Blue Sky
Dir/Scr: Wang Yin
Prod Co.: Shaw & Sons
Co-starring: Wang Hao, Huang He, Hou Jingfu, Yang Liu, Liu Qi
1953 / B&W / D Beta / Cantonese (Dubbed) / 105min
Prod Co.: Shaw & Sons
Co-starring: Wang Hao, Huang He, Hou Jingfu, Yang Liu, Liu Qi
1953 / B&W / D Beta / Cantonese (Dubbed) / 105min
In 1952, Li Lihua began acting in films by Shaws and other studios. Blue Sky is the earliest of Li's works with Shaws films kept by the Hong Kong Film Archive. Li starred in the melodrama as Yu Xiaocui, who has fallen in love with Qian Shaoyi (Huang He), a young man hailing from a rich family. To form a life with Xiaocui without his family's constraints, Shaoyi decides to elope with his love. However, a brain tumour causes Shaoyi to lose his sight, forcing Xiaocui to take on the burdens of the family. Things take a turn for the worse when Shaoyi accuses Xiaocui of having an affair with a judge (Wang Hao) and a villain leads to Xiaocui being accused of murder. Like many other dramas made in the 1950s, Blue Sky is about the tragic lives of women in love and marriage. The tragedy of Xiaocui's life is expressed through Li's tears, and her emotional breakdowns are so affecting that you'll likely shed a few tears of your own. Don't miss the appearances of brothers Yan Wei and Yan Chang – better known to contemporary audiences as John Chiang and Paul Chun – as Xiaocui's son at different ages. (This sole surviving copy is dubbed in Cantonese)