This yellowed photo was taken more than seventy years ago. But I could still faintly recognize it: on the left was Shi Hua, and on the right was Cheng Zhi. Cheng Zhisheng was born in 1926 eleven years younger than the "eldest brother" Shi Hua
In 1946, Shanghai Wenhua Film Company cast a feature film written by Sang Arc, "Fake Phoenix". At that time, Huang Zuolin had just returned from studying drama in England and served as the director of his first film and this comedy film.
He invited Shi Hui, who was famous at the time on the beach, to be the male protagonist, shi hua, who was also a fellow tianjin resident. The heroine is li lihua, a big star who is red through half the sky.
The film tells a series of absurd and ridiculous stories of the young Yang Xiaomao pretending to be a rich man and admiring vanity, and what happens in a barbershop.
In the film "False Phoenix", the left three stones are waved and the right one is Chengzhi
Cheng Zhi, who was twenty-one at the time, was also his debut on the screen and his first collaboration with Shi Hui, in which he played a small supporting role in the film , "Barber No. 5". It is also because of the good performance of the film "Fake Phoenix" that Cheng Zhi became an official actor of Wenhua Film Company. It is also because of this film that Cheng Zhi got acquainted with "Big Brother" Shi Hua.
Subsequently, Cheng Zhi continued to play his supporting role in films such as "Long Live the Wife" and "Taiping Spring" filmed by Wenhua Film Company. They also slowly became familiar with each other.
"Long Live the Wife" Cheng Zhi plays a "eat soft rice" little hooligan
After several movies, Cheng Zhi admired Shi Hua so much that he threw himself at him, and also stole a lot of skills from Shi Hui. In turn, Shi Hui also felt that Cheng Zhi was a malleable material, not only taking good care of him in life, but also promoting this fledgling "little brother" in his career. At this time, Shi Hui began his own directing work, and he thought that to make a movie was to be a director. Next, Shi Hui's "My Life", "Chicken Feather Letter", "Guan Lianchang", "Mother" and other films have Cheng Zhi's figure.
The film "Chicken Feather Letter" is an important film work of Shi Hui. It tells the story of Haiwa, a member of the children's group, who has passed on intelligence through all kinds of difficulties and dangers. Cheng Zhi also played a supporting role as the leader of the Kuomintang puppet army.
The pseudo-military squad leader played by the mileage of "Chicken Feather Letter", whether it is facial expressions or raising hands and feet, Shi Hua has taught by example. This also benefits Cheng Zhi a lot, and has a deeper understanding of the shaping of the negative role.
In "Chicken Feather Letter", Haiwa and Cheng Zhi played the Kuomintang puppet army
Xie Jin, who successfully shot many classic films, was an assistant director for Shi Hua in "Chicken Feather Letter", and he recommended Cai Yuanyuan, the son of actor Cai Songling (the actor of the crazy old man Hua Ziliang in "Eternal Life in the Fire"), to play Haiwa.
"Chicken Feather Letter" director Shi Hui and assistant director Xie Jin's group photo
This film "Mother", starring Qin Yi and directed by Shi Hui, made Shi Hui know Tong Baoling, a Peking Opera actor who was sixteen years younger than himself and later became his wife.
Tong Baoling (right) Tong Zhiling and younger brother Tong Xiangling (left)
Tong Baoling was only eighteen years old when she participated in the film, and played a nurse Xiaolian who could sing Peking Opera in the film "Mother".
Shi Hua and Tong Baoling because the age difference is too big, afraid of other people's rumors and storms, Shi Hua every time he goes out to date Tong Baoling, he calls "Little Brother" Cheng Zhi to cover people's eyes, Cheng Zhi is also happy to be tireless and willing to be their two children's "light bulb". In the 1957 "Anti-Rightist" movement, Shi Hua could not bear to commit suicide by throwing himself into the sea in humiliation. The acting career of a generation of China's greatest performers came to an end, when he was only 42 years old.
Many years later, "sister-in-law" Tong Baoling returned from the United States to visit her relatives and visit Shi Hua's former "little brother" Cheng Zhi.
There is also a movie that has to be said, that is, the peak film "My Life" that makes Shi Hua "Feng Shen".
"My Life" is a 1950 film directed and self-starred by Shi Hua. It has also become one of the best classic films in the history of Chinese cinema. The protagonist "I" played by Shi Hui is a patrol policeman in the old Beiping, who started as a patrol officer in his 20s and played until he died tragically in the snow in his old age.
Shi's enchanting performance shows a rich and desolate vicissitudes of life very touching.
Shi Yuxun (pen name Yang Liuqing), the second brother of Shi Hui, is the screenwriter of this film
This time, Shi Hui let Cheng Zhi, the "little brother" who had followed him for several years, play an important role in the film: the Japanese devils came to be traitors, and the Kuomintang came and became the head of the police.
The wonderful performance of Cheng Zhihe and Shi Hua in "My Life"
Cheng Zhi successfully completed the task with the help of Shi Hua. For this film, it won the Silver Award for Outstanding Film Individual Performance awarded by the Ministry of Culture in 1950. "My Life" has also become Cheng Zhi's representative work.
Cheng Zhi and Shi Hui and Li Wei stills in "My Life"
As the actor who has cooperated with Shi Hua the most times, Cheng Zhi does not hesitate to praise his performance: "Shi Hua's acting talent is innate, and he is particularly good at observing people and things related to the role, good at capturing the inner activities of the character, and showing it with his carefully designed and untraceable performance. The sense of humor that comes with it is admirable that the exaggeration of comedy and the true performance of life are just right. Cheng Zhi always believes that Shi Hui is not only a good big brother who takes care of him in life, but also a guide on the road of his electronic performance, and the person who has the greatest influence on himself. He was his lifelong mentor.