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Dave Wells’ Top Picks:
1) The Dutiful
Daughter Zhu Zhu (1966)
This contemporary back-stage drama about a street
performer who joins an opera troupe is a good introduction to Connie’s
opera background. The brief but amazing nighttime fight on the steps
facing the great ruined façade of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Macau
is icing on the cake.
2) Movie-fan Princess
(1966)
The quintessential Connie Chan film: a charming
mix of comedy, romance, music, and action. The final scene of her
fans waiting for Connie to appear on stage is a documentary tribute
to her popularity.
3) The Black Killer
(1967)
Double the pleasure! Connie plays both brother
and sister in this hard-hitting thriller. The final showdown with
gangster Sek Kin is both intense and touching.
4) I’ll Get You One Day
(1970)
A funky medley of fighting, singing, romance,
and cross-dressing. The film’s tour de force is an amazing chase-and-fight,
starting in the streets, moving into a stranger’s house, and ending
up in the ruins of an abandoned village.
5) Waste Not Our Youth
(1967)
A rollicking youth film with Connie as a spoiled
rich girl and Lui Kei as the butler’s son. The scene where Connie
goes crazy in the hospital is totally amazing!
6) Girls are Flowers
(1966)
Featuring some of Connie’s most cherished songs,
this film launched the youth musical genre in Cantonese cinema. Although
a standard rich boy/poor girl romance, the film’s youthful energy makes
it fresh and appealing.
7) Her Tender Love
(1969)
A pitch-perfect romantic melodrama with the kind
of villains you love to hate. The “Long Live the Factory Girls” number
is an insightful counterpoint to the rich musical fantasies made by
Shaw Brothers during the same period.
8) The Young Girl Dares
Not Homeward (1970)
Classic old-school melodrama updated for the
times. It’s quite grim with surprising violent moments and a noir-ish
mood throughout.
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Lam Kar-Sing and Connie get ready
to kick some ass in The Dutiful Daughter Zhu Zhu.
Amazing action in I’ll Get You
One Day.
Connie goes berserk in Waste Not
Our Youth.
A noir-ish mood in The Young Girl
Dares Not Homeward.
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