The Natural Son
Chor Yuen started his directorial career with a bang. From its very first image, The Natural Son establishes Chor as a filmmaker of stylistic flourish, which would be sustained in various forms throughout his long tenure. Adapted from '30 cents' pulp fiction, it is a Kong Ngee melodrama made in the studio's mould, with Westernised characters and trendy middle-class lifestyles. Yet, Chor's first film is not exempt from the social urgency that characterises the Cantonese cinema of his father, Cheung Wood-yau. The film cloaks its entertainment in a moral deliberation on blood ties, its story about the raising of a bastard child a head-on challenge of archaic family values. An ostentatious start for a colourful and eventful career.
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Cast
9 people
Patsy Ka Ling
Fong Man-yu
Also in
The Ghost Chasers
Blood Stains the Valley of Love
Nam Hung
Fong Man-wai
Also in
The Shell Game
The Smiling Proud Wanderer
Patrick Tse Yin
Chui Chung-ming
Known for
Shaolin Soccer
Rouge
Kong Yat-fan
Mok Wai-sang
Also in
The Talking Bird
Backyard Adventures
Keung Chung-Ping
Wan Sum-man
Also in
Love in a Fallen City
Mr. Virgin
Wong Cho-San
Fong's father
Also in
Parents' Hearts
An Orphan's Tragedy
Lee Yuet-Ching
Fong's mother
Also in
The Fist
Dream Of The Red Chamber
Yeung Yip-Wang
Mok's father
Also in
The Seventh Heaven
My Kingdom for a Husband
Ma Siu-Ying
Mok's mother
Also in
Autumn Tombs
Games Gamblers Play
Chor Yuen Director · Luk Mei Story Kwok Keung Editor
First release March 11, 1959 · Produced in Hong Kong SAR China · Original title 湖畔草
Production
Kong Ngee Motion Picture Production Company
Production
Hong Kong SAR China
Produced in
Languages
Original title
湖畔草
Original language
Cantonese
Spoken on screen
Cantonese
Release dates
Hong Kong SAR China · March 11, 1959
Theatrical · The original Luk Mei's "Three-dime novel" "Illegitimate child", published by Universal Publisher, was adapted into the Rediffusion Radio airwave novel "Grass by the lake".
No release date listed for United States.
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