Lan Kwong Comedies

Three Love Affairs (aka Factory Queen)

Dir/Scr: Mok Hong-si
Prod: Wong Cheuk-hon
Prod Co: Lan Kwong
Cast: Ting Ying, Cheung Yee, Lam Yim, Cheung Ying-choi, Helena Law Lan
1963 | B&W | Digital File | Cantonese | 92min

This film was made in celebration of Lan Kwong Film Company’s third anniversary. In the 1960s, Hong Kong’s light manufacturing industries developed rapidly, and the demand for numerous labourer positions brought women out of their homes and into factories. Mok Hong-si, known for his comedies, took advantage of the situation to write and direct a film featuring the life of factory girls in this broad comedy. Shoe factory worker Fong (Ting Ying) and driver Lun (Cheung Yee) fall in love at first sight, but worry they might be rejected due to their humble backgrounds. With the support of her friends, Fong poses as a laundry shop owner’s daughter, while Lun poses as a wealthy man’s son. Numerous comedic moments result. The pace of the film flows smoothly and briskly. The scene where they meet each other’s parents, with Chan Lap-bun and Yuen Lap-cheung playing the wealthy parents, is particularly hilarious. Finally, their lies are exposed, revealing the reality that honesty is crucial in love. Several years later, when Wong Cheuk-hon produced and Sung Ming directed Three Flowers of the Factory (1967), they once again cast Ting Ying to play the lead factory girl, to continue her gentle and vivacious image, a model for the post-war generation of independent working women.