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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film
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A group photo of Sir Run Run Shaw (front near car) and Shaw Brothers actors and actresses taken in 1965. Photo: Yau Leung

Bruce Lee, Michael Hui, Tina Leung and other Hong Kong film stars from the 1960s and 70s feature in nostalgic photo exhibition

  • Modern Celebrities of Old Hong Kong is dedicated to actor Michael Hui, and looks at Hong Kong cinema in the 1960s and ’70s
  • Yau Leung, who worked for Shaw Brothers Studio, took most of the photos of stars from the era including Josephine Siao and Tina Leung

When actor and comedian Michael Hui Koon-man won the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, film buff Tung-pui Lau wanted to pay tribute to the 80-year-old.

So he dedicated an exhibition to him, one that focuses on the 1960s and 1970s, when Hong Kong’s film industry was booming, driven by movies about Cantonese opera, musical comedies and martial arts.

Co-curated by art platform The Culturist and photography platform PhotogStory, which Lau founded, “Modern Celebrities of Old Hong Kong” is on show at PhotogStory’s space in Sheung Wan until May 15, and features movie stars including martial arts legend Bruce Lee, actress Tina Leung and child actress Fung Bo-bo.

Most of the 25 silver prints on show were taken by Yau Leung while working with Southern Screen, a film magazine owned by Shaw Brothers Studio, the film production giant that operated in Hong Kong from 1925 to 2011.
Fung Bo-bo made her screen debut at 2½ years old. Photo: Yau Leung
Actress Nancy Chan in the 1930s. Photo: Yau Kai-Fook

It was a position that allowed him to capture celebrities such as Lee as well as actresses Chan Po-chu, Siao Fong-fong and Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia.

Other images were taken by Mak Fung, Chan Fook-lai, Chan Chik as well as Yau Leung’s father, Yau Kai-fook. The collection is a trip down memory lane.

Who are Yau Leung and Lee Ka-sing?

“Yau Leung died in 1997 but he left an important record of Hong Kong movie stars,” says Lau. “Photos by Chan Fook-lai and Chan Chik of Lisa Wang and Siao Fong-fong are also impressive,” he says. “Together, they captured the glorious years of the Hong Kong film industry.”

Leung’s love for photography was in his blood: his father, Yau Kai-fook, was known for his timeless images of actress Nancy Chan taken in the 1930s. One of his images of Chan is included in the exhibition.

In 1973, Leung founded the magazine Photo Tech before taking over as editor of Photoart in 1980, where he worked for more than a decade. He published several books of his images, including Lu Feng Stories (1992), Growing Up in Hong Kong (1994), and City Vibrance: Hong Kong (1997).

Michael Hui, winner of the Hong Kong Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, on the set of The Warlord, in 1972. Photo: Yau Leung

Among the photos on show is Yau Leung’s image of Michael Hui on the set of his first film as a lead actor, in the 1972 film The Warlord, directed by Li Han-hsiang.

“To vividly play the role of a farcical warlord, Hui shaved his hair, and photographer Yau Leung captured the bald warlord on the set,” says Lau.

Another image shows a sultry Tina Leung lounging on a chair. “Tina’s nude scene in the movie The Warlord in 1972 is one of the most discussed scenes in her career,” says Lau.

A sultry image of actress Tina Leung in the Cathay studio in 1966. Photo: Yau Leung

Another image shows the Lee Theatre, a small cinema and stage in the commercial district of Causeway Bay. Sadly, the building is longer there, says Lau. It was demolished in the 1990s and is now the Lee Theatre Plaza shopping centre.

“The Lee Theatre was one of the most famous cinemas and performance venues in Hong Kong,” says Lau. “Teresa Teng and Anita Mui held concerts there,” he says of the singing stars who dominated the stage in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

“The first film screened at the Lee Theatre was Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator in 1940 while the last movie shown there was Terminator 2: Judgement Day in 1991,” he says.

The Lee Theatre in Causeway Bay was demolished in the 1990s and replaced with an office building and a shopping centre. Photo: Yau Leung

“Yau Leung captured the stage at night, and the traffic-filled streets turn into a dynamic light track under the slow shutter speed, which is reminiscent of the prosperity of the Lee Theatre.”

“Modern Celebrities of Old Hong Kong”, 6F Lee Man Commercial Building, 105-107 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan. Opening hours, 1pm-7pm (closed on Monday). Ends May 15

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