A Spray of Plum Blossoms

Amid the initial splash of productions that set up Linhua as the newest major studio in Shanghai, another film with Ruan Lingyu et al. directed by Bu Wancang and it's.... minor Shakespeare. Yes, this is Two Gentleman of Verona but the young gentlemen are modern-day military cadets from Shanghai and they're off to Guangzhou instead of Milan. Otherwise it follows things rather closely, but with less by way of servant characters. Criminally, they have left out the play's true star: the dog.

A very long, very drawn out melodrama that still managed to entertain. The actors gave decent performances and there were plenty of subtitles to help move the story along. I would've rated this higher if about 20-30 minutes had been cut from the bloated run time.

Yi jian mei [A Spray of Plum Blossoms] (1931) stars the iconic Chinese actress Lingyu Ruan in another solid performance. Not such a remarkable story, which keeps it low, but the actors presence is there.