A GREAT WALL SUPER-PRODUCTION

“THE SEAMAN AND DANCING GIRL”

—The Story—

Among the thousands of hostesses adorning the night life of the big city, Yi Ping, young, pretty, comparatively new and still retaining a winsome schoolgirl appeal, is popular with the patrons and is considered a rising star by the management of the Palace Dancing Hall.

Rich man Tsoh, fiftiesh and amorous, becomes her ardent admirer. Shiao Mei, another hostess forsaken by Tsoh, resents Yi bitterly; but Yi knowing poor Shiao Mei is in the grasp of Racketeer Scarface, returns only sympathy. One day, when Scarface is in a most ugly mood, Yi even steps out and help Shiao Mei fight him off, and earns the gratitude of the latter.

Yi Ping herself comes from a poor but decent family. In trying to support her ailing father, old mother, brother and sister but without letting them know how, she knows the life’s bitter burden only too well.

Her loneliness causes her to be attracted toward Chu, a customer of the Palace just returned from the sea, who has fought misfortune most of his life and sincerely likes Yi Ping. Soon their mutual preference grows deeper. At Chu’s insistence, Yi bashfully invites him to call on her family next Sunday.

Sunday arrives. Every member of her family anticipates happily to meet her beau. But they wait and wait, Chu does not turn up as promised.

A few days later, Chu comes to explain to Yi at the Palace. On Sunday, he and his shipmates quarreled with the company, who wanted to cut their wages due depression of the shipping market, resulting in they all lost their job. After several days of frantic job-chasing, he has finally obtained a post on another ship soon sailing. Now he comes specially to persuades her to marry him. Yi agrees and is to meet him and his friends in front of a studio tomorrow.

That night, warning of a typhoon suddenly arrives. Chu’s ship is ordered to sail in advance of schedule. Chu, in a drunk stupor from celebrating tomorrow’s happiness, is carried out to sea swiftly.

Yi arrives punetually at the studio; all the day long she waited, until dusk has fallen over the city. Heart-broken, she goes back to her family; but alas, there she finds her mother stunned from a fall down the stairs. Money, and a lot of them is immediately needed for hospitalisation, and she must provides it. Thus she becomes a victim of Tsoh after all.

This final sacrifice does not save her mother, but adds to her father’s sorrow, who now learns the truth about his daughter’s “honourable” profession. He and the children try desperately to help extricating her.

But the unexpected expenses have already left Yi deeper in debt than ever. Misfortune follows misfortune. Mrs. Tsoh discovers her alienating influence, and wishes to smash her up. Scarface blackmails her for money and worse. Struggling to make the ends meet, and striving to find a more “decent” job, she exhausts herself and falls seriously ill. Only Shiao Mei remembers her kindness and tries her best to shield her sorrow stricken family.

Spring comes after winter. Yi recovers and now helps her family in handicraft work for a living. Scarface appears with her chief creditor at her home, and tries to intimidate her to follow an even lower profession. Meanwhile, Chu’s ship has returned. Hurrying to the Palace, Chu meets Shiao Mei on the way and learns the whole truth from her. Deeply wounded in the heart, he wants to leave the place immediaely. But he finds he cannot forget Yi Ping and so comes back. He arrives Yi’s home just in time to drive Scarface off, and to realize he and she love each other still intensely dispite of every misfortune.