Starlight Enchantment -- Autobiographies of Film Stars from the First Half of the 20th Century

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: How was their life back then? How did the journalists who interviewed them face-to-face record their stories? To give readers an intuitive understanding of them, the editors selected interviews, self-narratives, film reviews, and some brief biographies from the film magazines of that era, documenting their lives in their original form. The purpose of this book is to directly reflect their true life state, allowing readers to have a face-to-face encounter with these celebrities. Celebrities are both a profession and a charm. In the spring of 2004, at the Shanghai Library, the editors crossed the sands of time for a face-to-face encounter with them. Despite the swift passage of years, their brilliance has been sealed in history, but their smiles remain as radiant on the yellowed pages, shining like stars, captivating and transporting one beyond the present world. Hu Die, Ruan Lingyu, Zhou Xuan, Shangguan Yunzhu, Chen Yanyan, Li Lili, Yuan Meiyun, Li Minghui, Xu Lai, and Wang Renmei—truly a dazzling array of flowers, a blooming spring garden. They were the stars of yesterday, the red-hot film celebrities of China in the 1930s and 1940s, once women at the forefront of fashion. They were skilled in singing and dancing; Zhou Xuan, Li Lili, Li Minghui, Xu Lai, and Wang Renmei were all members of the Bright Moon Society, figures of the first generation of popular music in China. They loved sports, standing in stark contrast to the traditional delicate women of the inner chambers. They played tennis, rode horses, and played golf, maintaining a fit physique. They were "women who stepped out of the inner chambers," driving cars, crossing the ocean, and showcasing a new image of Chinese women to the world.