A pure Shaw Brothers melodrama with the mandatory
sniffles and tears. It is either more effective than it should be or I was
in the mood for a tearjerker. Shaw had been the master of the melodrama for
much of the 1960s but taste was changing and the switch to martial arts films
put a dagger into the back of these along with the Chinese opera films. One
of the better actresses in these type of films was the statuesque Julie Yeh
Feng who had been a big star at Cathay before moving to Shaw in 1964. Her
Chinese nickname was Long Legged Sister. She never seemed to fit in quite
as well at Shaw as at Cathay and appeared in less than ten films in her five
years there; none that made much of an impact. Shaw focused more on younger
cute actresses during this period.
She is matched up here with Kwan Shan (father
of Rosamund) who was in his share of romantic melodramas and opposite Feng
in Sheperd Girl and Unfinished Melody before this. He was unable to make
the transition to action films and was to leave Shaw after this film for
Taiwan. He and Feng play husband and wife with their daughter Lingling. A
solid upper class life. She goes to the doctor to be told that she can't
have any more children. She is heartbroken. Oh and you are dying. Nice going
doctor. You have until autumn to live. This being a movie, she tells no one
but stoically moves on.
At work her husband hires an assistant.
The lovely Jenny Hu (mother of actor Terence Yin) and your immediate thought
is oh oh. How could he not fall in love with Jenny. Everyone does in her
films. She was in a few weepy melodramas as well. But surprisingly, the film
does not go there. Knowing that she is dying, Feng decides that her husband
and child will need a wife and mother and chooses Jenny to be the lucky girl.
He likes roses. He likes to have his bed spread changed weekly. He prefers
sex in the morning. Ok, not that one. A little creepy when you think about
it but it works. Directed by Chun Kim who had been directing primarily Cantonese
films since the late 1940s. Married to Jeanette Lin Tsui till 1967. Killed
himself soon after this film.
