director: Esther Eng
year: 1938
country: Hong Kong
alternative titles: Shiwan Qingren

A rural worker, Ng, leaves his wife and mother to seek work in the city. After dalliances with three women - including a company director's daughter, Ng misses his wife and sends for her. But the director's daughter (Lam) offers him a good job in her father's company if Ng will marry her, so Ng
dismisses the heart-broken wife, who returns home. En route, she nearly dies in a shipping accident and uses the opportunity to spread rumors of her death before returning to the city incognito. Ng and Lam are on the verge of marrying
when Ng's mother reveals that they are brother and sister! Ng and his wife are reconciled and return to the country to dedicate their lives to helping children.

Ng Chor-fan was the male lead with Wai Kim-fong (in her third "Esther Eng film" - two with Eng as director) playing the wife. Popular star Lam Mui-mui was the company director's daughter. Produced by Chiu Shu-sun (Joseph Sunn) for Grandview Film Company (San Francisco & Hong Kong). In Cantonese; black and white. Script by Yu Kei-ping ("National Heroine" for the same director) and the cast included HK's Chinese "Chaplin, Yee Chau-shui.

Source notes
Frank Bren, 22.02.2010

For a long time, I've been developing a project on Esther Eng's life and would love to hear of anything new on her films (5 in HK and 4 as director in the US) via frankmondial@yahoo.com . See also www.estherengstory.com on this only known American woman directing commercial movies between the Hollywood careers of Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino. Also a famous New York restaurateur, hers is one of the strangest disappearing acts in film history. Central/South America offers reasonable hope for rediscovering movies that she distributed there (maybe her own too) in the 1940s, including to Havana, Cuba. Detailed portraits of her appear in "China Daily" (HK English edition) of 23/24 January 2010 and "Women of China" (Beijing, June 2006, English edition). See http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2010-01/23/content_9365379.htm