Strange Portrait

Last updated
Strange Portrait
Directed by Jeffrey Stone
Produced by Terry Bourke
Starring Jeffrey Hunter
Tina Hutchence
Barbara Lee
Mai Tai Sing
Christina Stone
John Wallace
Edited by Peter R. Hunt
Music byPaul Lewis
CountrySingapore
LanguageEnglish

Strange Portrait is a film set in Hong Kong. [1] It was directed by Jeffrey Stone [2] and starred Jeffrey Hunter, Barbara Lee, Mai Tai Sing and Tina Hutchence. Its associate producer was Terry Bourke. In 1966 Stone and his wife went searching for a distributor, hoping to enter it into the Asian Film Festival. [3] The film never saw a release and there is some mystery about what happened. [4] [5]

Contents

Sources differ as to what happened to the film. One report is that it was destroyed in a warehouse fire. [3] [6] Terry Bourke, the film's producer had been searching for years to find a print of the film. This would possibly indicate that be believed a print had been made from the negative.[ citation needed ] Director Jeffrey Stone said the film was suppressed by the film studio at the behest of the Hong Kong government because of a scene featuring partial nudity. [7] It is considered to be a lost film. [8]

Synopsis

The film has been described as a spooky thriller. Christina Stone played a ballet dancer and the lead role was played by Jeffrey Hunter. [9] Hunter played the role of Mark, an expat American and petty thief in Hong Kong who lives with his Chinese girlfriend played by Barbara Lee. One day while watching a soccer game, a mansion catches his eye and he breaks into it. Whilst inside, he notices a portrait there that looks just like him. The only person living in the mansion is a wealthy but mad woman played by Mai Tai Sing. He finds out that the painting that looks like him is actually that of her husband who deserted her years before. He also discovers that she has an abundance of jewelry and decided to woo her and pretend that he is her departed husband. While gaining access to the woman's treasure he makes a startling and macabre discovery and thus has a tragic end. [3]

Cast and crew

Jason Evers was the original choice for the lead role. He had to vacate the role in favor of a television pilot, Three for Danger, thus the role was filled by Jeffrey Hunter even though his agent wasn't keen on the idea. [3]

It was reported in the Milwaukee Sentinel that Jeffrey Hunter was to wed Mai Tai Sing, a business woman who was a cast member. It would take place in Hong Kong where the film was being shot. [1] Mai Tai Sing had acted in the television series Hong Kong . [10]

Patricia Hutchence, the makeup artist in this film, is the mother of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence. Her daughter Tina Hutchence, who had a role in the film, is Hutchence's half-sister. [11]

Barbara Lee, better known by her stage name Barbara Yu Ling, was the first Singaporean Chinese actress to achieve success in Europe. [12] According to director Jeffrey Stone's memoirs, Strange Portrait was suppressed by the Hong Kong censors because of a scene Lee shared with Jeffrey Hunter in which her breasts were partially visible. [7]

Christina Stone who played the part of a ballet dancer, was the wife of Jeffrey Stone. She was once married to cinema magnate Dato Loke Wan Tho. [13] [14]

Actors

Crew

Production company

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Hunter</span> American actor (1926–1969)

Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor and producer known for his roles in films such as The Searchers and King of Kings. On television, Hunter is known for his 1965 role as Captain Christopher Pike in the original pilot episode of Star Trek.

<i>Shaolin Soccer</i> 2001 martial arts sports comedy film by Stephen Chow

Shaolin Soccer is a 2001 Hong Kong sports comedy film directed by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the lead role. The film revolves around a former Shaolin monk who reunites his five brothers, years after their master's death, to apply their superhuman martial arts skills to play soccer and bring Shaolin kung fu to the masses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Kwan</span> Chinese-American actress (born 1939)

Nancy Kwan Ka-shen is a Chinese-American actress. In addition to her personality and looks, her career benefited from Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in comedies. She was considered an Eastern sex symbol in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Hutchings</span> English actor

Geoffrey Hutchings was an English stage, film and television actor.

The Bloody Fists, is a 1972 Hong Kong action film directed by See-Yuen Ng and starring Chen Siu Sing and Kuan Tai Chen. The memorable fight scenes were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, better known for choreographing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix.

<i>City Hunter</i> (film) 1993 film

City Hunter is a 1993 Hong Kong action comedy film written and directed by Wong Jing, and starring Jackie Chan, Joey Wong, Kumiko Goto, Chingmy Yau, Gary Daniels, Leon Lai and Richard Norton. It is an adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name by Tsukasa Hojo, first serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump between 1985 and 1991.

<i>Lust, Caution</i> (novella) 1979 novella by Eileen Chang

Lust, Caution is a novella by the Chinese writer Eileen Chang, first published in 1979. It is set in Shanghai and Hong Kong during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Reportedly, the short story "took Chang more than two decades to complete". The 2007 film of the same name by renowned Taiwanese director Ang Lee was an adaptation of this novel. The story focuses on the plight of Wang Chia-chih and her involvement in a plot to assassinate Mr. Yee, who is a co-collaborator of a Chinese collaborator with the invading Japanese force. The novella was allegedly based on a true story of the wartime spy Zheng Pingru. According to David Der-wei Wang, a professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University, Lust, Caution “drew controversy thanks to a biographical subtext: it seems to project Chang's own wartime experience as a collaborator's lover”.

<i>The Top Bet</i> 1991 Hong Kong film

The Top Bet is a 1991 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Jeffrey Lau and Corey Yuen and starring Carol Cheng, Anita Mui and Ng Man-tat. It is a sequel to Lau and Yuen's 1990 film All for the Winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chen Kuan-tai</span> Hong Kong martial arts film star

Chen Kuan-tai is a Hong Kong martial arts actor, director, and action choreographer. Chen rose to fame in the early 1970s for his movies with the Shaw Brothers Studio and is credited as being one of the film company's first professionally trained martial artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Fan (actor)</span> Hong Kong actor and martial artist

Louis Fan Siu-wong is a Hong Kong actor and martial artist. He is best known worldwide for his starring role as Ricky in Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991) and as Jin Shanzhao in Ip Man (2008) and Ip Man 2 (2010), as well as roles in numerous television series produced by TVB.

<i>Bullet Brain</i> Hong Kong TV series or program

Bullet Brain is a Hong Kong period fantasy television drama produced by TVB, starring Wayne Lai and Natalie Tong, with Lee Tim-sing serving as executive producer and Ip Kwong-yam serving as executive screenwriter. Produced at 25 episodes, the serial premiered on TVB Jade on 8 April 2013. It is set in British Hong Kong during the 1960s.

Jeffrey Stone was an American actor and voice-over artist. Stone was the model and inspiration for Prince Charming in the 1950 Walt Disney animated feature film, Cinderella. While he did not voice the character in the film, Stone did provide some of the film's additional voices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Bourke</span> Australian journalist (1940–2002)

Terry Christopher Bourke was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, producer and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pal Sinn</span> Musical artist

Pal Sinn Lap-man is a Hong Kong musician and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mai Tai Sing</span> American actress

Mai Tai Sing was an American actress and businesswoman. Her acting credits include the TV series Hong Kong, Forbidden, and Strange Portrait.

Christina Stone was a business woman, and was married to Loke Wan Tho, a Singaporean business magnate and later to Jeffrey Stone a film director. Her final marriage was to the Parsi businessman, Dadi Balsara.

Patricia Agnes Glassop, also professionally known as Patricia Hutchence was an Australian film and television makeup artist, and was the mother of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence and grandmother of Hutchence’s daughter, Tiger Lily. In later years she was an author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Yu Ling</span> Singapore-born actress

Barbara Lee, who used the stage name Barbara Yu Ling, was a Singapore-born actress of stage, screen, and television who was based in Britain from the 1950s. One of the first Singaporean Chinese actresses to gain attention in Europe, she appeared in productions of Madame Butterfly and The World of Suzie Wong. Among the films she appeared in were The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), Ping Pong (1986), and Peggy Su! (1997).

<i>Return to Action</i> 1990 Hong Kong film

Return to Action is a 1990 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Chen Kuan-tai and starring Alex Man, Rosamund Kwan, Mark Cheng, Shing Fui-On and Chen himself in a supporting role.

<i>Fist of Fury 1991 II</i> 1992 Hong Kong film

Fist of Fury 1991 II (漫畫威龍) is a 1992 Hong Kong comedy film co-directed by Cho Chung-sing and Corey Yuen and starring Stephen Chow in the lead role. It is a sequel to the film Fist of Fury 1991 and likewise parodies Hong Kong martial arts films, including Chow appearing in a yellow tracksuit similar to the one worn by Bruce Lee in the 1973 film Enter the Dragon. Josephine Siao stars as Peony, a masked hero named after a flower parodying Black Rose, a popular character in Hong Kong films directed by Yuen Chor in the 1960s.

References

  1. 1 2 The Milwaukee Sentinel Fen. 15 1966 Page 15, Buck Herzog, Sign Has Double Meaning
  2. ↑ Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012 By Harris M. Lentz III Page 276
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Green, Paul (2014). Jeffrey Hunter: the Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances. McFarland. pp. 119–120. ISBN   9781476614410.
  4. ↑ Famous Wisconsin Film Stars By Kristin Gilpatrick Page 75
  5. ↑ Paul Lewis Composer Film & Theatre credits
  6. ↑ A Tribute to Jeffrey Hunter STRANGE PORTRAIT .... 1966
  7. 1 2 Stone, Jeffrey (2010). Whatever Happened to Prince Charming?. pp. 198–199. ISBN   9781450546331.
  8. ↑ Brians Drive-In Theater Jeffrey Hunter (1926-1969) filmography
  9. ↑ Remembering Singapore "Strange Portrait" Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ Secrets of a Rainbow Goddess Authors Jeffrey Stone & Marlene Zeffreys About the Author
  11. ↑ Michael Hutchence Official Site Just A Man Introduction
  12. ↑ "Barbara's big film role surprise for father". The Straits Times . 20 September 1958. p. 9 – via NewspapersSG.
  13. ↑ Remembering Singapore "Strange Portrait"
  14. ↑ Malcolm MacDonald: Bringing an End to Empire By Clyde Sanger 468 Notes to pages 315-24
  15. ↑ Osobnosti.cz Strange Portrait
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.