I WONDER if there's still anyone out there who remembers Li Li Hua. This blog is in tribute to people like my late mum who was more or less Li Li Hua's contemporary. Li was an actress who was almost second to none in the 1950's.
She was born in Shanghai on August 17, 1925. According to unverified reports, she's presently residing in Singapore with her second husband. Her first husband, Yan Jun, who was an actor and director, died in New York in 1980.
Li Li Hua's childhood nickname was Xiao Mi because she was a premature baby. Both her parents worked for the Peking Opera. When Li turned 12, she signed up with the Peking Opera even though her mum and dad were not keen on her pursuing such a career but fate had other plans for this young girl.
Three years later, at the age of 15, Li returned to Shanghai. There, she had a chance encounter with Yan Chung-tang, the head honcho of the Yihua Film company. Something about Li Li Hua must have left a deep impression on the film maker because he persuaded her to try an acting career.
No doubt being a young girl with dreams of fame and fortune, the movie world must be such a magnet. Anyway, Li acted in her first film in 1940. It was called The Three Smiles.
The movie was a tremendous success and Li never looked back after that, and history would later show that her woman intuition was right, it turned out to be gateway to a lifetime of success.
In 1941, bombs began to rain on Shanghai. The Japanese controlled the city with an iron fist. Li continued to act in films but by then under foreign occupiers, all movie companies were consolidated under one banner called Huaying. The Japanese had a commanding presence on the concern.
Li Li Hua acted in a number of movies made during wartime. When the war was over, Li and those who acted in the movies were labelled as traitors by the local populace but Li retorted that those films were made to entertain the local folks in a bid to forget their sorrows.
In 1949, Li packed her bags and left for Hong Kong where the pastures were deemed greener. In Hong Kong, she worked for the Yung Hwa Motion Pictures.
Life couldn't have been easy then because the films produced were all low-budget. However, destiny intervened after a couple of years, and Mandarin movies began to enjoy an upsurge in popularity.
Li Li Hua by then was working for Cathay, Shaw Brothers, and Great Wall, besides Yung Hwa. Some of her notable films were The Awful Truth (1950), Spoiling the Wedding Day (1951), The Flower Girl (1951), What Price Beauty (1954), The Beauty of Tokyo (1956), Yang Kwei-fei (1962), The Empress Wu (1963), The Butterfly Lovers (1964), The Goddess of Mercy (1967).
Li collected the Golden Horse Best Actress Award in 1969 for her role in The Yangtze Incident. At the height of her acting career in 1957, Li received an invitation from Hollywood big shot Cecile be deMille to act in "China Doll" opposite Victor Mature (of the Samson and Delilah fame).
Many of Li Li Hua's fans believed that the actress' greatest asset was her ability to hold cinema audience's attention with her bewitching smile and classic Chinese looks.
She was indeed the epitome of what was considered "real Chinese beauty" back in that era. In her 33-year career, Li Li Hua acted in 158 movies.
Li's movie career gradually came to an end in the mid-1960's when other younger actresses began to enter the industry. It was a time when the taste in films underwent a change. Presumably, Li Li Hua saw the "writing on the wall".
In 1973, at the age of 48, Li finally called it a day. She retired and those in the movie world and outside the cinema who had fond memories of Li, bemoaned the departure of an actress of sterling qualities.
Whenever I come across information and news about Li Li Hua, I think of people like my mother and her housewife friends in our neighbourhood. Yes, those were memorable years.
Somehow Li Li Hua came from a world that exudes a certain kind of charm that refuses to go away. It retains a special fragrance of the old Shanghai and its magic had spread all over Southeast Asia over the decades.
li li hwa is one of my all time favourite actresses. she acted in a number of memorable movies like The Penny with Kwan Shan.
For my grandmother, Li Li Hwa was synonymous with the Goddess of Mercy after she acted in that film. Every night, as she tucked me into bed, she would retell the story of how Li Li Hwa became the Goddess of Mercy. She practically worshipped Li Li Hwa as the Goddess of Mercy. For my movie-mad granny who idolized Paul Newman and his blue eyes, suddenly there was a new distraction.
Vince, Paul Newman is a fairly "new" film actor compared to my late dad's preferences.
He used to mention names like Merna Loy, Norma Shearer, Rory Calhoun, Bela Lugousi, Boris Karloff, Lionel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, etc.
Those were people who, at one time, seemed to be straight out of the Jurassic Period for me!
Fillip, your late dad's preferences were the Photoplay pin-ups of the 20s and 30s. My dad used to be a Myrna Loy fan himself.
As a connoisseur of classic Hollywood fare, i loved Irene Dunne and highly recommend watching her in Theodora Goes Wild! and Roberta, among others. Here's another great actress who never won an Oscar.
Vince, it is a pity that both our dads didn't meet each other.
They would have a lot in common.
I was studying Mandarin in Taipei in the 60's and saw all of her films. It was a great way to practise lanuage skills, but most of all to enjoy that wonderfdul film genre, The Empress Wu still stays with me.
Bob, what you say about learning languages from the movies is true.
When i was in Brussels, i watched a Hollywood movie which was shown in English but with French subtitles. I picked up so many French words that day by listening to the dialogue and reading the subtitles at the same time.
For those who still remember Li Lihua, visit the website I created for her some years back. http://www.geocities.com/xiao3mi1/
Li Lihua lost her second husband a few months ago. She now lives in Hong Kong.
She is indeed a great actress. She epitomises style and breeding. Her enunciation, her acting, and her whole demeanour remains a class act seldom seen in today's acting set.
She is indeed my favorite Chinese actress.
Does anyone have a copy of Empress WU or Yang Kwei Fei? It will need to be able to be made U.S version in order I could view it.
Thanks
i have a collection of chinese music on gramaphone records together with the sheet music. Li Li sings on many of the records. records produced by; the great wall electro musical instrument company.
An encredibly beautiful lady with a great talent. Loved her movies.
Jim
Anaheim, Calif.