June Bride
Director: Tang
Huang
Year:
1960
Rating: 7.0
A charming
romantic comedy from Cathay Studio in Hong Kong that tiptoes into the screwball
arena but never quite goes there. The script was written by Eileen Chang,
one of the great Chinese writers from the 1940s through the 1950s and though
on one hand it feels light-hearted, there are a few underlying themes that
might not stick out as much as they did back then. It stars my favorite Hong
Kong actress of the period, the glorious Grace Chang - also one of the great
Mandarin singers in their history. I don't have that many Grace Chang films
left that I haven't seen, so I watch them sparingly. If you ever want to
see her, I recommend checking her out in Mambo Girl from 1957 which made
her a star. The director is Tang Huang who helmed a few classics for Cathay;
Sister Long Legs, Beauty Parade and Cinderella and Her Little Angels.
Danlin (Chang) and her father Mr. Wang (the
Cathay perennial father, Liu Enjia) are onboard a liner going from Japan
to Hong Kong, where Danlin is to be married to Jifeng (Chang Yang) two days
after arriving. It isn't an arranged marriage as they have known each other
for years and are in love. On board Danlin is chased after by a musician
Lin (Tin Ching) who is relentless in his pursuit, but she tells him, "I will
sing and dance with you, but I will never love you". He has been living in
the Philippines for years and lost his Chinese identity to some degree. At
one point, she says to him "You don't understand Chinese women and what we
want. Reliability and a good life". This same theme of Chinese identity comes
up later with another overseas character. Danlin straddles the worlds of
tradition and modernity. She wants things on her terms. But marrying into
a good family is one of them. Her father is a scallywag trying to get everyone
he meets to invest in his company - that is worthless - and he is looking
forward to landing her fiancé who is the son of the South China Rubber
King.
Once on dry land, wedding proceedings begin
to go astray. The previous night, Jifeng had said goodbye to a nightclub
hostess Bai Jin (Ding Hiu) but promised to find her a good man. On the way
out he comes across a drunken sailor waving a wad of money around. Mai Qin
(Roy Chiao) just found out that the woman he came back to marry after fourteen
years in America hadn't waited for him. Jifeng takes him home - leading to
an amusing scene the next morning when his servant (Wu Chia-hsiang) thinks
it is a girl in his bed - leading one to guess that there have been girls
there before.
At this point all the ingredients are in
the pot for a serving of multiple misunderstandings. The scene of Danlin
getting drunk after one glass is hilarious as she swoons around the room
punching pillows. That was honestly enough for me to enjoy this film. The
film begins to fall apart in the final third as it becomes preposterous,
but a sweet ending saves it. Unfortunately, Grace Chang only has two songs
- one a little Hawaiian flavored tune and the other a pretty nifty dream
sequence in which she dances with all three men.
