The Film Society of Lincoln Center is presenting a Tribute to Cathay Studios.

The films being shown are
The Battle of Love
June Bride
Mambo Girl
Our Dream Car
Sister Long Legs
Sun, Moon and Star
The Wild, Wild Rose

I don't have time to see them all. Can anyone tell me which films are must-see flicks?

Thanks.

Cathay Studios Tribute

From what I've read, that would be MAMBO GIRL AND THE WILD, WILD ROSE. both starring Grace Chang. Actually, I think most of these movies star Grace Chang and they're all considered very worthy. But, if you've got to narrow it down to 'must see', I think MAMBO GIRL AND THE WILD, WILD ROSE qualify.

I liked MAMBO GIRL a lot - Grace Chang is very charming and it has more plot going on than AIR HOSTESS (which I don't think they are playing anyway). If I remember correctly, you also get to catch a glimpse of the notorious Mona Fong as a night club singer.

Of the ones being shown, I've only seen SUN, MOON AND STAR (1961), which is in two parts.
It's a wartime romantic drama about a young man from a good family who has to choose between three potential mates (all represented symbolically in the title), who, it quickly becomes clear to the viewer, are all way too good for this guy. The three female stars are Grace Chang, Lucilla You Min and Julie Yeh Feng. It compares quite favorably with Shaw Bros.' vaguely similar epic melodrama ,THE BLUE AND THE BLACK (1966), which is also in two parts. I've reviewed both parts of both films on IMDB, where each part has a separate entry.

Here's the link to my review of SUN, MOON AND STAR, PART 1:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211753/

I've seen all on your list, except BATTLE OF LOVE.

The only must-see is THE WILD, WILD ROSE, which stands out in terms of direction, acting, and music. It's in a class by itself.

That said, I had a lot of fun with DREAM CAR, a movie you will laugh at as much as with, and MAMBO GIRL. What Cathay reviews I have are listed here.

-- Peter

I went yesterday to see THE WILD WILD ROSE. What a treat to see one of these Cathay productions on the big screen. This is one of the most intense Hong Kong films I’ve ever seen. And very different from pretty much everything else I’ve seen from HK, including other Cathay films. Grace Chang is…quite something. Not like any other HK star I’ve seen. I kept thinking of Golden Age Hollywood stars like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Ida Lupino. This film is definitely worth closer study, particularly for her character and performance. She’s not quite convincing early in the film as a sultry mankiller type; she’s more play-acting at it, with every come-hither gesture and mannerism employed to seduce the cleancut “good boy” piano player (with a loyal girl-next-door fiancee) overdone and exaggerated. If there had been a larger, younger audience in the house, there would have been some derisive laughter during these moments. But then she does a role reversal with the piano player midway through and her character really comes to life as a complex woman with a core of decency and honor. (While the “good boy” becomes a worthless, shallow little [bleep].) And it all makes dramatic sense. And it made me question whether the early “bad girl” stage wasn’t really meant to be seen as play-acting in the first place, a front the character put on to protect herself.

And Grace is quite a performer in the nightclub scenes, with a series of Mandarin--language songs done to melodies from famous operas (e.g. “Carmen,” “Madame Butterfly,” “Rigoletto”). And something called “Jajajambo.” She even does a solo flamenco dance number minus singing. Great stuff all. Best musical work I’ve yet seen from her (and light years away from that grating “Mu Cha Cha” number she did in BECAUSE OF HER).

Most of it was shot sync-sound. So it’s their voices we hear. I like when this happens.

When this DVD was first available in Chinatown stores, I didn’t pick it up. And I haven’t seen it on any of my return visits in the last couple of years. I regret not picking it up when I had the chance.

Here's a brief review I did of the series:

http://www.nysun.com/article/64204

I really recommend WILD, WILD ROSE and MAMBO GIRL. SUN MOON AND STARS is good, but not a must see and you don't lose anything by watching it on TV...which is a terrible thing to say about an epic but this two-part flick is shot with no attention to anything other than the lead actresses faces.

I caught MAMBO GIRL at the Walter Reade earlier tonight and was surprised that it was shown on projected video. If anyone has been following the series, has this been the case for all the films? Given that it's in 1.33 and black and white (and the video was fairly high-quality), I didn't mind, but I'd rather not see a Technicolor/Cinemascope film that way.

WILD WILD ROSE was a good-quality 35mm print. How can I be sure? Because the projectionist was often asleep during the reel changes and the screen would go black until he woke up and started the next projector. (Anyone here remember reel changes?) Granted, you wouldn't have that problem with a projected video, but the diminution of image quality is just too big a trade-off for me. The b&w closeups of Grace Chang in ROSE were just luminous in a way that wouldn't be the case on video. (And, Grady, those beautiful color closeups of Grace, Julie Yeh Feng and Lucilla You Min are exactly what makes SUN, MOON AND STAR a must on the big screen.)

Wow, I'm surprised to hear you say that, Brian. I'd swear under oath that WILD, WILD ROSE was a video projection, and so would a couple other guys who were in the audience at the same screening as I (different from yours or I would have recognized you among the thirty or so attendees - why the heck can't Walter Reade get more people to come?). We also had the occasional problem with black spots between reels, but the last time it happened, there was an unmistakable video flicker of the picture as it came back, kind of like when you turn the TV off and back on quickly. And these two guys right behind me were complaining about the video projection to the fellow at the door, who expressed surprise and claimed he knew nothing about the format for the screening. I mentioned the flicker late in the movie, but these two guys claimed they could see the video artifacting right from the beginning. I never noticed and thought the picture looked luminous as well, but I already knew I have a less discerning ("picky"?) eye than some people for these things.

Much enjoyed ROSE, too - that Grace Chang - ai yai yai, hide the men and the boys! Especially during the musical numbers. MAMBO GIRL impressed me a lot less than it did some - pretty bland all around, doubly so during the musical numbers, and Chang seemed straitjacketed by the good-girl role.

Thanks, Michael, now I'm beginning to doubt my own senses. :blink:
I've never seen "reel changes" during a video projection before, although there was something about them that didn't quite look film-like. The screen would just go to black; you wouldn't see the normal leader and projection-lamp-white you'd normally see when a film reel ends. Hmmm...curiouser and curiouser. I have a friend at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. I'm going to call her and ask about this. :unsure:
Still, if it was video it sure looked better than normal for a video projection.

Keep in mind MAMBO GIRL was the first Cathay/MPGI film to get the DVD treatment, and as such caught a lot more eyeballs, and as the first introduction to the Cathay films, it was something of a revelation. Also, comparing any of the other Cathay films to WILD WILD ROSE will come to no good, because none that I have seen come close.

The MAMBO GIRL screening was obviously video because the projection began with video flickers and artifacts as soon as the projectionist pressed "play" (before the film proper began). I hope the 1.33 aspect ratio was accurate.

Well, I can now officially doubt my senses. :( I was informed by my source at the Walter Reade Theater that WILD, WILD ROSE was indeed projected from a Betacam SP tape. Since Beta SP tapes run no more than 90 minutes, a tape change would have been necessary for this 128-minute film (although I distinctly remember two such changes during the showing--maybe it was on two Beta-60's plus a 30 :unsure:).