whose heart is captured by the sweet song of Shen Feng-hsien. However, he is not the only one who has eyes for Shen. The General's henchmen are also determined to present the songstress to their superior as a gift. Fan received help from an unexpected quarter to save the woman he loves.
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紅伶淚 (1965)
Character: Luo Xiang-Yi
The tragic love triangle of early 20th century Peking Opera star Chiu Hai-tang, his beautiful stage partner, and the warlord who forces himself between them, has been a favorite with Chinese audiences for decades.
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天后 (1975)
Character: N/A
Mak-Leung is a young woman from the Sung Dynasty era who, from birth, is fated for a great destiny. One day a white dragon emerges from a well in her family's back yard and hands her a wordless book with which she can save the world.
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大地春雷 (1971)
Character: Widow Liu
It tells the story of an unfortunate incident in Majiazhai, northern China in 1924. A sympathetically-stirring event took place in 1924 in northern China where warloads were rampant. The brave woman who fearlessly and dauntlessly takes revenge on an evil man who betrayed her husband and had him killed.
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楊乃武與小白菜 (1963)
Character: Xiao Bai-Cai
The noted actress Li Li-hua, star of more than sixty films since 1947, beautifully portrays the drugged, then disgraced wife of a peddler in the waning days of the Ching Dynasty. To make matters worse, she’s soon framed for her husband’s murder by her rapist - the son of the local magistrate! And even that isn’t the end of her woes. It’s best to have a box of tissues nearby as two expert directors ratchet up the emotional suspense in this consummate tearjerker.
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金玫瑰 (1972)
Character: Takamino
Golden Rose, an informant for the resistance groups, kidnaps Miss Takamine, her Japanese counterpart who has received special training. Disguising herself as Miss Takamine, Golden Rose frequents the Japanese army barracks and gets information she needs.
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秋海棠 (1943)
Character: N/A
During the Republic of China, a Beijing Opera actor named Wu Yuqin specializes in performing in female roles. He takes the stage name Qiu Haitang and is invited to dinner by an admiring warlord Yuan. He later meets Luo Xiangqi, a graduate of a female performance school. The two of them fall in love but it turns out that she is warlord Yuan's wife...
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Yimingjingren 一鳴驚人 (1954)
Character: N/A
Anatole France's The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife has been adapted into three different Hong Kong films in the 1950s alone. These two adaptations stray from the source material considerably in genre, characterisation and plot, turning a farce about married life into localised romantic comedies that emphasise family values. The Beauty and the Dumb follows the couple from their meet-cute to the misunderstandings they encounter before the inevitable happy ending. The heir of a bank (Huang He) falls in love at first sight with one of the employees' daughter (Li Lihua), but their burgeoning relationship is nearly derailed when the girl's father intervenes to help his dumb daughter land a rich husband.
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女大當嫁 (1948)
Character: N/A
A girl moves into a mansion with her father and falls in love with the painter she tries to evict.
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揚子江風雲 (1969)
Character: Zhuo Jian Chen
Storm over the Yangtze River tells the true story of undercover intelligence agent "Yangtze Number One" and his colleagues in Jianli County of Hubei Province, who risk their lives to carry out the "Dead Bridge Plan" to secure the "Yangtze 180 Blockade". Li Lihua gives an iconic performance as a strong and charming agent of an intelligence unit, engaging in a risky mission to save her unit chief-cum-lover, who is regarded as a traitor but actually is a double-dealing agent against the Japanese occupation. The film garnered four awards at the 1969 Golden Horse Awards, including Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress.
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閻惜姣 (1963)
Character: Yan Xi Jiao (Yen Hsi-Chiao)
Based on one particular storyline from The Water Margin, Three Sinners weaves an intriguing story of romance, treachery, and death, all within the context of the traditional Huangmei Opera. Yan Jun casts his real-life wife, the elegant Li Li Hua, star of such Shaw Brothers films as The Goddess of Mercy and Vermillion Door, as one of the title characters, a woman who finds herself in the middle of a stormy love triangle involving her controlling husband (director Yan Jun serving double duty in a starring role) and a passionate lover (Chen Yan Yan).
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新紅樓夢 (1952)
Character: 林黛玉
Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the big four of classic Chinese novels, has been adapted for film and television dozens of times over the past decades. Yet this sui generis Great Wall production daringly transposes the setting to modern-day 1950s. The contemporised story revolves nonetheless around the love triangle between Jia Baoyu and his two cousins. Both girls love him but his heart belongs to only one. The ending, however, is remarkably changed to separation of the lovers as a result of war—the war that was surely still haunting the minds of the filmmakers at the time when the film was made. Not only did Great Wall pour money into building extravagant sets just so to recreate down to the smallest detail the grandeur of the legendary Jia mansion, but the film also boasted of its lavish costume designs for the diverse female cast. (From Hong Kong Film Archive)
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新紅樓夢 (1978)
Character: Ladyship
Taiwanese huangmei opera film.
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歡樂青春 (1966)
Character: Herself [cameo]
The film tells the story of Xing Yonghui, a rich girl who has fun with her painter boyfriend Du Shaohua and her classmates. Chen Xiaoping and Guo Dawei fall in love and want to elope, but they are prevented from doing so; Du Shaohua and Li Zhongting fall in love with each other over a painting, causing Xing Yonghui's unhappiness, and Xing Yonghui crashes a car into a rock and wants to die together, causing serious injuries to Du Shaohua and Li Zhongting; Xing Yonghui's suicide is prevented by her shame, but Li Zhongting does not care about the past suspicion, and the two of them recover from the injuries and perform with their classmates on the same day as they had planned to do so.
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連瑣 (1967)
Character: Yang Yue Wei
Love knows no limits in the grand period romance, Lady Jade Locket. A young fighter inadvertently falls for the spirit of a beautiful woman, who died years earlier avenging her own father's murder. The beautiful ghost is in fact the sister of his fiancee. Experienced as an actor in many such romances, director Yen Chuan keeps the tone perfect. Plus, with period specialist Li Li-hua in the lead and the attractive and acclaimed Li Ching playing the ghost girl, he really can do no wrong.
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誤佳期 (1951)
Character: Ah Cui
A wedding musician fails to wed his own love: Little Trumpet is raring to marry his childhood sweetheart, but a series of setbacks has prevented them from getting their way. Criticism against social formalities becomes all the more forceful with the clever use of contrast and irony, not to mention the realist and comedic touch a la Zhu Shilin. Of special mention is the famous teahouse scene where dynamic, melodic camerawork creates a hilarity that continues to amaze to this day. A genuine masterpiece with every single detail, down to the minor props, forming an integral part of a whole. Today, young couples are struggling nonetheless to get a roof over their heads, a testimony to the fact that poverty still reigns beneath the facade of harmony and stability after all these years.
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萬古流芳 (1965)
Character: Princess Chuan Ji
With China under control of a weak Emperor, two officials compete to steer the future destiny of the land. Chiu believes the people are the future of China, while the diabolical Tu wishes to grind the people beneath an iron heel. Tu decides to take out Chiu's family, but one lone infant escapes.
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豔陽天 (1948)
Character: N/A
The great Chinese star Shi Hui stars as an energetic lawyer fighting for the good of his neighbors in this stirring, almost Capra-esque drama from Cao Yu, one of China’s most important twentieth-century playwrights.
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觀世音 (1967)
Character: Princess Miao Shang
With her elegant classic persona, Li Li-hua was the ideal performer for period aristocratic and imperial roles. The Goddess Of Mercy is a good example of her strong empathy and noble presence. The youngest daughter of a brutal king, the princess openly disapproves of the floggings and cruel treatment her royal family heaps on the peasants. As a result, the heartless king turns on his own daughter forcing her into exile.
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武則天 (1963)
Character: Empress Wu Tse-Tien/ Nun Ming Kong
The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.
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喜怒哀樂 (1970)
Character: N/A
Directed by some of most well known Chinese-language directors of the time, the portmanteau film Four Moods was an attempt to alleviate Li Han-hsiang’s financial troubles during the late 1960s. Arguably one of his best works, King Hu’s short Anger is an adaptation of the famous Peking opera San Cha Kou; set to opera instrumentation and stylishly shot, the film deftly captures the tense showdown between political schemers, avengers and vagabonds inside an inn. Li Han-hsiang’s Happiness, inspired by the Strange Tales of Liaozhai, tells a tale of reprieve for a kind-hearted ghost, while Pai Ching-Jui’s Joy and Lee Hsing’s Sadness both explore the fateful encounters between mortal men and ghostly women.
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China Doll (1958)
Character: Shu-Jen
American pilot Cliff Brandon, fighting the Japanese in China, finds himself the unintentional "owner" of a Chinese housekeeper, Shu-Jen. The unlikely couple falls in love and marries, but not without tragedy brought on by the war.
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七七敢死隊 (1965)
Character: Li Tan Ni
Spy thriller set in occupied Shanghai. Li Lihua stars as the woman who is thrust into the role of nationalist freedom fighter when she discovers that her husband is a collaborator with the Japanese.
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狼火は上海に揚る (1944)
Character: Wang Ying
During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai. Although the Western powers are officially neutral, the British consul in Shanghai sides with the Qing imperial government, and counter to his own government's policy he retains American adventurer Frederick Townsend Ward to raise a mercenary force of foreigners in Shanghai and oppose the Taipings. Ward's force is routed, with heavy casualties, but since many of the casualties are British, the British army soon is drawn in on the side of the Qings. The only support for the Chinese comes from Japanese in Shanghai and anti-imperialist demonstrations in Japan. A family drama plays out against this historical background. After a Chinese home is destroyed by careless British shelling, killing the father and crippling a daughter, the surviving son vows revenge but begins to see that his true friends may be the Japanese.
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迎春閣之風波 (1973)
Character: Wan Jen-mi
Lee Khan, a high official under Mongolian Emperor Yuan of the Yuan dynasty procures the battle map of the Chinese rebel Chu Yuan-Chang's army. Rebel spies, aided by treachery within Khan's ranks, strive to corner him in an inn.
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八國聯軍 (1976)
Character: Empress Dowager
Three young martial arts brothers, played by Chi Kuan-chun, Alexander Fu Sheng and Leung Kar-yan, go in search of fellow patriots dissatisfied with Imperialist foreigners and wind up joining a rising sect of the Boxers, led by an opportunistic conman. Named as such for their use of martial arts, these boxers are revolutionaries who believe that spirits protect their bodies from foreign guns. They even dupe the Empress Dowager, who gives them her royal blessing to fight the foreigners.
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盜劍 (1967)
Character: Geng Liu Niang
Experienced heroine Li Li-Hua plays a swordswoman out to reclaim her murdered husband's "Green Sword," the sharpest blade in the world. The lovely Li Ching plays the role of Li Li-hua's student, who must take up the fight when her teacher falters.
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楊貴妃 (1962)
Character: Yang Kwei Fei/Yang Yu Huan
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).
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