Mambo Girl Grace Chang, Peter Chen Ho, Kitty Ting Hao, Liu En-chia Director: Evan Yang
Hong Kong's cinema, like its cityscape, has so radically changed during the past half-century that watching Mambo Girl is akin to an entertaining lesson in a bygone pop era.
This 1957 classic also ranks as one of the most delightful musicals ever produced in the region, with an infectious spirit that makes up for its conventional plot and somewhat plodding direction.
Its best facet, however, is the then 24-year-old actress-singer Grace Chang in what proved to be her breakthrough role.
As the lass referred to in the title, she is the personification of idealised Hong Kong youth, the demure but spunky 'girl next door' who warbles like a pro and, when not attending high school, dances up a storm.
The movie is also a testament to the high standards of MP&GI, a studio that specialised in Mandarin productions and, for a brief period from 1957 to 1964, created some of the most polished motion pictures in Hong Kong's cinematic history.
Mambo Girl is a prime example of a blended Shanghai-Hollywood sensibility filtered through a Hong Kong prism.