
Directing
Yan Jun
Born 1917-12-17 · Beijing, China
Yan Jun (Chinese: 嚴俊, 17 December 1917 - 18 August 1980) was a Hong Kong actor and film director.
Acting credits
6.1A romantic Han Dynasty adventure epic of a dying Emperor, an Evil Queen, a beautiful Princess, a dastardly royal nephew, and a masked hero, with plots and counterplots galore, complete with cliffhangers and last-second rescues.
That Man in Chang-An
1967
6.4The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.
Empress Wu
1963
10.0The Black Fox (黑狐狸) is a 1962 Hong Kong thriller film directed by Yan Jun. The film was produced under the Shaw Brothers banner in the Mandarin language.
The Black Fox
1962
7.0After falling in love with Han Liren and giving birth to an "illegitimate child", Han Liren abandoned her and married a rich girl and cheated her out of the child. Huang Su then left the country, changed her name to Lin Luping, and became an actress. Sixteen years later, Huang Su was so popular that she was invited to perform in Shanghai. The young actor she worked with, Han Chen, was withdrawn and hated everyone, and everyone discriminated against him because he was an abandoned "illegitimate child". On stage, Han Chen played Lin Luping's son and was very successful. Later Lin Luping finds out that he turns out to be her biological son who was cheated away by Han Liren years ago. At this point, the theater owner Han Liren appears and wishes to get back together with Lin Luping, but is rejected by Lin Luping's mother and son.
Mother and Son
1947
6.0Perhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).
The Magnificent Concubine
1962
9.0Meal Time is a comedy film about all the mess with housework that director Yan and his wife had to go through after the maid gave up her job.
Meal Time
1953
NRNo synopsis available yet.
A Diamond Ring
1948
7.5With China under control of a weak Emperor, two officials compete to steer the future destiny of the land. Chiu believes the people are the future of China, while the diabolical Tu wishes to grind the people beneath an iron heel. Tu decides to take out Chiu's family, but one lone infant escapes.
The Grand Substitution
1965
8.0The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian is a Hong Kong Chinese Opera musical starring Jackie Chan in a child role.
The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian
1964
In one of Yueh's most left-winged movies, it detailed a couple’s flight from the civil war in China to Hong Kong, only realising their arrival to an even more exploitative society: the rich were still ruthless and the poor fell even lower. Followed by Guangzhou’s liberation, they and their poor comrades took the train headed north back to their home. The movie gives a rich and realistic depiction of the refugee lives on the streets and in the living quarters through various characters and dialects. It was the vibrant “south” we watched, yet the tagline called people to “wake up and return to the north”. Such conflicting stance on business and politics was not unusual among the leftist movie companies at the time. Yueh and most of his crew in this movie were expatriates but would eventually stay in this British colony for the rest of their lives.
Home, Sweet Home
1950
9.0Tao Zutai, a bank employee, has five children. Tao's wife is addicted to gambling and spends too much and the eldest daughter Guiru is greedy for vanity. Tao is overjoyed when he is notified that he will be promoted to deputy manager.
Laughter and Tears
1958
6.4After a notorious rapist kills his master and entire clan, the Iron Buddha sets out for revenge. He'll need a magic sword first though, naturally.
The Iron Buddha
1970
NRMa the flying bandit calls it quits after his daughter is born. His wife, a onetime prostitute, can’t stand poverty and turns him in to the authorities before resuming her profession. Years later, when the daughter is set to get married, the unabashed mother blackmails her own flesh and blood, so Ma has to escape from prison to thwart her.
Blood Will Tell
1949
10.0Loosely based on Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre.
The Orphan Girl
1956
9.0Based on one particular storyline from The Water Margin, Three Sinners weaves an intriguing story of romance, treachery, and death, all within the context of the traditional Huangmei Opera. Yan Jun casts his real-life wife, the elegant Li Li Hua, star of such Shaw Brothers films as The Goddess of Mercy and Vermillion Door, as one of the title characters, a woman who finds herself in the middle of a stormy love triangle involving her controlling husband (director Yan Jun serving double duty in a starring role) and a passionate lover (Chen Yan Yan).
Three Sinners
1963
NRNot seen in Hong Kong for many years, A Strange Woman was Li Pingqian's first film at Great Wall Film Studio. Adapted from the play La Tosca by French playwright Victorien Sardou, opera star Xiao Xiangshui (Bai Guang) helps her lover, a revolutionary, to escape from warlords. She finesses with both the head of the secret service (Yan Jun) and her lover's wife, but things do not turn out as planned. Li changed his usual pace to encompass a more conventional and dramatic film plot. Bold and flirtatious in her role, Bai Guang is equally over the top in appearance as Yan Jun. The tension in winning the heroine over drives the plot more than the themes of patriotism and loyalty in love.
A Strange Woman
1950
10.0Spy thriller set in occupied Shanghai. Li Lihua stars as the woman who is thrust into the role of nationalist freedom fighter when she discovers that her husband is a collaborator with the Japanese.
Squadron 77
1965
8.0Circus trapeze artist Liu Xiaoniu runs away from the circus. While away, she's tricked by a playboy and then the police mistake her for a prostitute. She returns to the circus but her adoptive father, Liu Yingjie, suffers an accident.
The Greatest Circus on Earth
1957
8.0No synopsis available yet.
Spring
1942
5.6The swordsman Zhang Zhen is injured in a misadventure and rescued by Eldest Sister of Changchun Sect, who has a crush on him. However, Zhang falls in love with the maid Yuenu instead, and conceives twins with her. The couple are killed by a group of evil pugilists later. The Eldest Sister is angry with Zhang Zhen for not accepting her and plans to make Zhang's children kill each other as revenge. The baby girl (Xiaolu'er) is saved by Zhang's friend, Lian Lanyan, while the male infant (Hua Yuchun) is taken away by the Eldest Sister. Lian Lanyan encounters the Ten Villains when he passes through Villains' Valley. He is overwhelmed by them and knocked out in a fight. The baby Xiaolu'er is taken away by the Villains, who surprisingly do not harm her, and instead intend to groom her to become the greatest villain ever. Eighteen years later, the twins meet each other by coincidence.
The Jade Faced Assassin
1971
NRNo synopsis available yet.
夜来风雨声
1949
6.6Chi Yuan and Tang Ke-hsin find an unexpected spark during a Christmas gathering, creating ripples of jealousy and heartache within the tightly knit circle of siblings Tu Chia-wen and Chia-ling. A hunting accident sends their lives into emotional freefall, separating lovers, straining family bonds, and pushing each character toward choices that echo for years to come. What begins as a tender love triangle spirals into a multigenerational saga of longing, regret, and redemption, culminating in both reunion and irreversible loss.
My Dream Boat
1967
8.0A young woman moves to rural Taiwan to live with her extended family during her parents' divorce. She and her two cousins navigate romantic complications and relations with the indigenous Taiwanese in this adaptation of a Chiung Yao novel.
Mist over Dream Lake
1968
9.0Li Ching plays one of three daughters, whose life is turned upside down when she discovers she is adopted. But things get even worse when she goes in search of her real mother. Finally, after almost a double tragedy, she realizes what so many knew all along: There's no place like home.
A Place to Call Home
1970
Behind the camera
6.1A romantic Han Dynasty adventure epic of a dying Emperor, an Evil Queen, a beautiful Princess, a dastardly royal nephew, and a masked hero, with plots and counterplots galore, complete with cliffhangers and last-second rescues.
That Man in Chang-An
1967
10.0The Black Fox (黑狐狸) is a 1962 Hong Kong thriller film directed by Yan Jun. The film was produced under the Shaw Brothers banner in the Mandarin language.
The Black Fox
1962
10.0HK crime drama thriller film.
Appointment with Death
1959
7.5With China under control of a weak Emperor, two officials compete to steer the future destiny of the land. Chiu believes the people are the future of China, while the diabolical Tu wishes to grind the people beneath an iron heel. Tu decides to take out Chiu's family, but one lone infant escapes.
The Grand Substitution
1965
7.3The bandits of Hulu Valley murder the chief of Mei Clan while searching for a treasure map. In retaliation, the clan’s leading swordsman Feng-chun (Chan Leung) infiltrates the bandit’s fortress hideout in anticipation of a surprise attack by a larger force and unexpectedly finds himself romantically involved with the bandit leader’s feisty daughter (Cheng Pei-Pei).
That Fiery Girl
1968
7.0The romance of a squire's daughter and a poor but refined scholar is thwarted when a loutish bandit is mistaken for the scholar by a confused servant and is given the idea that the daughter's hand in marriage is his for the asking. Rich in cross-dressing, mistaken identities, and reversals of gender roles, the film playfully subverts traditional Confucian values.
The Bride Napping
1962
6.8Fan Chia-soo is a kind-hearted student whose heart is captured by the sweet song of Shen Feng-hsien. However, he is not the only one who has eyes for Shen. The General's henchmen are also determined to present the songstress to their superior as a gift. Fan received help from an unexpected quarter to save the woman he loves.
Between Tears and Smiles
1964
8.0The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian is a Hong Kong Chinese Opera musical starring Jackie Chan in a child role.
The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian
1964
7.2Love knows no limits in the grand period romance, Lady Jade Locket. A young fighter inadvertently falls for the spirit of a beautiful woman, who died years earlier avenging her own father's murder. The beautiful ghost is in fact the sister of his fiancee. Experienced as an actor in many such romances, director Yen Chuan keeps the tone perfect. Plus, with period specialist Li Li-hua in the lead and the attractive and acclaimed Li Ching playing the ghost girl, he really can do no wrong.
Lady Jade Locket
1967
9.0Tao Zutai, a bank employee, has five children. Tao's wife is addicted to gambling and spends too much and the eldest daughter Guiru is greedy for vanity. Tao is overjoyed when he is notified that he will be promoted to deputy manager.
Laughter and Tears
1958
9.0Tao Zutai, a bank employee, has five children. Tao's wife is addicted to gambling and spends too much and the eldest daughter Guiru is greedy for vanity. Tao is overjoyed when he is notified that he will be promoted to deputy manager.
Laughter and Tears
1958
6.4After a notorious rapist kills his master and entire clan, the Iron Buddha sets out for revenge. He'll need a magic sword first though, naturally.
The Iron Buddha
1970
10.0Loosely based on Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre.
The Orphan Girl
1956
9.0Based on one particular storyline from The Water Margin, Three Sinners weaves an intriguing story of romance, treachery, and death, all within the context of the traditional Huangmei Opera. Yan Jun casts his real-life wife, the elegant Li Li Hua, star of such Shaw Brothers films as The Goddess of Mercy and Vermillion Door, as one of the title characters, a woman who finds herself in the middle of a stormy love triangle involving her controlling husband (director Yan Jun serving double duty in a starring role) and a passionate lover (Chen Yan Yan).
Three Sinners
1963
10.0Spy thriller set in occupied Shanghai. Li Lihua stars as the woman who is thrust into the role of nationalist freedom fighter when she discovers that her husband is a collaborator with the Japanese.
Squadron 77
1965
8.0Circus trapeze artist Liu Xiaoniu runs away from the circus. While away, she's tricked by a playboy and then the police mistake her for a prostitute. She returns to the circus but her adoptive father, Liu Yingjie, suffers an accident.
The Greatest Circus on Earth
1957
5.6The swordsman Zhang Zhen is injured in a misadventure and rescued by Eldest Sister of Changchun Sect, who has a crush on him. However, Zhang falls in love with the maid Yuenu instead, and conceives twins with her. The couple are killed by a group of evil pugilists later. The Eldest Sister is angry with Zhang Zhen for not accepting her and plans to make Zhang's children kill each other as revenge. The baby girl (Xiaolu'er) is saved by Zhang's friend, Lian Lanyan, while the male infant (Hua Yuchun) is taken away by the Eldest Sister. Lian Lanyan encounters the Ten Villains when he passes through Villains' Valley. He is overwhelmed by them and knocked out in a fight. The baby Xiaolu'er is taken away by the Villains, who surprisingly do not harm her, and instead intend to groom her to become the greatest villain ever. Eighteen years later, the twins meet each other by coincidence.
The Jade Faced Assassin
1971
7.0Seventh sister of the celestial world goes down to earth to marry Dong Yong, a young man sold to servitude. However the Jade Emperor orders her to go back to the immortal world.
A Maid from Heaven
1963
8.0A young woman moves to rural Taiwan to live with her extended family during her parents' divorce. She and her two cousins navigate romantic complications and relations with the indigenous Taiwanese in this adaptation of a Chiung Yao novel.
Mist over Dream Lake
1968
8.0A young woman moves to rural Taiwan to live with her extended family during her parents' divorce. She and her two cousins navigate romantic complications and relations with the indigenous Taiwanese in this adaptation of a Chiung Yao novel.
Mist over Dream Lake
1968
9.0A sweet inn-keeper's daughter falls in love with a woodcutter, but witnesses the woodcutter's brother raping her sister. Tragically, the sister commits suicide in shame, and the rapists turn his attentions to the witness, leading to more danger than most romantic dramas can handle.
Moonlight Serenade
1967
8.0A Shaw Brothers production
The Pink Murder
1959
9.0A Shaw Brothers film starring Li Li Hua
A Shot in the Dark
1960
10.0Private Investigator, Wu Feng, is tasked in tracking down his wife, Zhang Xiu Juan, and collecting evidence of her infidelity. He plans to blackmail her into divorcing him while also getting a share of her inheritance from her father.
The Chase
1956