Hung Sin-Nui
Biography: Hung Sin Nui learnt the art of Cantonese Opera from her aunt Ho Fu Lin. She was spotted by the famous actor Ma Shi Tsang and became a leading actress at the age of 15. Hung played alongside Ma in productions like "The Spoiled Brat and Her Groom", "Bitter Phoenix, Sorrowful Oriole", "Wang Zhaojun Marries beyond the Great Wall" and so on. Hung went back to Guangzhou with Ma Shi Tsang in 1955 and joined the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe. Under her leadership, the group gave performances of historical dramas like "Chu Yuan", "Guan Hanqing", and "The Tragedy of Lee Heung Kwan", all with Hung being the leading actress. She also founded the Hongdou Cantonese Opera Troupe where she trained and mentored a large number of Cantonese Opera actors and actresses. Besides on stage performances, Hung was also a film actress and appeared in over ninety films, including "The Judge Goes to Pieces", "A Mother's Tears", "Everlasting Love", "Wilderness", "The Pretty Tigress", "Searching the School" and "Guan Hanqing". In 1998, the Guangzhou city government built the Hungxiannu Art Center, to commemorate and preserve all the documentations of her contribution to the art of Cantonese opera, so that it can be admired and emulated by generations to come. - Hong Kong Tourism Board Hung was born to a family of Cantonese opera performers in the Guangdong city of Kaiping, and embarked on her own opera career under her aunt's mentorship at the age of 12. Born Kuang Jianlian (Kwong Kin-lin in Cantonese),, she took on her stage name, a traditional phrase signifying marriage and relationships which translates as "Red Line Girl", at the age of 14. Hung relocated to Hong Kong during the second world war. She ventured onto the big screen in 1947 and went on to make more than 90 films. They helped establish her as one of the biggest stars of Cantonese opera and Hong Kong cinema. At the peak of her career, Hung returned to Guangzhou and joined the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe. During the Cultural Revolution, the opera star found herself condemned and banished from the troupe to work as a street sweeper. The opera star was branded as "Black Line Girl" A Guangzhou resident saw Hung being criticised during one of the "struggle sessions" that characterised the years of turmoil. "A blackboard was hung on her neck and the public threw rubbish at her, calling her opera poisonous and branding her a capitalist roader".
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: December 27, 1924
Deathday: December 08, 2013
Popularity:
Known For
Autumn
1954-01-17
Autumn
Overview: Hak-ming heads the Ko Family, but he and his brothers, Hak-ting and Hak-on, and the second wife of the late Master Ko quarrel. Young Cousin Mui, who has tuberculosis, is forced by to marry an older woman. Kok-sun is guilty of being unable to stop the marriage. Sun and maid Chui-wan are wary of their feelings for each other due to class difference. Cousin Mui dies of illness. Hak-ting has his eyes on Wan. His wife, Wong, complains to their daughter, Shuk-ching, who cannot take it and commits suicide. Wong blames herself for her death. Undergone these tragedies, Cousin Kam's mother let Kam have a modern wedding with Kok-man. When Ming is ill, Ting and On want to sell the ancestral home. Hak-ming dies of angst. When the fifth uncle of Sun forces Wan to be his concubine, Wan tries to kill herself but is intercepted by Sun. Pressurised by people of the house over the issue of inheritance, Sun protests by declaring his love for Wan and leaves the family, with his mother, brother Man and Wan.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1954-01-17
Popularity:
Eternal Love
1955-09-29
Eternal Love
Overview: Chan Sai-wah abides by his late father's word and marries the wealthy Yam Suk-kuen. They have a son, Kwok-leung. Though Wah is manager of the hotel owned by his father-in-law, Kuen is not a good wife. For all the years of their marriage, Wah has never been happy. Attracted to the humble and honest Carrie Mui, Wah decides to leave his domineering wife Kuen, but is stopped by his father-in-law. The lovers set off to Macau for a new start. Their life has become increasingly miserable under the pressure from Yam's family. When Wah leaves to seek help from his son in Hong Kong, Carrie decides she should leave so that Wah can go without feeling any guilt or burden. On the other hand, Wah is too ashamed to face his son, and returns to Macau. He lives his life in misery. Years pass, the lovers meet again. Wah is reduced to begging in the streets while Carrie becomes an opera diva.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1955-09-29
Popularity:
Backyard Adventures
1955-07-12
Backyard Adventures
Overview: Reporter Yu Mong-yuen is recovering from a leg injury in his fiancee Man-wah's apartment. Bored, he looks out the rear window and observes the life of the neighbouring building. Among the tenants are a sugar-daddy and his mistress, a middle-aged man wants to marry a young girl, but she is in love with his son. Finally, she hatches a plot and makes the man agree to her marrying his son ; a sly fortune-teller ; a lively gym, a rich widow quarrels with the trainer of a gymnasium because his dog has bitten her cat ; and an opera school, a woman signs, leaning on the balcony, and a man tries to strangle her. In fact they are rehearsing an opera…… One evening, Wah is on the night shift, and Yuen watches the opera troupe rehearse to the end. Under the influence of drugs, Yu mistakenly believes that a divorced man has murdered a taxi dancer. He alerts the police, but the whole thing is nothing more than a misunderstanding.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1955-07-12
Popularity:
The Pretty Tigress
1955-12-30
The Pretty Tigress
Overview: The Pretty Tigress
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: zh
Release Date: 1955-12-30
Popularity:
Girl in Red
1952-10-24
Girl in Red
Overview: Drama from Hong Kong directed by Lee Tit.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1952-10-24
Popularity:
It So Happens to a Woman
1955-06-01
It So Happens to a Woman
Overview: Hung Sin Nui plays a mother of three who is burning with desires to serve society. Working as a journalist, she stays out for long hours, resulting in negligence of her children and her husband’s suspicions of infidelity. The twist, at once ironic and realistic, is that her unsupportive husband had actually written in his youth a book on gender equality. On the verge of divorce, the couple reconciles after the husband’s mother, sympathetic to the difficulties faced by women, rises to the occasion with timely and prudent advice. Hung’s character, a woman stuck between cultures of old and new, was tailor-made for the star by screenwriter Chu Hak. Director Li Pingqian portrays her struggles with realist and humanistic touches, extending gentle critiques of social prejudices without fanning the ire of resentment.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: zh
Release Date: 1955-06-01
Popularity:
Zhang Junrui Murders Jia Baoyu for Love
1951-09-12
Zhang Junrui Murders Jia Baoyu for Love
Overview: Comedy from Hong Kong directed by Fung Chi-Kong.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1951-09-12
Popularity:
A Sweet Girl's Fancies
1952-12-24
A Sweet Girl's Fancies
Overview: Drama from Hong Kong directed by Lee Tit.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1952-12-24
Popularity:
Amorous Happenings in the Splendid Hall
1952-06-01
Amorous Happenings in the Splendid Hall
Overview: Musical from Hong Kong directed by Fung Chi-Kong.
Genres: Music
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1952-06-01
Popularity:
Perfect Match
1952-03-09
Perfect Match
Overview: Comedy from Hong Kong directed by Cho Kei.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1952-03-09
Popularity:
Neighbours All
1954-04-29
Neighbours All
Overview: The film features a conflict between a young wife and her mother-in-law, depicting the lives of ordinary people and their profound problems.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1954-04-29
Popularity:
The Spoiled Princess
1948-08-20
The Spoiled Princess
Overview: Ma Si-tsang is memorable in his comedic roles for being lively and down to earth, making a stark contrast with the tough and feisty Hung Sin Nui, and they strike gold as a team in screwball comedies. Ma is psychologist Doctor Tsui while Hung is Pearl, the feisty third daughter who is hard to get along with. The undaunted Tsui sees the virtues in Pearl and teases her to teach lessons on marital harmony. With multiple schemes, Tsui teases, coaxes and has Pearl taste her own medicine. The battle of wits and the sexes becomes a joy to watch with Ma's complacent and roguish portrayal as a refined witty scholar clashing with the energetic and bickering Hung.
Genres: Romance Comedy
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1948-08-20
Popularity:
As You Desire
1952-10-02
As You Desire
Overview: This rare gem features the extraordinary stellar cast of two comedy giants on the same screen and the two Ma's (Ma Si-tsang and Sun Ma Si-tsang) performing together. Leung Sing-por as the wealth-feigning Au and Ma Si-tsang as penny pincher Ma already set the stage for laughter. Ma Si-tsang dons a hilarious moustache and adds panache to the character whenever he complacently twists his moustache, making his greediness almost lovable. The film features a zany plot 'twist' when the two Ma's, as father and son, try to attend a charity gala by having Sun Ma Si-tsang teach Ma Si-tsang to sing ‘Yu Hap-wan Expresses His Inner Feelings', one of the elder Ma's most popular repertoire. Ma Si-tsang gives a commanding seven-minute solo performance that captures the heart of the audience now and forever.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1952-10-02
Popularity:
The Judge Goes to Pieces
1948-09-16
The Judge Goes to Pieces
Overview: The rapier wit is not only for playful bantering between a couple but also for fighting justice. Famed attorney Sung Sai-kit (Ma Si-tsang) is best known for his sharp pen and silver tongue. His wife Madam Tong (Hung Sin Nui), sympathetic with a wronged widow, tries every trick up her sleeve to get her husband to help. Ma is funny and lovable who morphs from the henpecked husband to the brilliant and shrewd attorney at court, he displays perseverance behind his devil-may-care and nonchalant attitude, even Stephen Chow reincarnated his persona in the 1992 version.
Genres: History Comedy
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1948-09-16
Popularity:
The Wrongly Accused Lover
1951-08-11
The Wrongly Accused Lover
Overview: The sophistication of 1950s Hong Kong cinema is vividly illustrated in this film of limited budget and resources. Cantonese opera star Sun Ma Si-tsang plays a country boy who looks exactly like Sun Ma and is asked by a rich girl to impersonate the star, to help her stage an opera. The self-reflexive humour generated by the absurd situation not only provides delicious parody of celebrity culture but also comments subtly on class inequality and the perils of urbanisation. Sun Ma, who also appears as himself in a stage performance, is complemented beautifully by the brilliant comedian Yee Chau-shui as his sidekick and Hung Sin Nui, another opera superstar, as the spoiled and precocious rich girl.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1951-08-11
Popularity:
Red And White Azaleas
1951-09-12
Red And White Azaleas
Overview: "Red and White Azaleas" (alias "重訂今生未了緣"), a Hong Kong film produced by the Red and White Film Company, was released in 1951.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: cn
Release Date: 1951-09-12
Popularity:
A Mother's Tears
1953-06-28
A Mother's Tears
Overview: This script was adapted from a Rediffusion Radio airwave novel, written by Lang Wun and read on-air by his wife Ngai Mun. Ngai Mun also acted in this film. Wang (Cheung Ying) worked himself to an early death. His wife Ching (Hung Sin Nui) raised their three children all by herself. Eldest son Kei (also played by Cheung Ying) was spoiled and grew up to be a robber. Middle child, daughter Ching-han, is materialistic and vain, and is later killed by Kei. Youngest son Leung (Yeung Fan) is diligent and ambitious, a great comfort to Ching. Hung Sin Nui played Ching from a young to an elderly woman, showing off her practiced, perfect acting skills. Chun Kim’s detailed portrayal of the relationship between the two generations set the stage for his later work Parents’ Hearts (1955).
Genres: Drama Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-06-28
Popularity: