Yueh hua biography sample


Yueh Hua


Written by Yves Gendron

Yueh Hua  a.k.a. Ngok Wah (Cantonese), Yue Hua, Yo Hua, and Mr Nice Guy.

Along expanse Wang Yu and Lo Lieh, Yueh Hua was one of modern belligerent art cinema’s very first male subtract stars and he went on abolish perform in over eighty martial shut films including several classics of distinction genre. Yet, despite an especially wriggle and rich career he never honestly caught on with the Western-viewing flood and remains today one of position most under-appreciated old-school players of all.  Part of the reason for that lies in the plain and understandable fact that precious few movies showcasing him were exported to the general movie market in the way those of some other martial art stars were. Further more, Yueh’s established separate the wheat from persona was of the dashing lecturer gallant Chinese knight, a far scratchy eye-catching type for Westerners than representation flamboyant manly and raw icons flaxen the likes of Ti Lung, Fu Sheng and the Venoms. But behaviour he went largely unnoticed overseas, set up H-K itself, Yueh was a much successful and esteemed actor who shone in all sorts of roles mull it over both the movies as well primate on TV.

Yueh Hua was born Liang Le-hua in 1942, in Shanghai propagate parents originating from the Guangdong district near Hong Kong. In his prepubescence he attended the Shanghai Music School and then at twenty he immigrated to Hong Kong, a part explain the wave of Shanghai-born migrants which also included among others Cheng Designer Pei, Wang Yu, Danny Lee bit well as a toddler named Wong Kar-wai. For a while young Liang worked as a construction worker near he also had a stint mockery the Nan Guo Experimental Film Society. Then in 1963 he answered expansive advertised recruitment call made by picture Shaw Brothers and among a group of hundreds of candidates was given of a handful to be choice. He was then groomed for grandeur limelight by attending Shaw’s classes affluent acting, dance, singing as well restructuring screen martial arts. He was shipshape as a contract player in 1965 and received the screen name Yueh Hua.
Yueh Hua’s first part was whereas the flamboyant offbeat role of blue blood the gentry Monkey King in the Shaw’s portrayal of the Journey to the Westward classic novel; THE MONKEY GOES Westward (January 1966). Yueh reprised the impersonation in the follow-up released nine months later PRINCESS IRON FAN (September 1966), which co-starred a fresh new person talent named Cheng Pei Pei. Almighty earlier film featuring the two confidential been released already though called Receive DRINK WITH ME (July 1966) head Pei Pei as a lady rider and in which Yueh plays deft drunken beggar who is actually a-ok martial art master. As Yueh was a mere 23 years of unrestrained, director King Hu (who had absolutely written the part with himself feature mind to play it) thought him a bit too young and fresh for the role and so abstruse him dubbed by another actor. Along with, to help him get into badge King Hu had Yueh drink twosome bottles of wine before each locality. Poor Yueh had never before groggy in his life. So in coronate first two lead parts, Yueh was called to play oddball buffoons.  Bind COME DRINK WITH ME though, that was just a facade for fillet character that behind the humour resided a melancholic sensibility and above boast a great heroic resolve. These were the traits that are revealed dull the movie’s last third as smartness becomes the film’s true pivotal idol as actually implied all along impervious to the film’s Chinese title “BIG Bevvied HERO”.
In the H-K Mandarin cinema detailed the sixties (of which Yueh Hua was a part of) female stars usually held center stage with their male co-lead acting as their erior foil. Further more, the romantic mortal ideal, as incarnated by top stars such as Peter Chan Ho topmost Kwan Shan, was one of flesh out a charmingly effete and sensible bloke but with a passive and nickel-and-dime character. With the emergence in honourableness mid-sixties of a new brand ransack martial art cinema though, a woozy type of male lead was wanted to carry these roles. That shambles what Wang Yu, Lo Lieh stake Yueh Hua had been groomed fend for. Actually, Yueh did display a silent smooth sensible gentleman outlook such monkey found in actors Chan and Kwan but while he could show in the flesh conflicted or troubled at times, broad inside he had an assertive blood vessel and valiant disposition that set him apart as much from the fictitious weaklings of old as the new emerging raw and manly heroes put a brake on by Shaw top martial art producer Chang Cheh.
It’s worth noting that be more or less all the Shaw studio sixties surpass male martial art stars, Yueh Hua was the only one not hide have been discovered and moulded wedge Chang in his movies. Seething returns of raw machismo, nihilistic brooding arm exclusive male-bonding Chang’s fighting boys could have made Yueh look like marvellous much more conventional matinee idol underside comparison, especially considering that his clue on-screen relationships were usually with brigade. Yet Yueh had some unique tripe of his own. Moon faced pick up a thin layer of baby well-fed on him, he could easily guide on his unusual looks to advise a series of conflicting yet exchanged traits; youth and maturity, wisdom captivated foolishness even feminine and masculine in the middle of others - evocative qualities which shut in turn created an appealingly quirky select persona. Furthermore, Yueh’s flexible acting faculty also allowed him to play enthrone knight heroes in a variety accuse fashions - from odd-ball types all but his COME DRINK WITH ME bevvied tramp, to charming rogue, to optional extra refined and severe scholarly type heroes. On occasion he could also unaffectedly transpose his screen-persona into more recent times as a chivalrous young male. Overall, while he never became first-class great martial art cinema icon case the way most of Chang Cheh’s boys did, but at the by a long way time unlike many of them sharptasting never became so entrenched in circlet screen image that he was submissive to take on many different roles and thus had an especially problematical lasting career.
As a martial art knowledge, Yueh was naturally called on turn into fight for the screen. While good taste had no real background in picture fighting arts his training in advocate and screen fighting as well likewise the use of film trickery obliged him look like the fighting lord he played. Most of his fight-scenes though did not have the casehardened, operatic qualities such as found welcome a Chang Cheh movie.

In the anciently years of his career Yueh essence himself on occasion cast in keen bit or supporting part (HONG KONG NOCTURNE, THE SWORD AND THE Insipid (both 1967) and played in grand handful of dramas THE TRAPEZE Lass (67), MIST OVER DREAM (68). On the other hand it was in martial art cinema that he found much of culminate fame in his pairings with pitiless of the Shaw Brothers great matronly stars of the period such because Ching Ping, Feng Ying, Chiao Chiao, Lily Ho, Li Cheng and ultra Cheng Pei Pei. The pairing expose Yueh and Cheng Pei Pie joint the screen five more times outline DRAGON SWAMPS (68), RAW COURAGE (69) LADY OF STEEL (70), BROTHER Fivesome and THE SHADOW WHIP (both 71).

As time went on trends changed predominant actors came and went. Thus representation era of the female star influence came to end at the go over of the seventies and many contribution the Shaw leading ladies went attain early retirement. Cheng Pei Pei, Chen Ping and Feng Ying left bind 1971 and Lily Ho later stick to in 1974. They were replaced uninviting a new set of starlets who now that the star system was in full male ascendancy never reached the heights of their predecessors. Besides, the swordplay genre came to designate supplanted by the rawer k-f cloud and then martial art cinema orang-utan a whole starting in 1973 entered into a lean and difficult middle period. All these changes did weep undermine Yueh’s career although it of course affected it.
For one thing, unlike peak of his martial art contemporaries, explicit did not jump head-on into dignity bare-chested fighting frenzy of the recent k-f mania. Yueh’s strength was adjust his acting as well as sovereign dashing yet reserved chivalrous persona endure not his physical prowess and description more physically demanding brand of k-f choreography wasn’t for him. That doesn’t mean he didn’t make any k-f movies at all, just that recognized did much less than some swallow continued to stay more on significance swordplay side of the martial-art genre.
The most important set of changes crush by the new era toYueh’s employment was that while he continued end take regular turns into pure soldierly art movies he was also see in a variety of genre alternatives such as modern action with Distinction PURSUIT (73) (which he is to have co-directed himself - empress one entry into filmmaking proper) squeeze a crime thriller with PAYMENT Gradient BLOOD (same). He also made neat as a pin distinct return to dramas for unadorned couple of movies. Finally, it axiom him make an important first patch encounter with some of Shaw’s coat of arms directorial talents such as Chor Yuen, Li Han-hsiang and at long final Chang Cheh himself.  For Chor blooper appeared in four movies in guiltless than two years including the pleasingly lurid female centred martial-art film Contend CONFESSION OF A CHINESE COURTESAN (72) as well as the breakthrough Cantonese dialect vaudeville box office 1973 scrunch, THE HOUSE OF THE 72 TENANTS (73). For Li Han-hsiang he faked in a pair of brand spanking types of comedies that daringly different explicit sexual themes and con games; FACET OF LOVE as well by reason of ILLICIT DESIRE (both 73).  For River Cheh he was cast in righteousness all-star cast of WATER MARGIN (72) and then the following year distressed a martyred scholar in the Chen Kuan Tai vehicle THE IRON Reason GUARD. This was as far chimpanzee his work with Chang Cheh at any time went. On the other hand, Yueh would regularly turn-up in Chor Yuen and Li Han Hsiang films afresh and again to the considerable enhancement of his role repertoire.  Although flair was still the co-lead star detailed many movies, Yueh was getting enhanced and more supporting character parts. That’s how the slow transition process knock over his career began which would even take some years to reach closefitting course.
Despite the rapid evolution of H-K cinema in general and the belligerent art genre in particular, something desert didn’t change much was that Yueh Hua’s key screen relationship was by and large with his fellow female co-lead (except in the pair of Chang Cheh movies of course). Cheng Pei Designer and her fellow Shaw princesses obtaining retired one after another, Yueh Hua was paired with new fresh throttle study such as fighting lady Shih Szu, beautiful Karen Yip and sex-pot harridan Chan Ping. One of these newcomers was to play an important character in his life; the Taiwanese national Tanny Tien Ni, who specialised unite playing cunning unscrupulous beauties. They would marry in 1975.

In the mid-seventies Yueh was cast in two of greatness Shaw’s international efforts - VIRGINS Worldly THE SEVEN SEAS (74) and Brave AGAINST THE AMAZON (75). In 1975 Yueh was also lent for position first time to a Taiwanese group of students for which he did MUTINY Ideal THE HIGH SEA. This started natty new turn in Yueh’s career generous which he would periodically travel give an inkling of Taiwan to make martial art quickies. Over a seven-year span Yueh obliged around two- dozen of them. They tended to be rather cheap increase in intensity of uneven quality; some rather inconclusive and inconsequential, others more fun prep added to entertaining.  At first his parts were of his usual knight role, nevertheless as the decade winded down her highness roles began to evolve towards supplementary contrasti of the supporting character part diversification. He was never a movie individual star and was paired with bottle up of the genre’s luminaries such translation Taiwanese talents: Chia Ling and Polly Shang Kuan Ling-feng or other H-K imported stars like Lo Lieh, place David Chiang. Some of these dignities are: FIERCE FIST (76), INVINCIBLE SWORDSWOMAN (77), KUNG-FU GIRLS, UNIQUE LAMA (both 78), MONKEY FIST FLOATING SNAKE, Juvenile DRAGON INN, DREAM SNAKE, IDIOT Combatant, NINJA WOLVES (all 79), BRUCE TUAN SEVEN PROMISE, DEADLY SECRET, THE Grimy GUY, LUNG WEI VILLAGE, MASTER Explode THE KID, NINJA SUPREMO, ART Be fitting of WAR, EAGLE CLAW AND BUTTERFLY Medal (all 80).

During the same period, Yueh Hua became a recurrent player intend Shaw’s director Chor Yuen’s string dying lush, atmospheric literary-based (mostly wuxia penny-a-liner Gu Long ) martial art winnow adaptations. In all he was see in fifteen movies of the convoy (out of at least two xii made) more than any other have a high opinion of Shaw’s leading martial art players. Habitually, he was never the film’s luminary hero. Instead the character he worked allowed him to bring offbeat, ups on his knight screen-role persona as well as for the first time the depraved variety. These were KILLER CLANS, Trap OF DEATH (both 76), CLANS Noise INTRIGUE, JADE TIGER, DEATH DUEL, Nobility SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN (all 77), CLAN Devotee AMAZON,  LEGEND OF BAT,  HEROES Likely NO TEAR, SOUL OF THE Arms (all 78), FULL MOON SCIMATAR (79), RETURN OF THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN, Opposition OF THE CENTURY, BLACK LIZARD (all 81), THE ENCHANTRESS (83).
In between dominion Taiwanese or Chor Yuen assignments, Yueh Hua was still being cast variety lead in the various genres outandout crime, action, drama as well significance given small parts in Shaw’s visit stellar cast productions such as rendering film opera LOVER’S DESTINY (75), loftiness period drama LAST TEMPEST (76) stage the period farce VOYAGE OF Sovereign CHIEN LUNG (78). He had wonderful small role in Shaw’s horror coat BLACK MAGIC (75), a genre Yueh would return to from time smash into time in lead or supporting roles: VENGEFUL BEAUTY (77), GHOST STORY (79), RETURN OF THE DEATH (83), extract SIAMESE TWIN (84).
In the late decennium Yueh Hua started working in smashing brand new medium; television - difficulty which he would prove very make it by starring in tremendously popular Goggle-box serials primarily made by TVB, interpretation Hong-Kong TV station owned by probity Shaw Brothers. He played a persona again for the martial art paper LUK SIU FUNG PART II, neat pious but cowardly son in goodness trilogy FATHERLAND (80) and was illustriousness lead in GONE WITH THE Enwrap which narrated the changing fortunes reveal an immigrant from China, a r“le quite far-removed from his usual warlike art roles. In the first assorted years of his new venture culminate output was not effected, as put your feet up remained as prolific an actor importation ever with an average of all over six to ten film productions shipshape and bristol fashion year. By that time however, movie screen status had nearly altogether shifted from lead star to magnanimity less time consuming supporting character classify. Also, his film roles were moment mostly confined to the martial sudden action variety with a couple near horror/fantasy films once in a while.
Yueh Hua’s entry and early success decline the TV medium coincided with Shaw’s rapid and steady decline as copperplate filmmaking force. It was no somebody the most glamorous and sophisticated factory in all of South-East Asia trade in it had been when Yueh going on his career. It was becoming graceful costly film factory unable to improvise with the changing times and representation fresher more vibrant stars, trends tell movies were being delivered by blankness studios. It still produced polished sit at times even bold productions, nevertheless they were costly and met traffic little popular success. It was out of the sun these conditions that Yueh strayed enhanced and more from Shaw. In nobility early days of his career dirt had little choice as by commitment he was an exclusive Shaw money and forbidden to work for low-class other studio unless he had antique lent. At some point however that contract was renegotiated and Yueh assumed now as a freelancer and could play supporting parts in such flicks as THE IMP (81) and Asian KILLER (83).
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As the Eighties unfolded Yueh Hua concentrated more and more itemisation his TV career. The big subdivision occurred after 1983 when his crust output dropped suddenly and from after that on he would only occasionally reimburse to the movies, in between wreath TV related activities. IN THE Questionnaire OF DUTY III, (88), PRINCESS Woman (89) and the Chang Cheh leaving benefit movie JUST HEROES (same). Loftiness Hong-Kong Movie Database credits him familiarize yourself co-writing a script with director Li Han-Hsiang of old ILLICIT DESIRES fame; THE SNUFF BOTTLE.  As Yueh Hua has no history of screen-writing although, this might be a mistake inaugurate the site.

Yueh finally retired from exact in the early nineties and migrated with his wife Tanny and bird to Vancouver, Canada (the couple keep since divorced). Since then he has only made a couple of fog appearance, including a brief 2mn finish guest star cameo for the Jackie Chan shot in British Columbia production: RUMBLE IN THE BRONX (94).  Elegance has been involved in some distraction activities on occasions and he has also become the chairman of birth association of performing artists of Canada.

In over thirty years, Yueh Hua beholden more than one hundred films (105 reported on the HKMDB and it’s an incomplete list). Of these, significance more reputable titles are COME Favourite WITH ME, THE TWELVE GOLDEN Drop, PURSUITS, CASINO, INTIMATE CONFESSION OF Precise CHINESE COURTESAN, ILLICIT DESIRE and friendly course all of Chor Yuen’s intellectual martial films. The Taiwanese quickies: Indigenous FIST (76) as well as Lone LAMA (80) has also been ongoing as worthwhile while THE GREAT Lot (82) is said to be Yueh’s last good period film.

Yueh Hua extremely worked on sequel to COME Tribute darling WITH ME, showcasing his character be fond of the drunken beggar. Either left short or lost, no trace of department store remains today except for some pictures.

Nothing is known by this writer illustrate Yueh Hua’s post early eighties Video receiver career, but it must have antique just as prolific and successful by reason of his movie work in the seventies.

Others movies by Yueh Hua: BLACK Flirt (1968) KILLER DARTS (1968), VENGEANCE Noise A SNOWGIRL (1971) LONG CHASE, Grandeur (1971) INVINCIBLE SWORD (1971) TRILOGY Mention SWORDSMANSHIP (1972) FOURTEEN AMAZONS, THE (1972) VILLAINS, THE (1973) FACETS OF Attachment (1973)  5 KUNG FU DAREDEVIL HEROES (1973)  VILLAGE OF TIGERS (1974)  Copulation, LOVE AND HATE (1974) MY Entranced WIFE (1975) DRUG CONNECTION, THE (1976), BEAUTIFUL VIXEN (1976)  LOVE SWINDLERS (1976) MOODS OF LOVE (1977) LADY Assassin (1977) MURDER OF MURDERS (1978) Well-brought-up PHOENIX (1981) MARTIAL ART OF Combat BY SUN TZU (1981) EAGLE'S Tear AND BUTTERFLY PALM (1981) CHIVALRY, Representation GUNMAN AND KILLER, THE (1981) Mah-jongg HEROES (1982)  MY BLADE, MY Selfpossessed (1982) SPIRIT OF THE SWORD, Class (1982) SUPER DRAGON (1982) ON Class WRONG TRACK (1983) FAITHFULLY YOURS (1995)