In March 1935, the cover of the special edition of Nguyen Ling Ngoc Ngần Đồng Đại was featured in electroacoustic magazine
In the mid-1930s, the Chinese film industry ushered in the first prosperous era, and contributed hu die (1908-1989), Ruan Lingyu (1910-1935) and Jin Yan (1910-1983) three major film superstars, with March 8, 1935 as the watershed - ruan lingyu's departure, also accelerated the "heartless love war" of many actresses in the film industry at that time, such as "standard beauty" Xu Lai (1909-1973), Li Minghui (1909-2003) and so on have successively withdrawn from the film industry or married.
Ms. Ruan Lingyu committed suicide and died for the funeral, and the Linglan was transported to Lianyi Mountain Villa for burial, and the audience of the senders was crowded - at that time, all the newspapers in China reported the incident of Ruan Lingyu's suicide and death funeral, which can be described as a great impact
After the death of Ruan Lingyu, Lianhua Company's strength was greatly damaged, because none of the existing female stars were qualified to replace Ruan Lingyu's status, and there was no panic among the successors.
Hu Die found a ruyi Langjun and married and retired, and the two superstars bid farewell to the film industry one after another, forming a situation of "being the head of the family".
Ruan Lingyu's image in the film Love and Obligation (1931).
Images of Golden Flame in the film The Waves and sands (1936).
In 1936, Hu Die's image of welcoming Huang Liushuang to Shanghai
In order to fill the gap of talents, among the famous actors, Chen Yanyan (1916-1999), Wang Renmei (1914-1987), Li Lili (1915-2005) were either due to different personalities, or because of limited genius, their achievements had stopped, and it was not easy to make progress, and each person's style was completely different from Ruan Lingyu, so they tried to pick up new people to make up for the weakness of the star front, and the method they took was to imitate the route.
On the left is this photo of Mei Lin in lianhua pictorial, which looks like Ruan Lingyu
Lianhua selected Mink Banhua (1913-1941) and Mei Lin (1915-1997) who looked similar to Hu Die and Ruan Lingyu.
Because the most prestigious Chinese female stars are Ruan Lingyu and Hu Die, when Lianhua discovers new people, it hopes to find a Ruan Lingyu stand-in or Hu Die's second.
Mink and Butterfly are both plump and similar
Mei Lin stepped into the film circle and was discovered by Wu Bangfan (1892-1960) of the United China Company. He thinks that Mei Lin's Fang Rong Zheng is very similar to Ruan Lingyu, so he tries to hire Ruan Lingyu to make up for Ruan Lingyu's vacancy.
Although Mei Lin has Ruan Lingyu's peach blossom face and willow leaf eyebrows, she lacks Ruan Lingyu's actor quality and skilled performance skills.
September 1935, cover of the pocket magazine Linglong, Wang Yin and Mei Lin
It is said that Mei Lin and Mink Banhua are very similar to Ruan Lingyu and Hu Die, Mei Mink, and the company also promotes like Ruan and Hu outwards, deliberately imitating. Star Manufacturing was launched.
Lianhua also gave hints to the two, making Mei Lin try to chase after Ruan Lingyu, and Marten Banhua imitated Hu Die, hoping that one could make up for Ruan Lingyu's weakness, and one could resist Ruan Lingyu's solipsistic Hu Die after Ruan Lingyu's death.
In 1936, the cover of lianhua pictorial, known as the "second hu butterfly" mink banhua, in terms of photography, try to be close to the posture and smile of the butterfly
On the appearance, Mei Lin and Mink Banhua are comparable, both are peach blossom faces, willow leaf eyebrows, strictly speaking, Mei Lin is more slender, Mink Banhua is more plump, on the qualifications, Mei Lin has been on the camera many times, more experience, mink Banhua is the first time on the screen, inferior.
Both of them and Lianhua have a three-year contract, and as for salary, Mei Lin's contract is 60 yuan in the first year, 90 yuan in the second year, and 120 yuan in the third year.
From left: Chen Yanyan, Lin Chuchu, and Mei Lin in the movie "Tianlun" (1935), the film did not give Mei Lin a separate shot, which is a pity
Sable Banhua's contract is 30 yuan in the first year, 60 yuan in the second year, and 90 yuan in the third year, from this number of words, Mink Hua and Mei Lin are newcomers, and the treatment obtained by Mink Ban Hua is lower than Mei Lin's level, which shows that Lianhua wants to rely on Mei Lin, more than Mink Ban Hua.
UMC makes the most of its corporate publications. Therefore, in the "Lianhua Pictorial" published a series of cover photos of Mei Lin, vigorously publicized.
On the cover of lianhua pictorial in 1935, Mei Lin, the female star that Lianhua once praised, was named "Ruan Lingyu second", but unfortunately she was weak
After Merlin starred in "The Gentleman Without Worries" (1935), there were not many works in the next few works, only in the two films "Tianlun" (1935) and "Lianhua Symphony" (1937), and the newspapers at the time said that the films starring Miss Merlin did not appear as many times as the covers.
The reason is that Mei Lin is physically weak, and she is physically overwhelmed by the continuous rotation and operation of the film company; the second reason is that Mei Lin speaks Wu Nong softly, saying that Chinese is not good, and playing sound films, it is necessary to use Chinese. As a result, viewers rarely get the chance to see her on screen.
From the second from the left: Images of Lin Chuchu, Mei Lin and Li Zhuozhuo in the movie Tianlun (1935).
Throughout the several films that Merlin has left behind, the cast list is relatively low, and some are more abbreviated and even do not have her name, indicating that she plays less important supporting roles.
And it is difficult to find several shots of her in these images, some of which are basically group shots, and there are no individual close-ups. It's a pity.
Merlin art photos
The reason why Merlin has few works in the film world, and her weak fame and fortune may be on the one hand, but the main thing is that her acting skills are not good.
Even in the film "The Gentleman without Worries", the real highlight should be the two comedians - Han Langen (1909-1982) and Liu Jiqun (1908-1940), not her.
Cover of Lianhua Pictorial, 1935, Chen Yanyan (left) and Mei Lin
Moreover, its film itself is not a first-class work, so naturally it is quickly forgotten.
But Marten Banhua is different, she is smart, she is bold, she is lively, she is like a butterfly, she can do what the director wants her to achieve, and she is sociable, so she is gradually more noticed and valued than Merlin in Lianhua.
The inner page of the 197th issue of The Pocket Magazine", published on August 14, 1935, from the right: Mink Banhua, Ye Qiuxin, Gao Qianping, Gu Lanjun, li Zhuozhuo
Originally known as Wu Mingxiang, marten was a small film fan when he was a student, and once worshipped Xia Peizhen (1908-1975), the female lead of the film "Burning Red Lotus Temple" (1928), as an "idol" and changed her scientific name to Wu Peizhen.
One winter in 1934, Wu Peizhen and her classmates went to visit the "Lianhua" set to visit and shoot, and it was Ruan Lingyu's "New Woman" (1935) that day that began filming.
The image of Mink Banhua (wearing a white cheongsam in the middle) in the film The New Woman (1935), several of her shots in the film are long-range
The film's screenwriter, Sun Shiyi (1904-1966), saw a good-looking little girl in the crowd, Wu Peizhen, and went up to talk to her, wanting to invite her to play a cameo role in the film, a dancer in a dance hall.
Being a movie star was Wu Peizhen's wish to think about day and night, and she was really overjoyed at that time.
Cover of Youth Movie magazine, Mink Banhua
Sun Shiyi saw that Wu Peizhen was wearing a mink coat with very gorgeous stripes, so he took the opportunity to say, "I'll give you a stage name, just call it Mink Banhua!" In this way, she stepped into The United States.
Although her salary at that time was much lower than Mei Lin's, her status was invisibly above Mei Lin, so the Joint China authorities gave special encouragement and praise to Mink Banhua. The media also "hyped" it with the title of "Mink Spotted Like a Butterfly".
Mink Spotted Art Photo
This is because there is a photojournalist who has a special love for mink. Many photos were taken for her and published in various film newspapers.
In the September 20, 1935 issue of Electroacoustics, Vol. 4, No. 38, there was a report entitled "Mink Banhua Became a Photo Star", and Mink Banhua also defended: "I have already said, what right do I have to forbid others to take pictures of me?" After taking one, how can we forbid others not to reprint it into ten hundred sheets, so that it will fly all over the sky? Isn't that what's more to me than that, what movie actor isn't? ”
Mink Spotted Life Photo
This also confirms that Mink Banhua is known as a "photo star", which also shows that she is good at media relations, she understands the power of the media, and knows how to package and hype herself.
However, Mink Banhua shot four films in "Lianhua", followed by "New Woman" (1935), and then three more films: "Autumn Fan Bright Lantern" (1935), "Tianlun" (1935), "Hanjiang Falling Goose" (1935), but her acting skills could not attract the attention of the audience.
At this point, the imitation of two specimens of Lianhua Company failed.
Cover of The Weekly Movie, Mink Banhua
The reason for the failure has of course nothing to do with these two imitation stars, their appearance is equally beautiful, and their acting skills are also qualified, but they lack the unique temperament of the superstar - whether the star himself admits it or not, it is the accident of the time to choose the right person - did not realize that the decisive role of the era climate on the star can not be welcomed by the public, which is also the fundamental reason for the success of Poplar (1920-1996); just the familiarity or beauty of the appearance can only attract people's attention for a short time.
Hu Die and Ruan Lingyu
The examples of Lianhua and Xingxing were the most representative at that time, and they had the most stars, creating a model and method of star manufacturing.
Star companies have always been very powerful in distribution and publicity, they are good at using the power of public opinion media to create stars, and their model represents the highest level of star-making in this period.
Melene studio photo
On the contrary, their own publication, Star Semi-Monthly, avoids the suspicion of propaganda, "not to make readers spend money on pure propaganda, and to strive to make readers read a little useful text."
Therefore, in the "Star Semi-Monthly" can not see the life details of the stars, interviews and other pure propaganda text, and most of the film critics, there is a strong sense of professional responsibility; and Lianhua has pioneered the use of "Lianhua Pictorial" for publicity, lively and vividly record the small things of the celebrities' lives, and their style can be seen in the later "Xinhua Pictorial" can be seen a lot of inheritance.
Melinda
Later, in 1939, Mink Banhua was invited to join the Yihua Company, and was favored by the company's boss, starring her in three consecutive films "Wang Baojun" (1939), "Guan Shiyin" (1940), "Yan Xijiao" (1940).
Unfortunately, these three films can no longer be glimpsed.
After the performance of "Yan Xijiao", Mink Banhua's reputation grew, and she could have shown her "acting talent" that was clearly seen, but unfortunately, she fell ill with tuberculosis and died on August 15, 1941.
The movie "Yan Xijiao" (1940) advertised, which was also the only film starring Marten Banhua, but unfortunately the film was missing...
Mei Lin was married twice, Mei Lin's first husband was Yu Guang (1910-1985), a small student of Tianyi Company, and through Yu Guang's introduction, Mei Lin filmed a piece of "Good Man" in Cilong Film Company, which was her "debut work".
Shortly after Mei Lin and Yu Guang got married, their relationship broke down, so they declared divorced.
Mei Lin's second husband, Mr. Yan, was a famous doctor, and after marriage, he had 6 children, and the two lived for half a century, and Mei Lin died in Shanghai in 1997.
Mink Spotted
Come to think of it, these two short-lived actresses are different in the final life path - mink Banhua loves acting in his bones, and he thought that when it was time to show his grand plans, he went to Huangquan first in the good years, which made people strangle.
And Mei Lin originally had the talent for acting, but unfortunately she was not so keen on acting, and finally chose a light and breezy life, thinking that this was "smart", after all, how many times she had escaped the "purge", this point is admirable.
Cover of Lianhua Pictorial, Vol. 6, No. 9, 1936, Mei Lin
"After the Bass Song" White Light: The most stylish immortal demon of the Republic of China superstar
Radiance Bloom - the glorious era of the Republic of China's "Lianhua Pictures" behind Ruan Lingyu
The pioneering work of the national defense film "Wolf Mountain Blood" After the founding of the country, Lan Ping "coldly met" Fei Mu
Hu Ping, a "writer star" of the Republic of China, starred in China's first horror film, and the red girl became a golden bird
The "Ruan Lingyu Commemorative Special Number" report is detailed and has become the earliest star special pictorial in China