Lai Ming

A pair of twin sisters, very different in character , with the younger sister being involved with multiple men, but the older sister being a virtuous character. When the sister dies violently, her husband sees the younger sister returning to the house on the night of her return, but eventually realizes that it was just a false alarm.

The sophistication of 1950s Hong Kong cinema is vividly illustrated in this film of limited budget and resources. Cantonese opera star Sun Ma Si-tsang plays a country boy who looks exactly like Sun Ma and is asked by a rich girl to impersonate the star, to help her stage an opera. The self-reflexive humour generated by the absurd situation not only provides delicious parody of celebrity culture but also comments subtly on class inequality and the perils of urbanisation. Sun Ma, who also appears as himself in a stage performance, is complemented beautifully by the brilliant comedian Yee Chau-shui as his sidekick and Hung Sin Nui, another opera superstar, as the spoiled and precocious rich girl.