Old Chinese films.

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Has anyone seen any of these films? And do you know anywhere I could buy them on VCD?

A PEACH GIRL (Yi jian mei), 1931 stars Ruan Lingyu
TWIN STARS (Yin han shuang xing), 1931 stars Wang Renmei
LITTLE TOYS (Xiao wanyi), 1933 stars Ruan Lingyu (my favourite Shanghai film)
THE GODDESS (Shen nü), 1934 stars Ruan Lingyu (a classic)
SONG OF CHINA (Tian lun), 1935 stars Lin Chuchu, Zheng Junli
CROSSROADS (Shizi jietou), 1937 stars Bai Yang, Zhao Dan

Some of the best Shanghai classic films on VCD withouth English subtitles:
SPRING SILKWORMS (Chun can), 1933
NEW WOMAN (Xin nüxing), 1934 with Ruan Lingyu (a wonderful film, with an English transcript of the intertitles available online)
THE HIGHWAY (aka THE BIG ROAD, Dalu), 1934
QUEEN OF SPORTS (Tiyu huanghou), 1934 stars Li Lili
TWIN SISTERS (Zimei hua), 1934 stars Butterfly Wu
BOATMAN'S DAUGHTER (Chuan jia nü), 1935
CHILDREN OF TROUBLED TIMES (Feng yun er nü), 1935
SPIRIT OF THE NATION (Guo feng), 1935 stars Ruan Lingyu
OLD AND NEW SHANGHAI (Xin jiu Shanghai), 1936
THE DESERT ISLAND (Lang tao sha), 1936
STREET ANGEL (Malu tianshi), 1937 stars Zhou Xuan (English transcript available online)
A SPRING RIVER FLOWS EAST (Yi jiang shun shui xiang dong liu), 1947
ALONG THE SUNGARI RIVER (Songhua jiangshang), 1947
SPRING IN A SMALL TOWN (Xiao cheng zhi chun), 1948 (quite possibly the greatest Chinese film of them all; transcript available online).

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel like a rocker at a poetry reading. I've only seen one of those films!

― Lara (Lara), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:20 (twenty-two years ago)

well i haven't seen any. i've scoured the bookstores and video shops in my local chinatown for traces of these vcds but no luck. does anyone live near monterey, california--i hear sup bookstore has a lot of this kind of stuff.

i'll be in new york soon--does anyone have advice as to which of the many video and bookstores in chinatown has a good, nicely-organized selection of dvds and vcds?

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I can help you in no way as I live in a cultural wasteland - unless you would like some vintage Enya or classic De Danann?

― Lara (Lara), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:33 (twenty-two years ago)

hm. oh well. you can't imagine the blank stares i get when asking about these films at most chinatown stores. actually i found some interesting stuff piled amongst the latest karaoke vcds--stuff like hou hsiao-hsiens "dust in the wind," tsui harks "Butterfly murders," and stanley kwans "centre stage"--but typically w/o english subtitles.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Learn Mandarin then!

― Lara (Lara), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:41 (twenty-two years ago)

bump.

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

and grind.

― Lara (Lara), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

eleven months pass...

yesasia.com has some of the titles mentioned.

― Kyle Lundy, Sunday, 23 May 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

i have since seen:

LITTLE TOYS (Xiao wanyi), 1933 stars Ruan Lingyu
CROSSROADS (Shizi jietou), 1937 stars Bai Yang, Zhao Dan
THE HIGHWAY (aka THE BIG ROAD, Dalu), 1934
QUEEN OF SPORTS (Tiyu huanghou), 1934 stars Li Lili
STREET ANGEL (Malu tianshi), 1937 stars Zhou Xuan

but not on VCD

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 23 May 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

blimey.

― Enrique (Enrique), Monday, 24 May 2004 07:36 (twenty-one years ago)

eight years pass...

watched SPRING IN A SMALL TOWN (Xiao cheng zhi chun), 1948 (quite possibly the greatest Chinese film of them all; transcript available online).

its good, v timeless & emotionally complex but universal. feels like great literature on the screen, which doesnt mean its nec a "great" film

― johnny crunch, Monday, 11 March 2013 00:20 (twelve years ago)

seven years pass...

i highly recommend The Goddess, Street Angel, The Big Road and—of course—Spring in a Small Town https://t.co/8AvBZXI3eU
— Tse Otter 🦦 (@CarmanTse) April 18, 2020

― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 18 April 2020 07:15 (five years ago)

Great find, thanks

― clap for content-providers (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 18 April 2020 07:27 (five years ago)

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