The Greatest Civil War on Earth

Dir: Wong Tin-lam
Scr: Stephen Soong (alias Lin Yiliang)
Prod Co: MP & GI
Co-starring: Cheung Ching, Kitty Ting Hao, Christine Pai Lu-ming
1961 | B&W | D Beta | Mandarin & Cantonese | 113min

Belonging to the Cantonese and Mandarin film worlds respectively, Leung Sing-por and Liu Enjia would never have met if not for the efforts of MP & GI, which turned the two plump stars into another successful comic duo. The highest-grossing film of 1961, this blockbuster comedy stars Leung and Liu as two future fathers-in-law who take on each other in a north-versus-south feud. Much like the unlikely screen pairing, the script by Beijing-born Stephen Soong is balanced by director Wong Tin-lam's infusion of southern culture into the proceedings. The film may depict a ‘civil war', but it's actually the result of friendly inter-cultural cooperation.

Screening courtesy of Cathay Organisation