Choi Mu-ryong

Acting

Choi Mu-ryong

Born 1928-02-02 · Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

South Korean actor, producer, and director who is father of Choi Min-soo. Choi was one of popular actors of the 1960s along with Shin Young-kyun and Kim Jin-kyu. Choi gained a popularity for his handsome appearance and masculine image. Choi's personal life was as much dramatic as his starred films, so he always garnered the public attention. 1952, Choi married a colleague actress, Kang Hyo-shil, the daughter of a noted actress, Jeon Ok with the nickname, "Queen of Tears" and a singer Gang Hong-sik. Choi and his wife had one son and four daughters including an actor, Choi Min-soo. However, Choi had an affair with Kim Ji-mee, the best popular actress at that time, so that Choi and Gang divorced in 1962. Choi soon married Kim Ji-mee, but he owed massive debts due to his failed film production. As a result, Choi chose to divorce Kim again in 1969. At that time, the phrase, Because I love you, I have to part from her was circulated among the public.

Acting credits

Aimless Bullet poster
7.1

Two brothers—Cheol-ho, an accountant with a toothache and a pregnant wife, and Yong-ho, an unemployed ex-soldier wounded in battle—navigate life in post-war Korea.

Aimless Bullet

1961

Bumpkin Oh-bok poster
6.5

Kind-hearted country bumpkin O-bok leads a simple life working as a long-time farmhand for the rich landlord Soon-young. When Soon-young discovers that his son Jae-seok has fallen for local girl Soon-yi, he protests the relationship and arranges for Soon-yi to be wed to O-bok instead. Despite the initial heartbreak, Soon-yi grows fond of O-bok over time and they have a daughter together named Sook-hee. However, when Jae-seok returns into Soon-yi’s life, she cannot resist his charms and runs away with him, leaving Jae-seok to raise Sook-hee on his own. Years later, Sook-hee is now a grown woman working in the city and in close contact with her father. However, a series of coincidences threaten to forcibly reunite O-bok and Sook-hee with Jae-seok and Soon-young in the most dramatic way possible.

Bumpkin Oh-bok

1961

The Iron-Eating Monster poster
NR

During the later years of Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), a talented martial artist is murdered. His resentment makes him born again as Bulgasari, a monster that grinds and eats up iron. The monster takes his revenge on the traitors responsible for his death.

The Iron-Eating Monster

1962

Five Marines poster
5.6

A brigade of five marines are sent on a dangerous mission to capture an enemy stronghold during the Korean War.

Five Marines

1961

The Youth poster
6.7

In the latter years of the Korean Empire, Lee In Hwa, disguises herself as a man so she can join a group of young men determined to overthrow the colonial government. They fight together with young national activists presided by Hwal Min and supported by Daewon-gun, the Prince Regent, against Min Gyeom Ho and his peers. But Min and his team perform a surprise attack on Hwal Min and his peers.

The Youth

1955

Red Scarf poster
7.5

South Korean Air Force pilots engage in perilous missions against Communist North Koreans during the Korean War.

Red Scarf

1964

Night Blues poster
NR

Singers Han Sang-soo (Choi Moo-ryong) and Cha Yoo-mi (Lee Bin-hwa) are called "Wonang-sae duo" and enjoy the highest popularity. However, unlike Yumi, who loves Sang-soo deeply, Sang-soo considers her relationship with Yumi to be a friendship and marries her sister, Kyung-hee (Tae-reality), a pianist at the club. When Sang-soo marries Kyung-hee, Yumi, who is greatly hurt, leaves for France alone, and Sang-soo turns into a solo artist, but becomes a singer who travels to the countryside due to his lack of popularity and becomes a singer on stage.

Night Blues

1966

Prince Yeon-san poster
NR

Prince Yeon-san

Prince Yeon-san

1987

Marine Battleground poster
7.1

A division of marines survive a battle with the Chinese army but find themselves stranded without contact on the wrong side of the front.

Marine Battleground

1963

A Drifting Story poster
6.5

This melodrama follows the trials and tribulations of a single mother who dares to love. Hyun Hee (Mun Jeong Suk) makes a living running a coffee house. She has to support her illegitimate daughter and mother, and bear the scorn of those who look down on her. Hyun Hee falls in love with a married writer (Kim Jin Kyu), while another customer (Choi Mu Ryong) holds a torch for her. The romantic triangles that unfold lead to tragic consequences.

A Drifting Story

1960

Call 112 poster
NR

A gang of pharmacists, intent on seizing Hyun-ju's inheritance, systematically approaches her. The leader of the gang is her ex-husband. Before they can seize her inheritance, internal conflict arises within the gang, and they are all murdered by the leader. Meanwhile, the police, aware of this, launch a nimble investigation. The leader, determined to keep her inheritance, persistently pursues her, but ultimately fails and is arrested. She is rescued from a near-death experience.

Call 112

1962

The Only Son poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Only Son

1963

Woman of Fire poster
4.8

The lives of a composer and his wife, who live on a chicken farm, are thrown into turmoil when a femme fatale joins their household.

Woman of Fire

1971

Liberal Wife '81 poster
NR

After 10 years of marriage, Sun-young and Tae-yeon save up a significant amount of money. Tae-yeon runs a food processing company and works hard to expand business but Sun-young wants to enjoy the fruits of their labor. While partying with her friends, she meets fashion designer Pierre Kang and has an affair with him. When her infidelity is found out by her husband, he asks for a divorce. When he refuses to forgive her, she seeks it through suicide.

Liberal Wife '81

1981

Cruel history of Myeong Dong poster
10.0

An omnibus of three stories all taking place in the Myeongdong district of Seoul.

Cruel history of Myeong Dong

1972

A Second Mother poster
10.0

Nam-Ok who has Yun-Ho and Yun-Suk remarries widowed Heung-Yeol who has Hyeong-Tae and Hyeong-Ja. Nam-Ok are concerned about frequent quarrels between half brothers and sisters, but manages to deal with them wisely. As Yun-Ho who went to fishing with him falls into the water, Heung-Yeol tries to save him only to drown himself to death. Fifteen years later, Hyeong-Tae goes abroad to study while Hyeong-Ja lives in extravagance in Seoul. Yun-Suk gets to know Dong-Oh on the train, and Dong-Ho gets to like her, but later misunderstands her due to Hyeong-Ja's scheme, which causes Yun-Suk to commit suicide.

A Second Mother

1972

North and South poster
7.5

Based on a radio drama, this wartime melodrama revolves around a woman caught between two men: her husband, a South Korean lieutenant, and her former lover, a North Korean officer who defects to come find her. The film portrays not only their tragic love triangle but also the empathetic bond that develops between the two men.

North and South

1965

Kinship poster
6.2

The story takes place on a mountain slope where defectors from North Korea live. These families sell cheap things such as socks and pens to make a living and there is a serious gap between the parents and their children. A widower Kim Deok-sam nags his son Geo-buk to join the American army. Ok-Mae who lives next door teaches her daughter Bok-soon traditional Korean folksongs and forces her to become a gisaeng.

Kinship

1963

Special Investigation Unit: The Case of College Girl Lee Nan-hee poster
9.0

Nan-hee is slowly coerced into a life of crime by her boyfriend, Park. She is trained in assassination techniques and sent to assassinate the head of the Special Investigation Unit. However she cannot complete her mission because she suffers from pangs of conscience and a deep attraction to the investigator.

Special Investigation Unit: The Case of College Girl Lee Nan-hee

1973

A Sunflower Family poster
7.5

A middle-aged man is so crazy about his mistress that he doesn't care about what happens to his family. The feud between his children by his wife and by the mistress gets worse until the family almost breaks apart.

A Sunflower Family

1961

A Bout in 30 Years poster
6.5

Best friends Dae-gyu and Dal-su fight over Ok-hi. When Ok-hui marries and goes to Seoul the fight ends. After many years, Ok-hi is widowed and brings her daughter Ji-hyang to her home village, and the fight between Dae-gyu and Dal-su begins again. Ok-hui borrows some money from Dal-su when she is short of money while building a reservoir for the village. Dal-su lends money on the condition that she marry him if she cannot pay him back until the ground-breaking ceremony. And Dal-su's wife leaves. As Ok-hui fails to return the money, she tries to run away with Dae-gyu, but they run into Min, Dal-su's son, who demands them to pay back his father's money. Finally Dae-gyu and Dal-su meet and have a fight, but at last Dal-su sends him to Ok-hi, and he is happy to do so.

A Bout in 30 Years

1971

One Who Comes Back and the Other Who Has To Leave poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

One Who Comes Back and the Other Who Has To Leave

1972

Boxes of Death poster
5.0

A village youth gets trapped inside a communist hideout with his home made timebomb and must escape before it goes off.

Boxes of Death

1955

The Flaming Mountain poster
NR

Red Kid abducts Monk Tripitaka to turn his flesh into a feast to treat his mother Princess Iron Fan. Monkey King is subdued. Red Kid is taken as a disciple of the Goddess of Mercy. As Monk Tripitaka and his disciples reach the Flaming Mountain, they are unable to pass through it. The monk sends Monkey to borrow the princess's magic fan to disperse the fire. But the Princess still bears a grudge over her son’s destiny, wielding her fan to slap Monkey away. Monkey transforms into a bug, landing in her tea and hitting her stomach. In pain, the Princess answers his request, but she lends him a fake fan. With his request turned down by Ox King, Monkey disguises as Ox to beguile the wife and get the fan. Ox King transforms into Pigsy to snatch back the fan. Taoist God Pagoda arrives to subdue Ox in the company of Red Kid. Ox finally relents and yields the fan, which extinguishes the flames and sees the monk and his disciples safely off to a new phase of their journey.

The Flaming Mountain

1962

Behind the camera