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Sing-Song Girl Red Peony (Sing-Song Girl Red Peony; hongmudan) dir. Zhang Shichuan sc. Hong Shen With Hu Die, Wang Xianzai, Xia Peizhen, Gong Jianong Shanghai: Mingxing Film, 1931. |
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*Sing-Song Girl Read Peony* is renowned as one of the first sound films
to be produced in China. It was a box-office success and was remade in
the 1940s. Although sing-song girl Red Peony is married to an abusive husband, traditional teaching about woman's virtue dictates that she stays with him no matter what. As a well known actress, Red Peony brings home a respectable income, but it is never enough to keep up with her husband's extravagant spending. After the cumulative effects of depression damage her voice, she gradually fades from the spotlight. Meanwhile, her husband continues to squander the money away and cause problems for the family. After one of his attempts to sell their daughter is thwarted by Red Peony, he tricks his daughter into going to a brothel and manages to sell her to the brothel owner. One of Red Peony's suitors learns of this and brings her daughter back home after paying a huge sum of money. At the same time, Red Peony's husband is arrested on an involuntary manslaughter charge. Despite all that he has done, Red Peony forgives him and visits him in prison before going on a performance tour. She even appeals to her friends to lobby for her husband's early release. Finally, her husband's conscience is awakened and he reforms himself. |
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