With the Lunar New Year approaching, the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has prepared the programme "A Big Fat Happy New Year", screening six films featuring figurative and literal comedy heavyweights on February 7 and 9 at the HKFA Cinema. Starring the comedians Leung Sing-por, Tam Lan-hing, Lydia Sum, Yiu Kwang-chao, Lau Kwai-hong and Pang Pang, the films will fill the start of the year with laughter and usher in a year of enduring happiness.
In "The Stubborn Generations" (1960), Leung Sing-por and his wife Ma Siu-ying try to cope with their fierce daughter-in-law Tam Lan-hing by asking their grandson Yam Kim-fai to pass the "code of a testy wife" to his wife Law Yim-hing through which Law can rein in Tam. Tam and her husband Cheng Kwan-min and Law then play pranks on each other. The film entertains the audience with the witty battle across three generations as the characters raise hell among themselves.
"Every Cloud has a Silver Lining" (1960) features Sun Ma Si-tsang and his buddy Tang Kei-chen disguising as women and joining a troupe to evade their debts. Tang is pursued by the tycoon Yiu Kwang-chao because of his cross-dressing look. Sun Ma, on the other hand, pretends to be a rich businessman to court the troupe's female lead Tsi Lan.
Lau Kwai-hong stars in "Auyeung Tak and His Double" (1952) as wuxia warrior Auyeung Tak, who defeats the evil monk Sek Kin. For revenge, Sek lures a robber who looks like Lau to assassinate Lord Pang in order to frame Tak for the crime. Lau tries hard to find out the robber with his disciple Lam Kar-sing to clear his name. The impressive image of Lau – chubby, pipe-smoking, wearing a pair of oversized glasses and sporting a Fu Manchu-style moustache – and his animated performance showcase the demeanour of wuxia warrior in an extraordinary way.
"Terror in the Phoenix Chamber" (1963) tells of a series of supernatural occurrences encountered by Patricia Lam Fung and Woo Fung, who come back to Hong Kong for a vacation. Their servants Leung Sing-por and Pang Pang try hard to catch a ghost but keep messing up the plan, giving this thriller a comic touch.
"Old Master, Part Two" (1966) follows the cousin (Lydia Sum) of Chun (Cheung Ching) who asks Chun to pretend to be her husband to secure a family inheritance, leading to suspicions by Chun's wife about Chun's fidelity to her. Master Cute (Ko Lo Chuen) and Tai Fan Shu (Ngai Tung Kwa) attempt to defuse this situation but achieve the opposite. Sum's cheerful, endearing role in the film is a sharp contrast to the difficult characters later in her career.
In "Fatso Married Skinny" (1956), Cheng Bik-ying, a wealthy socialite, who is tired of the social life, sends her secretary Tam Lan-hing to stand in for her. Rich heir Sun Ma Si-tsang is forced by his father Lee Hoi-chuen to court Tam, who poses as the wealthy socialite, in order to save the family from financial distress. Sun Ma later falls in love with Cheng but their romance is hindered by his father as Cheng seems to come from a poor family. Typically cast for feisty roles, Tam here plays a marriage-hungry woman who provides a feast of laughter with her flirtatiousness.
All of the films are in Cantonese and without subtitles.
Tickets priced at $45 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme details, please call 2739 2139 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKFA/en_US/web/hkfa/programmesandexhibitions/2019cny/index.html.
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