Chin Tsi-Ang (February 22, 1908 – October 15, 2007), also romanized as Qian Siying, was one of the earliest martial arts actors of Chinese cinema and its first female star. She debuted in South China Dream in 1925 at the age of 17. Chin's supporting roles in Langhua Movie Studio's successful first three movies launched what would become a long movie career. In 1928 she joined the Fudan Film Company, her first role for that studio being the female lead in The Swallow Heroine, after which she starred in three more for Fudan the following year. In 1930 she moved up a level to the Great Wall Film Company, making what would become her representative work, Southern Heroine, directed by Yang Xiaozhong. Chin's performance impressed audiences in a film that came out just as Shanghai studios discovered the potential of marketing their product to Southeast Asia's Chinese community; Chin's emerging popularity amongst this group brought a steady stream of theater owners to Shanghai to buy copies of her films, regardless of the cost. She went on to make nine more action films for Great Wall and other studios, and since some of these were multi-parters, the actual number totaled about twice that. The last of these was released in 1931, by which time the fervor for martial arts movies had cooled, so Chin moved into other genres, including sound films. Having become a star in Shanghai, Chin and her husband, Hung Chung-Ho, moved to Hong Kong. While there, they formed the Sanxing Film Company, which specialized in wuxia and produced the first Fong Sai-Yuk film in 1938. The company continued in business until 1963, when the Hong Kong government requisitioned its properties. Chin's husband died not long afterwards, following which she felt the urge to resume making movies, but when the matter of her age (now 53) came up, she replied that she just wanted to make movies again, and would be happy to take "green leaf" roles (bit parts or extras). She specialized in playing women her own age, often the mother or grandmother of a lead character. In this second stage of her career, she worked in more than 180 theatrical films over five decades, one of the more recent and well-known being Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love at age 92.
Movie | Cinema Hong Kong: Wu Xia | Herself (as Tsi-Ang Chin) | 2003-01-02 |
Movie | My Wife Is 18 | Thirteen's grandma | 2002-09-25 |
Movie | In the Mood for Love | Amah | 2000-09-29 |
Movie | The Blade | Mah | 1995-12-21 |
Movie | C'est La Vie Mon Cheri | 1993-11-11 | |
Movie | The Mad Monk | Old Woman with Bad Stomach | 1993-07-29 |
Movie | Casino Tycoon I | Chang's mother | 1992-02-20 |
Movie | To Miss with Love | Chien's grandmother | 1992-10-01 |
Movie | Royal Tramp | 1992-07-30 | |
Movie | To Be Number One | Md. Wu | 1991-04-15 |
Movie | The Blue Jean Monster | Old woman praying at temple | 1991-05-23 |
Movie | My Neighbours are Phantoms | Old Woman Who Gets Robbed | 1990-04-26 |
Movie | Kung Fu Vs. Acrobatic | 1990-07-21 | |
Movie | Days of Being Wild | 1990-12-15 | |
Movie | All for the Winner | Old Woman | 1990-08-18 |
Movie | Ghost Fever | Pinkey's Mother | 1989-04-20 |
Movie | The Greatest Lover | 1988-07-30 | |
Movie | Midnight Whispers | Hua's mother-in-law | 1988-12-01 |
Movie | Heartbeat 100 | (uncredited) | 1987-05-21 |
Movie | The Romancing Star | 1987-06-25 | |
Movie | Long Arm of the Law II | 1987-08-29 | |
Movie | Flaming Brothers | 1987-07-30 | |
Movie | Walking Beside Me | 1986-11-20 | |
Movie | How to Choose a Royal Bride | 1985-01-01 | |
Movie | The Young Vagabond | Party guest | 1985-01-02 |
Movie | Fascinating Affairs | 1985-06-22 | |
Movie | My Mind, Your Body | 1985-01-10 | |
Movie | Maybe It's Love | 1984-03-09 | |
Movie | The Occupant | Md Ki | 1984-09-30 |
Movie | Behind the Yellow Line | Granny in MRT | 1984-10-03 |
Movie | Secret Service of the Imperial Court | Street hawker | 1984-10-19 |
Movie | Crazy Blood | 1983-03-17 | |
Movie | Tales of a Eunuch | Old prostitute | 1983-03-24 |
Movie | Descendant of the Sun | Princess's maid | 1983-12-16 |
Movie | On the Wrong Track | 1983-04-15 | |
Movie | Hong Kong, Hong Kong | Sun's 4th Aunt | 1983-07-21 |
Movie | House of Traps | Townsfolk | 1982-01-09 |
Movie | Godfather from Canton | Wedding guest [extra] | 1982-06-11 |
Movie | Human Lanterns | 1982-07-14 | |
Movie | The 82 Tenants | Tenant | 1982-08-10 |
Movie | My Young Auntie | Boat passenger / Shopper | 1981-01-01 |
Movie | Challenge of the Gamesters | Train passenger's relative | 1981-04-30 |
Movie | A Bride's Nightmare | Widow | 1981-01-01 |
Movie | The Duel of the Century | Town Folk | 1981-10-22 |
Movie | What Price Honesty? | Brothel madam | 1981-12-31 |
Movie | The Convict Killer | Gambler | 1980-02-28 |
Movie | Heaven and Hell | Wei Han Ting's Mother | 1980-01-18 |
Movie | The Kid with a Tattoo | Shopper | 1980-06-17 |
Movie | Haunted Tales | 1980-04-19 | |
Movie | Carry on Wise Guy | 1980-07-03 | |
Movie | The Shadow Boxing | Mourner | 1979-02-13 |
Movie | Itchy Fingers | Inspector's mother-in-law | 1979-01-26 |
Movie | The Reckless Cricket | aunty | 1979-03-16 |
Movie | The Kung Fu Instructor | 1979-06-16 | |
Movie | Shaolin Hand Lock | Brothel mamasan | 1978-06-10 |
Movie | The Five Venoms | Yuan Family Member | 1978-08-12 |
Movie | My Kung Fu Master | Angry Tenant | 1978-07-12 |
Movie | Sensual Pleasures | 1978-08-25 | |
Movie | Heroes of the East | Wedding Guest | 1978-12-30 |
Movie | Death Duel | Brothel worker | 1977-07-06 |
Movie | Clans of Intrigue | Wine seller's wife | 1977-03-05 |
Movie | Lady Exterminator | 1977-01-20 | |
Movie | The Mighty Peking Man | Spectator at pier | 1977-08-11 |
Movie | The Criminals, Part 3: Arson | Granny | 1977-02-04 |
Movie | The Dream of the Red Chamber | Maid | 1977-10-26 |
Movie | Pursuit of Vengeance | Lady Du | 1977-12-22 |
Movie | Dreams Of Eroticism | Old Maid | 1977-11-18 |
Movie | The Criminals, Part 5: The Teenager's Nightmare | Chan Sum's Mother | 1977-11-11 |
Movie | The Criminals | Chen Zhong's Maid | 1976-01-16 |
Movie | Black Magic 2 | Shi's Maid | 1976-12-09 |
Movie | The Web of Death | 1976-10-28 | |
Movie | Lady of the Law | 1975-06-07 | |
Movie | Black Magic | Coconut Seller | 1975-10-02 |
Movie | The Golden Lotus | 1974-01-17 | |
Movie | Gossip Street | Resident of Gossip St | 1974-05-17 |
Movie | The Killer Snakes | 1974-02-05 | |
Movie | Blood Reincarnation | 1974-10-03 | |
Movie | Sorrow of the Gentry | Maid | 1974-07-19 |
Movie | The Villains | Fang servant | 1973-03-09 |
Movie | The Human Goddess | Nightclub customer | 1972-01-01 |
Movie | The Boxer from Shantung | Brothel Mamasan | 1972-02-11 |
Movie | Hapkido | Villager | 1972-10-01 |
Movie | Five Fingers of Death | Spectator | 1972-04-28 |
Movie | The Killer | Teacher's mother | 1972-08-01 |
Movie | Duel for Gold | Villager watching acrobat show | 1971-06-11 |
Movie | The Lady Hermit | Chief Wang's Mother | 1971-01-22 |
Movie | Lady with a Sword | 1971-10-14 | |
Movie | Vengeance! | 1970-05-14 | |
Movie | Temptress of a Thousand Faces | Robbed Woman at Boutique | 1969-04-10 |
Movie | Divorce, Hong Kong Style | Hsien-Hou's aunt | 1968-12-28 |
Movie | The Rainbow | 1968-07-11 | |
Movie | Too Late for Love | Guest at Liang's wedding | 1967-03-29 |
Movie | The Pearl Phoenix | Wedding guest | 1967-02-04 |
Movie | The Thundering Sword | Bereaved wife [extra] | 1967-05-08 |
Movie | The Assassin | (extra) | 1967-12-22 |
Movie | The Knight of Knights | 1966-05-17 | |
Movie | The Blue and the Black | Auntie Shen | 1966-06-29 |
Movie | Fairy, Ghost, Vixen | Wedding party guest | 1965-05-27 |
Movie | Temple of the Red Lotus | Captain Li's wife | 1965-01-10 |
Movie | The Mermaid | Festival spectator | 1965-01-29 |
Movie | The West Chamber | Lady Cui's maid | 1965-11-10 |
Movie | The Lark | 1965-07-28 | |
Movie | The Amorous Lotus Pan | Neighbor at wake | 1964-04-09 |
Movie | Comedy of Mismatches | Wedding guest | 1964-05-14 |
Movie | Love Parade | Patient | 1963-01-21 |
Movie | The Adulteress | Mourner | 1963-08-08 |
Movie | The Magnificent Concubine | Courtier | 1962-05-31 |
Movie | Madam White Snake | Townsperson | 1962-10-02 |
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