"In 1964, Run Run Shaw head of Hong Kong's biggest film studio... gave a rare interview" "We have at least 50 actresses and 24 actors" "In Hong Kong actresses are more important than actors" "Because we have more beautiful girls" "It's paradise, it's dreamland!" "As I look at the heavenly dome" "Stars twinkle in the dark night" "We cling to each other tightly" "Lunching with Run Run Shaw in 1964 are two of his latest crop of young actresses" "This is Lily Ho" "Within two years she will be as famous in the east as Jane Fonda in the West" "Shaw had built the biggest studio in what was by then ...the third largest film industry in the world" "For three decades he would provide Chinese cinema goers with every possible genre of movie" "From epics to operas from dramas to musicals" "But he offered his audience something else too" "Home-grown film stars beautiful glamorous women who would... promote his films and become celebrities through them" "In 1960, the rest of the world got its first glimpse ...of the truly epic scale of Hong Kong cinema" "And of its beautiful stars" "That year a Shaw film- 'The Magnificent Concubine' won a special prize at the Cannes film festival" "It starred a mainland-born actress" "Li Li-Hua" "The Magnificent Concubine is the story of Yeung Ke Fei ...the Emperors favourite concubine" "San Lang" "The lavish sets  spectacular costumes of Imperial" "China, all served to enhance Li Li-Hua's star quality" "Li Li Hua was very beautiful very intelligent." "She was a big star very popular." "Everyone agrees she was a superstar." "The Magnificent concubine plays on an epic scale" "At its conclusion" "Yeung Pei Fei offers herself in sacrifice... to appease a mutinous army" "Alright" "If you will be loyal to His Majesty... and escort him to Szechuen;" "I will willingly die for it" "Li Li-Hua's parts frequently married beauty  strength" "Epics like The Magnificent Concubine were produced at ...Shaw's Movie Town at Clearwater Bay where 1200 people were employed." "There were 16 permanent outdoor sets with streets, palaces and pagodas" "Hollywood greats paid courtesy visits" "Shaw wanted to create a Studio-Star system in the American style" "Li Li Hua was one of his first big names" "Already an established actress she had been lured in 1956 to Hollywood appearing in the film 'China Doll' with Victor Matuire" "Li Li Hua had an opportunity to go to Hollywood." "She went to make a film... called 'China Doll'" "But the times were very conservative." "She refused to do a kissing scene with the leading man" "She decided that Hollywood was too unreasonable for her ...and she returned to Hong Kong." "I think if Li Li Hua... had been willing to pursue a career in Hollywood her style would have worked there." "Li Li Hua was one of the few Chinese actresses... to be sought after by Hollywood" "But following a rumored flirtation with Yul Brynner... eventually she returned to Hong Kong and married actor-director Yan Jun" "Signed to the Shaw Studio she was now cast in a variety of roles... to exploit her acting talent" "The beautiful young girl..." "In the film 'Between Tears And Smiles' she plays a singer in pre-war republican China... who is forced to perform for a local warlord" "I'm your sixth concubine" "Who dares come near the sixth concubine?" "Sixth concubine... sixth concubine" "She is driven mad" "Sixth concubine..." "You crazy woman" "You're a disgusting sight" "Beat it or I'll shoot you" "I'll die anyway" "What are you doing?" "You beast" "You monster!" "I'll kill you" "This performance won her the best actress 'Golden Horse' Award" "When she began working for Shaw Studios... she became very, very famous." "Very popular indeed" "At the time, film stars of her age... especially Hong Kong film stars... were regarded as past their prime." "During 'The Magnificent Concubine' and 'Empress Wu' ...she was in her late 30's." "You're outspoken" "Guards!" "Yes" "You do believe in the old laws?" "A woman in power... is against them" "I'll show you what the law means" "Take him out and execute him" "Yes" "She plays a strong character ...who is independent and opinionated." "She also has a lonely human aspect ...and a nasty side." "She plays the complexity of the character very well." "Wait!" "Her Majesty pardons Hsu Yiu-Kung" "She wants to see him" "We don't abide by the laws here" "But don't worry" "Nobody can inform on us" "Your Majesty" "Epic costume drama was hugely popular with... the Hong Kong audience at the start of the 60's" "The population of the British colony... had doubled in the previous decade ...as immigrants from the new communist China flooded across the border" "Shaw offered them an escape... into an picturesque and spectacular imperial past" "He transferred to the screen popular Chinese culture in the form of traditional stories and what was known as Huang Mei or 'Yellow Plum Opera'" "In 'The Grand Substitution' based on a Chinese folk tale" "Li Li Hua plays a princess who gives up her baby-son to her retainer ...played by her own husband Yan Jun to save the child from a plot to murder him" "15 years later the boy returns" "Mother and son meet, without knowing" "It appears that you've suffered too" "The part of the son is played by a woman ...not unusual in Chinese Opera" "Her name is Ivy Ling Po" "I grasp my sword and go out" "Her success in these male roles would make her... one of Hong Kong cinema's best loved actresses" "To kill the traitor for revenge" "You have to get the character right and you have to play it well." "It's not easy." "Right?" "I think... it was quite a good experience" "I never thought of myself as being abnormal." "Nor did I feel weird about it." "I felt comfortable." "At that time..." "Cross-gender roles became trendy with Ling Po's fame." "In Chinese history... particularly in the theatre cross-gender acting was common both, women playing men and vice versa." "This was a very conservative period." "People didn't want to see... men and women on stage at the same time." "In 1963 an opera," "'The Love Eterne' with Ling Po... as the male lead broke all box-office records for Shaw" "It was far  away... the most popular film of the year" "The story concerns a girl" "Zhu Ying Tai played by Betty Lo Ti who... disguises herself as boy in order to get an education" "Way of great learning lies in virtue" "In the scene the class of male students... is almost entirely played by women" "One must regulate one's home" "To regulate one's home..." "One must cultivate oneself." "Ying Tai falls in love with fellow student, Liang Shan ...played by Ling Po" "Despite some obvious clues" "Shan Po never guesses..." "Ying Tai is really a girl" "Okay" "See, it's as good as new" "Good, better than a girl's work" "The Love Eterne' shot Ling Po to overnight stardom" "After The Love Eterne..." "So after this movie..." "Ling Po... became a household name." "It's also a turning point... in my life." "Marry you!" "Marry you!" "But you are not a girl" "In The Love Eterne," "I like every part of the movie every scene but my favourite part is when Liang Shan Po realises Zhu Ying Tai is really a girl." "Is Ying Tai really a girl?" "Of course she is" "He is ecstatic so happy and goes to find her." "They'll always be together in this life" "When Shan Po discovers Ying Tai's real identity... he proposes to her" "But her parents... have already arranged a marriage" "But my father has given me" "On her wedding day, news reaches her... of Shan Po's death from consumption" "She asks for her wedding procession... to go by his tomb" "That's Liang Shan Po  Chu Ying Tai" "Some people were so crazy about The Love Eterne... they went to see it dozens of times." "I think it's because they liked to sing along." "To a Chinese ear the music was simple to learn" "And audiences frequently sang along with the film" "'The Love Eterne' started a craze for Huang Mei Opera throughout Southeast Asia and the Shaw Studios started churning them out... mostly starring Ling Po" "Hua Mulan was another Chinese folk tale... of the girl who enlists in the army as a man and becomes a hero" "The same story would later by taken up by Walt Disney ...in his cartoon, 'Mulan'" "Don't make a move or I'll kill you" "She falls in love with a fellow General... who once again wants to marry her when all is revealed" "The script even makes reference... to the story of Liang Shan Po and Chu Ying Tai" "You and I shared a tent for 12 years" "But it is only clear to you now" "You are more stupid than Liang Shan Po" "It was on the set of Hua Mulan... that Ling Po first met her co-star Zhin Han who in real life she would eventually marry although strongly against the wishes... of Run Run Shaw" "The relationship was very strained." "We were young... and reckless." "Everyone was very unhappy." "They said we can't get married" "We insisted." "We continued arguing... with the studio... so they gave in and said "OK... but you have to let..." "Run Run Shaw be the witness and you should hold the wedding banquet... in the studio ballroom."" "We said "No... no way"" "and they gave in again and said, "OK that's fine"... but asked us not to go... to Taiwan for our honeymoon." "We on the other hand... deliberately went to Taiwan." "So in the end we went to Taiwan we didn't have the wedding in the studio and for quite a while we were on bad terms with the studio." "Shaw believed that for his actresses to be married... was bad box-office" "He exercised enormous control over their lives" "If an actress wanted to leave for a rival studio... he could be quite ruthless in trying to prevent her" "I kept my Taiwanese passport." "The Shaw Studio had always sponsored... my work permit." "So they used this as a weapon." "Suddenly without warning... they withdrew their guarantee." "If this had happened..." "I would have been forced to leave the country." "We have no restrictions here" "We have no labour problem" "Everybody is willing to work long hours and they have an interest in this industry" "They feel happy to work for a film and I think that contributes a lot" "With 'cinema-going' the colony's principal entertainment" "Run Run Shaw used his publicity machine... to build up a dedicated following... for his screen goddesses" "The Studio produced a magazine for the cinema-goer... with articles on the actresses and the productions" "The audience was given story-lines... for the latest production in a comic strip" "This edition is paving the way... for the release of the latest Shaw blockbuster starring the queen of the Shaw movie stars, Lin Dai... in 'The Kingdom And The Beauty'" "Lin Dai, who has been likened to Marilyn Monroe... was one of the great beauties of Hong Kong Cinema" "With a propensity for being cast in tragic roles roles which echoed... the tragedy of her own short life." "Before joining Shaw... she was already famous." "But with Shaw she became even more popular." "Shaw was good at spotting talent." "Lin Dai had that something which appealed to audiences" "So Shaw invested heavily in two films for her" "Diao Sin and The Kingdom  The Beauty and they made her a big star." "In 'Kingdom  The Beauty' the heroine is betrayed by a philandering emperor who is travelling incognito." "He visits the inn where she works and seduces her" "Next morning she finds out his secret" "The emperor promises to send for her and bring her to court" "But he goes away never to return" "He went his way, but with her heart" "When she gives birth to his child, she is reviled and humiliated by the townspeople" "She falls ill with a broken heart" "But when news of her condition reaches the emperor... he repents at last and sends an escort... for her to be brought in splendour to the Capital" "But her illness worsens on the way" "By the time the emperor sees her it's too late!" "Unhappy endings were popular even expected in the Hong Kong Cinema of the period" "And it was always the heroine not the hero who suffered" "Cannot forget, cannot forget" "In "Love Without end"" "Lin Dai plays another tragic heroine ...this time, a nightclub singer" "Li Tsing Tsing" "I cannot forget your good" "It's impossible to be forgotten" "In Hong Kong Cinema nightclub singer, or songstress ...is synonymous with misfortune" "Tsing Tsing, Tsing Tsing" "When her ex-boyfriend, Peng-nan with whom she's still in love... discovers from doctors that Tsing Tsing has leukemia he keeps the truth from her and offers to marry her" "But in the bridal parlor she overhears a conversation" "According to your estimates... three or four months after the wedding ...she will die!" "She decides to run away" "What if Peng-nan finds out?" "Peng-nan may not really love me" "He knows that I am sick" "He pities me" "Peng-nan tracks her down to a remote island... but once again, it's too late!" "Be quiet, my child" "Let me go in." "Please, let me go in" "Tsing-tsing!" "Tsing-tsing!" "In Lin Dai's own private life both love and death quartered her attention" "At one time she had been the girlfriend of Yan Jun ...but he jilted her and married her screen rival Li Li Hua instead" "He wasn't very attentive to Lin Dai." "Say, even if she had been broke... he wouldn't have bought her a pair of shoes." "He didn't care for her life ...so she was very disappointed." "Later she discovered... that Yan Jun seemed to like Li Li Hua and also had a wife in Shanghai... though they were later divorced." "She had tried to kill herself once because of this." "Lin left Hong Kong... to spend several months studying in the USA" "There she met Leung Chan Chuen son of a prominent warlord of pre-communist China" "They were married in Hong Kong in 1961" "She was four-times best actress;" "She had a great career and so much money." "She had married a good husband had a wonderful and beautiful child" "Her son was cute and with big eyes like hers" "So, to me... everything about her seemed perfect." "Despite all that..." "I never saw happiness on her face" "I found that very odd indeed." "When I grew up, I eventually understood." "She had everything... but it wasn't what she was looking for." "She wanted a peaceful and stable family." "Maybe her expectations of family... didn't match the reality." "'The Blue And The Black' was Lin Dai's last film" "A tense drama set during the Sino-Japanese war" "Lin plays Qi an independently-minded girl... much younger than Lin's own 30 years who faces an arranged marriage." "I've been tolerating with you till now" "I don't wish to argue and make you mad" "Not because I am scared of other people" "She runs away from her aunt's house to be with her lover Sin Ya" "Have you packed yet?" "In the emotional melodrama of the 50's and 60's... the heroine was expected to suffer" "Yet usually it was the woman who showed strength and the man weakness!" "Qi" "But I love you deeply" "Can't you do better than just talk?" "The audience is mainly housewives with their kids... so naturally they choose films they can relate to." "For example the male character will be weak... and the female lead will be exploited" "But in the end she triumphs... through her strength and endurance." "The audience relates to this and is moved." "In 'The Blue And The Black'" "Lin's character supports herself... working in a hospital" "I don't think they're coming, Sir" "But then she suffers further humiliation... when she is assaulted by her boss" "Here, have one more then I'll take you home" "I've had too much already" "When news of the rape is reported she is disowned by her aunt's family and becomes... a singer in a nightclub!" "I don't know if it's morning..." "But Lin Dai never finished the film" "One day, driving back from the studio she stopped to pickup fellow actress Qui Ping" "She said, "Sister Qui Ping... get in, get in."" "I said, "I can't, I have to go home."" "She said, "I'll take you home."" "I got in and asked, "What's the matter?" "...Why the urgency?"" ""Don't go home" she said." ""Come home with me I've something to tell you... something very important"" "Then she started crying" "I said, "Don't cry you've got everything." "You've got money fame and love... and you've even got a child." "What could possibly make you unhappy?" "Tell me now" "I can't come home with you."" ""So many people take advantage of me"" "she said." "People take advantage of you?" "I was thinking how can someone with money fame and family... be taken advantage of?" "Why are you being so petty?" "I told her to relax." ""You need to be more like me more optimistic." "Nothing's too important every problem can be resolved" "You must look after yourself." "Be strong nobody can take advantage of you."" "At this point I arrived home and got out." "I said, "I'll call you tomorrow."" "But the next day she had killed herself!" "Chinese communities across the world were shocked" "Thousands attended her funeral in Hong Kong" "For a long time I felt so bad about this news ...that I cried whenever anybody mentioned it." "I still couldn't believe it." "One of the reasons I was so sad... is that I started to realize" "Sometimes what we are chasing isn't actually what we want." "I don't believe she meant to kill herself." "I think there may have been a small intention" "On the other hand, it was meant mainly... as a warning to her husband." "'Blue and Black' is an exceptional film because it is Lin Dai's last unfinished film." "Shaw found a Lin Dai look-alike" "Do Dip" "I think that with the help of cosmetic surgery they made her look more like Lin Dai ...to finish the film." "By the time of Lin Dai's death in 1964..." "Run Run Shaw had begun to gather together a stable of young actresses with an eye to the future" "He started an acting school for them and housed them in purpose-built dormitory blocks on the studio lot" "The new dormitory blocks had a few floors" "It was for Yueh Hua, Lily Ho" "Chan Ping, Jenny Wu, Li Qing" "We lived together on that floor" "It used to be quite big actually" "There were 2 or 3 bedrooms and a living room" "So, other actors..." "Their flat may be smaller" "With only one bedroom" "I mean it used to be different for everyone" "We listen to everything" "We look to their living quarters their comfortable living" "their dresses their social problems" "The only thing that we cannot control... is their loving affairs" "Mr. Shaw found his starlet by holding open auditions" "Anyone could apply" "Auditions were held not just in Hong Kong" "His biggest star for the next generation he found in Taiwan" "Her name was Lily Ho" "Lily Ho was a product of the 60's... and of direct appeal to Hong Kong's youthful audience" "In search of that audience" "Run Run Shaw starred her in a series of modern roles" "They're really rough customers!" "Join them and find out what's up" "Angel With The Iron Fists aped just about every aspect of the James Bond thrillers newly released in the West" "Got a light?" "'Flying Horse Nightclub'" "Lily Ho plays Agent 009 assigned to break-up the Devil girls ...a group of glamorous female gangsters" "Find out where the headquarters is!" "Then blow it up!" "We'll be right behind you!" "We'll capture them all" "I'll try my best!" "I have a couple of things for you!" "Take this handbag" "If you press here... bullets will be fired from both sides" "It's lethal within 20 yards" "She infiltrates the gang where failure carries a heavy price" "The corrupt member of the group... will now be punished" "The masquerade is over." "Stand up!" "What's the meaning of this?" "She isn't Lona!" "She is a cop!" "Who are you anyway?" "Agent 009!" "I'll teach you a lesson!" "Grab her" "Among her peers at that time..." "Lily Ho was the most feminine." "Cheng Pei Pei is young... and pure" "...and Chun Ping is more submissive and soft" "On the other hand..." "Lily's striking feature is her mature feminine side" "Hong Kong's nights are uniquely beautiful" "Those 3 actresses Lily Ho Cheng Pei Pei and Chun Ping co-starred in the 1967 musical" "Hong Kong Nocturne" "Hong Kong is a lovers' paradise" "Love, like mist, covers blemishes" "After their family conjuring act breaks up three sisters pursue their separate careers and loves" "Lily Ho's character... aspires to be a film actress ...but is duped by a conman" "Which dress should I wear?" "No dress required" "No." "I mean, which dress should I wear?" "Western dress or oriental cheongsam?" "No dress!" "No clothes at all!" "She ends up as a singer in a nightclub!" "Woman" "Woman" "Woman" "She's a masterpiece of creation" "She's the devil incarnate she's the devil incarnate" "Let me go, let go of me!" "There she is rescued by a musician... with whom she falls in love" "But the conflict of marriage and career" "Chinese girls of the time... were not expected to have both ...means they decide to part!" "Good bye!" "I love you, I always will!" "You're the most gifted person..." "I've ever met" "I wish you every success" "Thank you" "I'll remember your words" "In the end, the three sisters come together again... to for a song--dance partnership and the film ends with... a grand Broadway style production number" "Sing!" "Dance!" "Sing!" "Dance!" "Dance!" "Sing!" "Hold your head high and strive on" "Let no barriers stop your advance" "New dancers and singers must arise" "Let the world sing with music" "Despite her association with... these modern Western-influenced films one of Lily Ho's best remembered roles was in a period drama ...'Intimate Confessions Of A Chinese Courtesan'" "Boss" "What's up, done with the checking?" "Almost" "She plays the part of Ai Nu ...a girl abducted and sold into prostitution" "When she refuses to cooperate the beautiful brothel owner, Madam Jian played by Betty tries to whip her into submission" "But there is a deeper sexual undercurrent at play" "You know... you are very beautiful" "It seems I'm falling in love with you" "In an ancient film, there was actually such a movie" "In the movie" "Lily Ho paired with a girl called Betty who came from Taiwan" "It certainly was a breakthrough to have some lesbian scenes" "In that era..." "Like the historical epics of Hong Kong ...it had never happened before" "I think the performance of Lily Ho is unhampered by conventions" "So I think... her performance is very sucessful" "Four of the brothel's clients bid for..." "Ai Nu's virginity ...and she is drugged into submission" "Ai Nu attempts to escape but is caught" "And you... do you want to die?" "If not, you will obey me" "She decides it's better to live for revenge than die" "All right, I'll obey you" "She agrees to comply;" "Not only with the requirements of the job, but... with her employer's sexual tastes" "In the beginning there was hatred and then they developed a lesbian relationship" "Enmity surfaces again in the climax" "It's a very complicated and interesting character" "Once established, and in demand..." "Ai Nu takes revenge on the four men who bid for her" "Wei Chien Chung" "Remember the first time you took me?" "You too had tied me up then" "From that time, I swore..." "I would tie you up and kill you" "Now my chance has come!" "This character was a good opportunity for Lily Ho" "So, to many people it's a very strong film." "Intimate Confessions Of A Chinese Courtesan... foreshadowed a relaxation in the laws of censorship, ...which would noticeably affect the films... of the 1970's" "Li Han Hsiang who had directed many of Shaws' historical epics like 'The Kingdom And The Beauty' now turned his hand to erotic films known in Chinese as Fung Yue or Wind-Moon films" "What is this?" "It's a Burmese bell" "What's it for?" "I performed in many fung yue films ...with director Li." "I've always been very self-confident" "I'm not concerned with what other people think." "Tanny Chen Li, 1seen here in the 1974 film 'Golden Lotus' was one of Shaw's more prominent stars who appeared in erotic cinema" "To me, if I couldn't perform in... many different genres of film..." "I would not be a good actress." "In terms of exposing myself..." "I knew where to draw the line." "In 'Golden Lotus' the other star was Hu Chien... who made seven erotic films for Shaws" "Hu plays wife no. 5 to the priapic womanizer Ching Hei-Men a man who takes what he wants from women But there's a moral to the story as what finally kills him" "He is a surfeit of sex from wife no. 5" "Now Ching Hei-Men is dead" "He died of too much sex and wine" "He was an official and a landlord" "But he was also a gangster, a hoodlum" "And a sex maniac!" "Such moral lessons in 'Fung-Yue' films... left little to disguise that soft-porn appeal" "In 'Moods Of Love' the temptations of a Buddhist monk ...well presented as a moralstruggle for him transparently offers the audience something quite different" "You're likely to catch a cold" "Actually, I didn't depict much of... a sexual expression" "But there's a scene where..." "I clutch my Buddha necklace tightly and let it fall apart" "So that it was expressed in such restrained way and not by any overt action" "Sex scenes today and in the past are quite different" "They used to focus a lot of... facial expressions in close-up." "The director would teach you" ""you need to glimpse left and smirk and go... like this."" "And we'd do just that." "We thought it was funny... because most of the directors were macho men ...showing us these feminine moves." "But in 1978 with a more liberal attitude towards sex... censorship rules were relaxed" "You couldn't show the private parts of a woman" "But it was alright for the back" "And the male actor wasn't allowed to... touch the sensitive regions of the actress" "You know what I mean" "Later, the front of a woman's body was allowed" "However, touching wasn't permitted" "Run Run Shaw tailored his films... to the changing tastes of his audience" "His leading ladies starred in historical epics in operas dramas musicals the erotic" "In the late 60's he had added another genre... usually more associated with male actors" "Martial Arts" "I'll settle the bill for one who is sitting there" "Alright" "Reckon won't be able to leave this place alive today" "For one rising young star... it was to herald the breakthrough of her life" "Cheng Pei Pei was just 19 when she was cast to play the lead in King Hu's 'Come Drink With Me'" "Cheng Pei Pei... is a very dedicated actress." "She is quite different... from other actresses." "She is a very down-to-earth sort ...doesn't wear much make-up." "She's very serious about her work... and she's very punctual." "In 'Come Drink With Me'" "Cheng plays a legendary swordswoman Golden Swallow ...trying to release her brother being held hostage" "She has a very strong dancing background ...very good at ballet." "So... when she's working on martial arts scenes her movements are like dancing" "...very beautiful postures." "She was a trained ballet dancer... who learned her martial arts on the set" "Director King Hu had chosen her over a more established actress" "Looking back on 'Come Drink With Me'" "Director Hu had a good vision." "He could make me portray... a convincing female fighter." "'Come Drink With Me' is widely considered... as one of the greatest swordplay films ever ...and it propelled Cheng Pei Pei to stardom" "'Come Drink With Me' has influenced me a great deal." "Because of 'Come Drink With Me'... because of the character Golden Swallow..." "I'm still working in action films." "But Cheng's career had begun quite differently" "Her first film made when she was only 17... was the Huang-Mei Opera 'The Lotus Land' ...in which she played the male part opposite the great Lin Dai" "I'm not suited to... cross-gender acting." "Even though I'm tall and sturdy..." "I can't imitate the aura of... a real man." "Ling Po was much better at this." "So my cross-gender acting... was not very successful." "Also I was quite young ...only 16 or 17" "I had too much of a babyface." "In the second part of the film... my character has aged" "So I had to wear a false beard and it was even less convincing." "Shaws deliberately promoted Cheng Pei Pei's ...innocent youthfulness and girl-next-door demeanor" "Before 'Come Drink With Me' she looked set to be the queen of teen romance" "But her success as a swordswoman... changed all that" "By 1969 the press had nominated her 'Queen Of Martial Arts'" "Two years after 'Come Drink With Me' she repeated the same character in Golden Swallow" "But under a different director Chang Cheh" "Little Roc" "Don't you realise you're the one I love?" "Chang believed that martial arts was about masculinity and relegated Cheng Pei Pei's role to... second place love-interest behind his hero Silver Roc ...played by Wang Yueh" "Of course it bothered me!" "But looking back now... guess I shouldn't be bothered." "'Come Drink With Me' is simply 'Come Drink With Me' but in fact I'm really famous for Golden Swallow." "However I was bothered for... another reason." "When director Chang first asked me to do this film... he didn't tell it the way it was" "So I felt a little deceived... by him." "I was upset ...so I never went and saw the film." "Today Cheng Pei Pei rehearses one of her daughters for a stage performance" "She left Shaws in 1973 when she married and immigrated to America" "From a certain perspective..." "I left when I was at my peak." "If I had carried on... maybe I could have gone further." "But if I had chosen that way..." "I wouldn't have my four kids, and..." "I would have missed out on many beautiful experiences." "But Cheng Pei Pei did return to the cinema" "And is now internationally known... for the role as the wicked swordswoman Jade Fox... in Ang Lee's 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'" "Cheng Pei Pei has every intention... that the tradition of the swordswoman should live on" "With plans to cast her daughter in a sequel to 'Come Drink With Me'... recreating for a new generation... one of the great heroines of the Shaws Studio at its height." "In the mid 1980's" "Run Run Shaw moving with the market... wound down his film-making business and turned the Studios over to television production" "For almost 20 years over 800 films lay in the vault... slowly deteriorating!" "It seemed as if the great performances of..." "Shaw's screen goddesses were never to be seen again" "But in 2001... the library was bought... with a purpose of re-releasing the films" "Now they would be digitally remastered... to restore them to their original quality" "Hold your head high and strive on" "Let no barriers stop your advance" "New dancers and singers must arise" "It means younger generations... can now watch the mandarin films from the time." "Shaws were a movie empire and they'll be able to see... those achievements." "Thanks to 21st century technology the golden age of Hong Kong Cinema ...is now safely preserved for posterity" "Making the screen goddesses of the Shaw Studio... truly immortal." "I'd really like to see... the films I acted in to see how I look in them" "It's already been a few decades, right?" "I can see when I was young, what do I look like" "I'm not as pretty as I used to be" "I'd like to see how beautiful..." "I once was."