The Swallows Return is adapted from the opera of the same title, a huge hit earlier in 1953. Adapted by writer Lo Yu-kei, the original's period setting was changed from historical to contemporary. Fong Yim-fun later praised the adaptation, preferring it over the subsequent opera version. The film may be set in modern times, but Fong's character is struck by sorrowful fate just the same. Shang-hing, believing that her fiancé had perished at sea, agrees to wed the fiancé's good friend, into a marriage inevitably haunted. When the fiancé returns, the husband suspects adultery and kicks her out in a jealous rage, allowing her to visit their son only once a year, during Mid-Autumn Festival. 18 years later, the son unknowingly falls in love with his own biological sister, taking the story to even more tragic proportions…

The film stars ‘The Three Champions of the Opera World', chosen by popular vote in the 1952 Amusement News poll: Fong Yim-fun, The Queen of Huadan; Sun Ma Si-tsang, The King of Wenwusheng (prime male lead); and Leung Sing-por, The King of Chousheng (prime male clown). Fong is equally brilliant in singing technique and acting skills, her role aging from youthful to elderly and singing songs mostly in nanyin (Southern tunes). The contemporary setting highlights the contentious relationship between husband and wife, switching the authority to kick her out from the original opera's mother-in-law to the husband.

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