
Acting
Ruan Lingyu
Born 1910-04-25 · Shanghai, China
Ruan Lingyu, born Ruan Fenggen, also known by her English name Lily Yuen, was a Chinese silent film actress. One of the most prominent Chinese film stars of the 1930s, her exceptional acting ability and suicide at the age of 25 led her to become an icon of Chinese cinema.
Acting credits
6.3An upper-class son of urbane landowners falls in love with a peasant girl. When a pregnancy results, the couple are kept apart by strict societal morays.
The Peach Girl
1931
7.8A young prostitute, who is trying to give her infant son a good start in life, must contend with a coercive pimp and the prejudices of others.
The Goddess
1934
8.0No synopsis available yet.
A Married Couple in Name Only
1927
No synopsis available yet.
Imperial Concubine Yang of Beijing
1927
6.3Bai Le De and Hu Lun tung are military cadets. After graduating, Hu Lin Tung is appointed captain of Guangdong headquarters and goes away. Later, Bae Le De is also appointed to a post at the same place. Hu Lun Ting falls in love with Luo Hua, daughter of the local commander.
A Spray of Plum Blossoms
1931
6.7Overnight, the sexy Wei Ming will become a successful novelist. But, desperate to get the money that she needs to cure her little daughter (and harassed by a rich, unscrupulous rake), she will end up eventually engage in luxury prostitution.
New Women
1935
7.3Sister Ye lives in a rural village, where everyone makes traditional toys. When Sister Ye's husband dies of an unknown illness, and while Ye is attending to him, her son is kidnapped and sold to a wealthy lady in the city of Shanghai. Shortly after, the village is destroyed during an attack between rival warlords, forcing the villagers move to the city, where they continue to make toys. Ten years pass, and Ye's daughter Zhu'er has become a toy designer. While helping the Nationalist army at the rear, Zhu'er is killed in an attack by the Japanese. On New Year's Eve, Sister Ye is dressed in rags, sitting on the curb, selling toys. A young boy buys toys from her, and it is none other than her son, whom she does not recognize.
Little Toys
1933
10.0Ill-fated romance of an orphaned flower girl and a young musician, destroyed by his traditional family and the Shanghai underworld.
Wild Flower
1930
7.3The film tells the story of Yang Naifan (Ruan Lingyu) who runs from her arranged marriage to be with her true love, Li Zuyi (Jin Yan). The film details the poverty she must endure for breaking with tradition.
Love and Duty
1931
NRThis film depicting the lives of ordinary people — street peddlers, poor scholars, and young revolutionaries — reflects the culturally progressive political climate of that pre-War, post-May the 4th era.
The Dream of the Ancient Capital
1930
6.3No synopsis available yet.
Three Modern Ladies
1933
NRThe daughter of a poor family living in the slums is forced to work at the docks. When it is learned that the slum's landlord is preparing to demolish the entire tenement, she is forced to give up her body to her landlord's son in exchange for a delay in construction. Considered a lost film.
Chengshi zhi ye
1933
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Goodbye, Shanghai
1934
6.9In 1930, two sisters from the countryside, the serious Zhang Lan and the frivolous Zhang Tao graduate from secondary school where their mother Zhang Jie serves as principal. They both love their cousin Zuo, but have ambitions other than marriage. Their lives change dramatically when both attend university in Shanghai and encounter modern urban life and rapidly changing society. The film also depicts the emergence of Chiang Kai-shek's 1934 New Life Movement. Lianhua Film Studio did the film to appease the Nationalist Party which accused it of primarily presenting left-wing films, which was true.
National Customs
1935
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Life
1934
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Spring in the Jade Palace
1931
8.0Coming Home of a dead person
Coming Home
1934
A young peasant woman becomes a Buddhist nun twice to return -also twice- to her regular life.
Sea of Scented Snow
1934