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    • Module 1: Laborer’s Love (1922)
    • Module 2: Sports Queen (1934)
    • Module 3: Goddess (1934)
    • Module 4: The Great Road (1934)
    • Module 5: New Women (1935)
    • Module 6: Song at Midnight (1937)
    • Module 7: Street Angels (1937)
    • Module 8: Long Live the Missus! (1947)
    • Module 9: Spring River Flows East (1947)
    • Module 10: Spring in a Small Town (1948)
    • Module 11: Crows and Sparrows (1949)
    • Module 12: Course Wrap-Up
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Li Lili 黎莉莉

Li Lili in UPS Pictorial 1935-02

Li Lili cover Chin-Chin 1934-4-1
Li Lili studio lightning
Li Lili Sports Queen production still

 

Li Lili 黎莉莉 (1915-2005), often credited in English as Lily Lay or L.L. Lay, was an actor of the silent and sound cinema age. A member of Li Jinhui’s Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe, she joined United Photoplay Services (Lianhua Studio), and starred in films opposite leading lights Ruan Lingyu, Jin Yan, and Chen Yanyan in films such as Playthings (1933) and The Great Road (1934). Her persona as a playful, outgoing, sexy, and athletic “sweet big sister” also shines through in her early star vehicles Daybreak (1933) and Sports Queen (1934).

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Sun Yu in UPS Pictorial 1935-01

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An essential guide to the first golden age of Chinese cinema, offering detailed introductions to fourteen films.

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The Great Road 大路 (1934)
In this genre-bending romp, a band of road workers, aided by two women, build a great road to help China fight off invaders.

The Great Road 1934 still

Sports Queen 體育皇后 (1934)
A country girl joins a women's sports academy in Shanghai and becomes a national track star. Will she learn the true athletic spirit?

Sports Queen 1934 production still track

Playthings 小玩意 (1933)
Artisan toymakers struggling to survive amidst war and competition from big business.

Playthings 1933

Daybreak 天明 (1933)
A young woman from the countryside, forced into prostitution, does espionage to aid the Northern Expedition.

Daybreak 1933

Volcanic Passions 火山情血 (1932)
Zheng Junli and Li Lili star in this silent film, featuring a pulpy story of revenge and romance, with hula dancing an erupting volcano.

Volcanic Passions 1932

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