Li Xianglan (Yoshiko Yamaguchi) in Glory to Eternity 1943 万世流芳

Song List:
0:26 - 2:20 Candy Selling Song (Maitang ge) - faster version
7:00 - 10:50 Candy Selling Song (slower version, high notes at end)
20:50 - 23:35 Quitting Opium Song (Jieyan ge)
This 26 minute clip is a contiguous portion of the 1943 film Glory to Eternity (Wanshi liufang) 万世流芳. Yoshiko Yamaguchi (Li Xianglan) appears prominently in it, singing the hit songs which brought her fame throughout China. In this clip you will see why the beauty and singing of Li Xianglan captivated Chinese film-goers, even though many suspected or knew about her Japanese roots.
A short summary of the clip: Li Xianglan makes her appearance in an opium den to the accompaniment of a music box which the British (acted as long noses) have provided. At first, her singing is praised by everyone, until they realize she is really telling the opium-smokers and dealers that opium is ruining their lives. And the candy she is selling is really a medicine designed to counter the effects of opium addiction!
At that point, the British become angry, leading the pro-consul to slap Li Xianglan (in a scene much like the famous slap in her 1940 film China Nights). Her lover comes to her aid and strikes the British consul, initiating a gymnastic chase scene (which foretells many such scenes to come in future films, ala Jacky Chan stuntman type action).
Subsequently, Li Xianglan and her lover escape to the mountains, where with the assistance of medicine (and her singing of the famous Quitting Opium song), he is restored to health from his addiction and comes to realize the great harm that opium has created in China and what he must do to combat that.
The clip ends with images of the Chinese hero of the 1842 Opium War, Lin Zexu as he prepares to do battle against the British.
A note on film quality: the reproduction shown here is not good, but I hope in future to provide a better quality. Here is the whole movie:
• Glory to Eternity 1943...
for the complete history of Yoshiko Yamaguchi, please see:
yoshikoyamaguc...