Street Angel

Young people in a crowded quarter of Shanghai in the thirties. Xiao Hong sings in a teahouse, while her older sister is forced into other work. Across the way live Xiao Chen, who plays the trumpet, and his friend who sells newspapers. The four know each other and all of them are in the grip of the same men. They decide to run. Yuan Muzhi's film is among the best known productions of the golden age of Chinese cinema before the war. Zhou Xuan both acts and sings in it; the songs are still known in China today. The telling shows poverty and exploitation directly, but alongside comedy. The film was finished in 1937, just before the Japanese invasion began.