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Statistics :
11630 Movies
19215 People
1448 Studios
29 Articles
73 Interviews
12 DVD Reviews
32452 Screenshots
3722 Videos
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| Other names : |
胡锦
Hu Ching
Hu Gin
Hu Jin
Woo Gam
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| Birthdate : |
1/1/1947 |
| Nationality : |
Taiwan |
| Workplace : |
Hong Kong |
| Activities : |
Producer (1), Executive producer (1), Actress (84) |
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Biography |
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As seventies Hong Kong cinema sassiest sex kitten Hu Chin was one of the more enticing actresses of her time thanks as much to her pretty impish face (further heighten by a small mole of her chin) her lively acting flair and the beautiful period outfits she was often brought to wear which even included at times some skimpy lingeries. She was one of the Taiwan “sirens” a small group of Taiwanese beauties (which also including Tien Ni, Betty Pei Dee and Chan Ping) who went to Hong-Kong in the early seventies to play breakthrough and audacious brand of sex-up woman roles for the Shaw Brothers studio for a new breed of “adult” comedies, martial arts and exploitation movies. Arguably Hu Chin can be considered as having been most proficient comediennes of the lot.
Born in 1947, Hu Chin was the eldest of four children born form a soldier and a opera actress of some renown Ma Li-Zi both Jiang Xi province natives having migrated to Taiwan. Following in her mother’s path, Hu Chin was trained in traditional opera where she learned to sing, dance and act but not the spectacular acrobatics like follow Taiwanese-born opera performers Angela Mao and Judy Lee Chia Ling did. When her mother retired Hu Chin (a surname which means "Shinning" or "Beautiful" in Chinese) became the family bread winner. She was hired by Taiwanese national TV TTV where she played in a drama series and also became an entertainment field correspondent. It’s while at TTV that she was spotted by then Taiwan’s. leading director Li Han Hsiang who cast her for his 1970 production Four Moods. A sketch oriented movie directed by at least three filmmakers Hu Chin appeared in Anger filmed by none other than Chinese cinema foremost Wu Xia Pian director King Hu where she played an inn hostess who’s actually a female bandit.
When Li Han Hsiang decided to pursued his career in Hong-Kong (which he had left in the first place back in 1963) he brought Hu Chin along with him. He gave her a part in his first Hong-Kong made effort a breakthrough earthly comedy titled Legends of Cheating. Than upon Li entry inside the Shaw studio fold he gave her protégé another juicy part for his period farceThe Warlord where she played a young seductive widow seeking justice from the titular warlord after being allegedly rape. The movie called for her to play out not one but two intense sexual assault scenes, which must have been very difficult. On the other hand Warlord Rashomon style narrative allowed her to played her character in two separate fashions either victimized woman or devious bitch.
Hu Chin soon signed a four movies deal contract with the Shaw Brothers and in the following two years played in three others Li Han Hsiang salacious comedies; Happiest Moment, Illicit Desire and Golden Lotus where she played other sex-up woman roles such foxy courtesan, flirtatious temptress, trampy wife and even fiesty (but cute) shrew. Beyond her mentor movies, she was also cast in the colourful role of the tempestuous conniving landlady for Chu Yuan social burlesque comedy House of 72 Tenants. For this peculiar movie it's was less her sex appeal that was use as her gifts as a comedienne that were use to great effects as she easily steals most of her scenes.
In fact although typecast almost from the start as a sex-kitten Hu Chin versatility allowed her to set her character in whatever direction she wanted to from lascivious siren to manipulative vamp or colourful shrew and always with superb, lively flair fitting her impish allure.
Although under contract to Shaw for a while, Hu Chin was still free to work wherever she wanted. Thus her first movie out of Li Han Hsiang shadow was Bandits From Shantung a wuxia pian produced by the Shaw’s great rival Golden Harvest in which she had a small part as a lady in distress. In between 1971 and 1974 she appeared in nearly a dozen of independent productions in varied genre such as the kung-fu/action (Win Them All), adult/erotic/exploitation movie(Love Is A Four Letter Word) a even a couple of comedies (Fool and His Money). Unquestionably though the most important non-Shaw movie she did at the time was King Hu’s The Fate of Lee Khan where she was one of the films fighting maids alongside Angela Mao and Helena Ma Hoi Lun.
Once her four movies deal contract completed Hu Chin did not drop either Shaw or Li Han Hsiang and she continued to be one of the latter regular players appearing in about two of his movies each year up until 1979. It’s also in a Shaw movie that she found one of her best role as Lo Lieh’s moll in Kidnap for whom he goes through a daring criminal scheme with deadly consequences for all involve. Following Kidnap’s success Hu Chin appeared in couple of others Shaw produced crime drama/actioner such as Gambling Syndicate, Debt of Crime and The Brotherhood. .
Although she was cast in plenty of martial arts movies, Hu Chin almost never took on fighting maiden type role (King Hu’s movies been maybe the exceptions), having neither the look or abilities to carry out such brand of part in a sustained manner. She mostly played either sympathetic/antagonistic molls, vamp, or troublesome bitch. Although she appeared in many so called adult movies mostly by Li Han Hsiang often dress in lingerie and was regularly put in the middle of very delicates scabrous situations but she never went nude for the movies. When private part had to be show body doubles were used.
A prolific actress, Hu Chin appeared in fourteen films in 1974 and twelve in 1975. It’ during this latter year that she was cast in two movies by Chang Cheh (The Fantastic Magic Baby and Boxer Rebellion), had a supporting role in a Brigitte Lin , Charlie Chin Chiang Lin weepie Mistly Dizzle and played the female lead in Young Dragons filmed by a young director on the rise named John Woo. Besides Li Han Hsiang the director she worked the most were two members of Shaw Brother’s acting stable who had turned director; follow Li Han Hsiang regular Zhu Mu for whom she did fours movies and Kao Pao Shu one of the rare women director of her time for whom she did three movies.
After 1976 Hu Chin’s movie career slip into decline. Indeed besides the two Li Han Hsiang movies she did each year she only appeared now in third rate martial art movies, mostly made in Taiwan and usually only in supporting parts or even bit part. Then 1979 saw the end of her involvement in Li Han Hsiang movies the final one being Ghost Story. On the other hand 79 also marked her return to Taiwanese TV, nearly ten years after she left it. As a result her from the turn of the eighties on, her movie appearances became first intermittent and then only episodic as she did only a handful of mostly Taiwanese productions once a while. Her last movie as an actress was Demon Wet Nurse in 1992. The previous year though she had help produced a movie by her old mentor Li Han Hsiang a new version of the Chinese erotica classic Golden Lotus. Later in 1996 Hu Chin also produced the Swallow a lacklustre vehicle actioner for Yuen Biao. This is her last known involvement in cinema.
Having married follow Taiwanese born/H-K based actor Paul Chang Chung in 1975, Hu Chin was divorced in 1979 only to marry sometime later an assistant TV manager. Having become a wife and mother, she only made occasional active return to the entertainment word since the eighties mostly for stage or TV variety shows done for charities purposes. In 2002 she went a world tour with fellow former Shaw stars actress Ivy Ling Po in “Butterfly Lovers 40 Live Performance” the stage adaptation of Li Han Hsiang huangmei dao classic Love Eternel in which Ivy had been starring forty years before. The co-lead role Hu Chin played allowed her to sing many Chinese opera’s tunes a singing talent that had gone mostly unused (if used at all) during all those years as a movie actress. It’s around that time that Hu Chin found herself afflicted with breast cancer an ordeal she went through and overcome with the support of Ivy Ling Po. Then, it’s was Hu Chin turn to support Ivy when herself found herself afflicted with cancer.
A gifted comedienne, Hu Chin did not have the movies career her talent deserved. Although she had a good start with the sudden emergence of adult oriented genres in H-K cinema she was also constrained by being too quickly typecast in her signature role of the sex kitten which although enticing wasn’t specially sympathetic or even likeable brand of character for the public at large Therefore, although she had her fans she didn’t really develop a very extended popularity. This limitation along with the decline of a women centred cinema overtaken by such males dominated movies genre as the kung fu movies considerably restricted Hu Chin career. This is unfortunate but nonetheless thanks mostly to Li Han Hsiang, Hu Chin still manage to make a most memorable impression in her time and appeared in a handful of noteworthy movies.
Yves Gendron (May 2005)
SIte about the actress : http://www.huchin.com
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Filmography |
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 Alternate lists by alpha / genre / year |
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Title
( HK - All )
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 Year |
Activity |
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Hero Of Swallow, The |
1996 |
Producer |
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Demon Wet Nurse, The |
1992 |
Actress |
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Golden Lotus "Love and Desire", The |
1992 |
Executive producer |
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In The Blood |
1988 |
Actress |
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Moon, Star, Sun |
1988 |
Actress |
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Heroic Pioneers, The |
1986 |
Actress |
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Sunset In Geneva |
1986 |
Actress |
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Mr Virgin |
1984 |
Actress |
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Big Sting, The |
1983 |
Actress |
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Strange Skill |
1982 |
Actress |
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Super Dragon |
1982 |
Actress |
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Lost Kung Fu Secrets, The |
1980 |
Actress |
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Master And The Kid |
1980 |
Actress |
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Tiger Love |
1980 |
Actress |
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Dream Sword, The |
1979 |
Actress |
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Dreaming Fists With Slender Hands |
1979 |
Actress |
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Ghost Story, The |
1979 |
Actress |
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Hero Of The Time |
1979 |
Actress |
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Scandalous Warlord, The |
1979 |
Actress |
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Snake Shadow Lama Fist |
1979 |
Actress |
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Demons In The Flame Mountain, The |
1978 |
Actress |
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Green Jade Statuette |
1978 |
Actress |
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Lung Wei Village |
1978 |
Actress |
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Sensual Pleasures |
1978 |
Actress |
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Shaolin Red Master |
1978 |
Actress |
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Three Shaolin Musketeers |
1978 |
Actress |
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Deadly Silver Spear |
1977 |
Actress |
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Dream Of The Red Chamber, The |
1977 |
Actress |
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Golden Nun |
1977 |
Actress |
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Hero From Shanghai |
1977 |
Actress |
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Lost Swordship |
1977 |
Actress |
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Orthodox Chinese Kung Fu |
1977 |
Actress |
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Shaolin Iron Finger |
1977 |
Actress |
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Born Rich |
1976 |
Actress |
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Boxer Rebellion |
1976 |
Actress |
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Brotherhood |
1976 |
Actress |
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Condemned, The |
1976 |
Actress |
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Crazy Sex |
1976 |
Actress |
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Little Ancestors, The |
1976 |
Actress |
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Love Of Strange Talk |
1976 |
Actress |
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Moods Of Love |
1976 |
Actress |
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Prodigal Son, The |
1976 |
Actress |
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Wrong Side Of The Track |
1976 |
Actress |
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Debt Of Crime, A |
1975 |
Actress |
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Fantastic Magic Baby, The |
1975 |
Actress |
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Female Fugitive |
1975 |
Actress |
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Forbidden Tales Of Two Cities |
1975 |
Actress |
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Gambling Syndicate |
1975 |
Actress |
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Gangster Match-Maker, The |
1975 |
Actress |
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Little Super Man |
1975 |
Actress |
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Misty Drizzle |
1975 |
Actress |
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Picking The Star |
1975 |
Actress |
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That's Adultery ! |
1975 |
Actress |
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Young Dragons, The |
1975 |
Actress |
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Badge 369 |
1974 |
Actress |
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Chinese Godfather |
1974 |
Actress |
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Dragon Blows |
1974 |
Actress |
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Empress Dowager's Agate Vase |
1974 |
Actress |
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Fool And His Money, The |
1974 |
Actress |
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Golden Lotus |
1974 |
Actress |
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Kidnap |
1974 |
Actress |
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Looks Of Hong Kong, The |
1974 |
Actress |
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Lucky, Lucky |
1974 |
Actress |
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Martial Arts |
1974 |
Actress |
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Sinful Confession |
1974 |
Actress |
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Tornado Of Pearl River |
1974 |
Actress |
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Virgin Mart, The |
1974 |
Actress |
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Facets Of Love |
1973 |
Actress |
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Fate Of Lee Khan, The |
1973 |
Actress |
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Happiest Moment, The |
1973 |
Actress |
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Hard Man With Guts |
1973 |
Actress |
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Honor And Love |
1973 |
Actress |
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House Of 72 Tenants, The |
1973 |
Actress |
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Illicit Desire |
1973 |
Actress |
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Love Is A Four Letter Word |
1973 |
Actress |
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Police Woman |
1973 |
Actress |
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Rats, The |
1973 |
Actress |
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Smoke In His Eye |
1973 |
Actress |
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Win Them All |
1973 |
Actress |
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Bandits From Shantung |
1972 |
Actress |
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Love And Blood |
1972 |
Actress |
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Warlord, The |
1972 |
Actress |
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Hotel Esquire |
1971 |
Actress |
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Legends Of Cheating |
1971 |
Actress |
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Story Of Ti-Ying, The |
1971 |
Actress |
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Four Moods |
1970 |
Actress |
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