Retrospective: Inoue Umetsugu
Hua yue liang xiao
Dir. Inoue Umetsugu
Japan 1968, 122’
Subtitles: Polish & English
Director Inoue Umetsugu crowds the Shawscope frame with brilliant colors and magical music numbers in Hong Kong Rhapsody, a winning musical much like his previous Shaw Brothers hit, Hong Kong Nocturne. Peter Chen Hou is a nightclub magician juggling two women (Angela Yu Qian and Helen Ma) and some difficult debt. When the women tire of his lady killer routine, he makes a quick getaway, along with a new "son", a gift from a late magician friend. The two hide out in a swank mansion, and soon Peter discovers that the "son" is really a daughter, the youthful and sexy Li Ching. What follows are myriad musical numbers, as the two find friendship and even a little heartache on the road to better lives and happy times. Hong Kong Rhapsody is a movie-lovers dream, mixing light-hearted romance and winning happenstance with heart-tugging melodrama. Like the best musicals from either Hong Kong or Hollywood, Hong Kong Rhapsody is an airy, romantic confection which delights in a candy-coated, optimistic worldview that's both charming and undeniably seductive!
Inoue Umetsugu
Inoue Umetsugu (1923-2010) was a Japanese film director and scriptwriter. He directed 115 movies, wrote 101 screenplays, and is credited with the original story for five films. In addition, he worked with all six major Japanese film production companies.His film work extended to Hong Kong, and he did the technical guidance for movies there from 1966 to 1970. The Polish Retrospective is considered a prelude to other Inoue Umetsugu Retrospectives being programmed in order to celebrate the centenary of his birth.
Filmography
1955 Midori Harukani a.k.a The Green Music Box
1960 Shōri to Haiboku
1960 Six Suspects
1961 Gonin no Totsugeki Tai
1967 Hong Kong Nocturne
1967 King Drummer
1967 Operation Lipstick
1968 Hong Kong Rhapsody
1976 Ikare Doku Hebi: Moku Gekisha o Kese a.k.a Cobra
1983 Man Who Causes a Storm
Cast & Crew
Director: Inoue Umetsugu
Screenplay: Inoue Umetsugu
Cinematography: Hua Nai-pei, Nishimoto Tadashi
Editing: Chiang Hsing-lung
Music: Hattori Ryōichi
Cast: Peter Chen Ho, Lee Ching, Allison Chang Yen, Chan Hung-lit, Chin Ping, Lily Ho, Margaret Hsing Hui, Jing Ting, Helen Ma, Ma Xiaonong, Peng Peng, Wei Ping-ao, Yang Chih-ching, Angela Yu Chien
Producer: Run Run Shaw
Production: Shaw Brothers
Language: Japanese
Colouration: Colour
