Hong Kong director Li Hanxiang said: "Xia Meng is the most beautiful female star in the history of Chinese films, with an extraordinary temperament and intoxicating temperament."
In 1960, Hong Kong Great Wall Film Production Co., Ltd. put the Yue Opera "Wang Laohu Robbing Relatives" on the screen, co-directed by Hu Xiaofeng and Jin Yong, all performed by the women's class. Known as the "eldest princess" of the Great Wall, the beautiful star Xia Meng played a female disguise as a man for the first time, and she appeared on the screen as a fair lady in many films, and in this film, she was very successful in reversing the character image of Zhou Wenbin, a talented man in Hangzhou who is in the wind and suave in Hangzhou, and has also been well received by fans.
The film tells the story of Zhou Wenbin, a talented man in Hangzhou, who is outstanding in talent and appearance, and threatens to be able to dress as a man and a woman without flaws. Wen Bin disguised herself as a woman on the Lantern Festival night to tour the platform, and Zhishan was really unrecognizable. When Zhishan was about to admit defeat, he met Wang Tianbao (nicknamed Wang Laohu), the son of the military department, and was shocked to see Wenbin, so he rushed home to get married. Wen Bin tried his best to persuade Tian Bao to postpone the marriage to the next day, and Tian Bao spared Wen Bin and his sister Xiuying to stay together. Wenbin and Xiuying admired each other, Wenbin once proposed marriage, but was obstructed by Tianbao, so the two of them made a plan, Tianbao and Tianbao's mother were forced to agree to Wenbin and Xiuying's marriage because of their family's reputation. Wenbin was blessed by misfortune and won the return of beauty.
The script of the film "Wang Laohu Robbing Relatives" is not original, and the Shanghai Cooperative Yue Opera Troupe led by Yue Opera artists Qi Yaxian and Bi Chunfang premiered at the Ruijin Theater in 1958. Because of the humorous and witty theme, it is very popular with fans.
The movie "Wang Laohu Robbing Relatives" does not transplant the opera story into a comedy feature film, but directly allows the actors to imitate and learn from the opera masters, make a Yue Opera opera movie, and sing it behind the scenes by the mainland Yue Opera masters.
Xia Meng has the cultivation of Peking Opera, but the profession he learns is Tsing Yi, although he does not need to sing by himself, but the performance requirements are mainly based on the Yue Opera skills. In the movie, the actor Zhou Wenbin is reversed, and Zhou Wenbin in the play has to play Miss Xu again, especially in a very limited time, almost to learn from scratch, which is a great challenge for Xia Meng.
For this reason, Xia Meng and another leading actor Li Chang, worshiped the famous Yue drama masters Qi Yaxian and Bi Chunfang as teachers, and learned walking, water sleeves, figure, and eyes for several months. They are all actors who are very strict with themselves, and the two of them are full of energy to learn Yue Opera during the filming.
In the film, Xia Meng plays Zhou Wenbin, sung by Bi Chunfang, Li Chang plays Wang Xiuying, and is sung by Qi Yaxian. Bi Chunfang and Qi Yaxian's open voices, paired with Xia Meng and Li Yan's flower and moon appearances, can be said to be a model of video dubbing. The whole film is full of fun, the characters are vivid and interesting, and the film was a great success after its release, which makes people never get tired of watching it. The success of "Wang Laohu Robbing Relatives" also made the Great Wall Company confirm the commercial viability of Yue Opera opera films. And Zhou Wenbin's chic has also become one of the classic characters in Xia Meng's film works.