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Speaking of "men watch Wang Xingang, women watch Wang Xiaotang", middle-aged and elderly people who like movies have heard of it. Because in those days, Wang Xingang and Wang Xiaotang were the number one handsome guys and beautiful girls in people's minds, and they were a pair of "screen-red lovers" that were heart-pounding.
The "manufacturer" of this title is Yan Jizhou, a famous director of the original Bayi Film Studio. Yan Jizhou made Wang Xingang and Wang Xiaotang idols in the hearts of generations of Chinese audiences through "Sea Eagle" in 1959 and "Wildfire Fighting the Ancient City" in 1963. Their "love" rival dramas awakened the hazy consciousness of love for generations. And ignited people's youth flame. Especially Wang Xiaotang, with that beautiful appearance and superb acting skills, has become the dream lover of countless young men.
Actually, before that, Yan Jizhou had portrayed Wang Xiaotang as China's "most beautiful spy". Wang Xiaotang's charming female spy Alan in "Heroes and Guts" has long been fascinated by the young people of the time.
"Heroes and Guts" is a highly influential thriller in the history of new Chinese cinema. It is directed by Yan Jizhou and Hao Guang, starring Yu Yang, Wang Xiaotang, Zhang Yongshou, Lipo, etc. It was released in 1958. The film tells the story of Zeng Tai, the chief of the People's Liberation Army reconnaissance section played by Yang, lurking in the lair of the KMT rebels with makeup, and assisting the large forces to wipe out the gangsters.
Although the film still adopts the "imposter" routine in the narrative, the artistic fiction and plot design are ingenious, not only "I am in the enemy", but also "I am in the enemy", to a certain extent Abandoning the usual facial makeup, which is rare in the past similar movies.
In that era, whether in reality or on the screen, the beauties that people can see are often female spies in movies. Only they can be beautiful, be fashionable, and be able to draw their heads, and be able to express emotions, so Many people have a "female spy complex" in their minds. In this regard, Wang Xiaotang's "contribution" is not small.
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In 1957, the movie "Heroes and Guts" began to choose actors. The famous director Yan Jizhou is a very independent director. He selects actors based on the principle of "looking for an actor not by what kind of role he has played, but by what kind of role he can play". For example, he liked Yu Yang's torch-eyed eyes and fortitude and wit. He was asked to play Zeng Tai, the chief of the People’s Liberation Army’s reconnaissance section. Zhang Yong had the characteristics of performing freely and intelligently, and let him play Geng Hao, the reconnaissance staff who broke into the nest .
What's a little outrageous is that Yan Jizhou believes that Wang Xiaotang has the plasticity of expressing complex and multi-faceted characters, so he broke the accepted view that she is suitable for playing a positive character and decided to play the female agent Alan.
When Wang Xiaotang learned about the director’s decision to let her play a female spy, she was reluctant. She was the same as most people believed. She was obviously a positive actor in terms of temperament and image. How could she be a villain, especially Are you acting as a female spy? At first, she declined the director, but what Yan Jizhou recognized was not so easy to change. He did Wang Xiaotang's ideological work in various ways.
Wang Xiaotang, who has figured it out, is worthy of a famous role. She broke through the previous gentle and pleasant image, turned into a female spy, and launched a fierce battle with the protagonist Zeng Tai. In the official filming, although she was acting as a female spy, she was acting in the opposite direction, and she got rid of the problem of facial makeup very well, so that the protagonist was overshadowed by a contradictory limelight, which made people admire.
Especially, when the female agent Alan and our army's scout Zeng Tai, who broke into the enemy's interior, met for the first time, she wore "fancy clothes" and twisted the rumba dance and floated over like a gust of wind. Many people in that era had never heard of the rumba dance scene, let alone seen it. It can be said that it provided a fresh audiovisual perception and experience opportunity for the audience at that time. After the film was released, many young men and women who learned to dance rumba appeared on the streets and alleys. Many people walked into the cinema more than once just to get a glimpse of Wang Xiaotang. At that time, Wang Xiaotang was called "the most beautiful spy" or "China's first female spy."
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Wang Xiaotang,Born in Kaifeng City, Henan Province in January 1934, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance, he moved to Chongqing, Nanjing and Hangzhou with his parents. Influenced by his family, he learned to sing Peking Opera from an early age. He graduated from Zhejiang Provincial Technical College in 1948. In 1952, he joined the army and was admitted to the Peking Opera Troupe of the General Political and Cultural Works Troupe of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The following year he was transferred to the General Political Repertory Troupe.
In 1955, the young and beautiful Wang Xiaotang was selected by the Changchun Film Studio to star in the movie "Mysterious Traveling Companion" and played the Yi girl Li Ying in the film. For Wang Xiaotang, this movie has a special meaning to her. This is not only the first time she has appeared on the screen in her life, but also many directors have discovered her and her potential.
In 1958, Wang Xiaotang was transferred to Bayi Film Studio and became a professional film actor. In the same year, he won the Young Actor Award at the 11th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for his starring movie "Banhuo". In the same year, she played the role of Alan, a KMT agent, in the Red Spy movie "Heroes and Guts". After
, Wang Xiaotang and Wang Xingang starred in "Sea Eagle" and "Wildfire Spring Wind Fighting Ancient City", and "screen red lovers" turned out.
During the ten-year "Cultural Revolution", Wang Xiaotang was affected and demobilized to work in the forest farm for 6 years. She was rehabilitated and resumed work in 1975. From then on, she took up the position of director.
After 1988, Wang Xiaotang successively served as deputy director and director of Bayi Film Studio, and later concurrently as party secretary. Promoted to major general in July 1993. She is the "Twenty-Two Great Movie Stars" of New China and one of the hundred outstanding actors of Chinese film in a century. In September 2015, she won the 30th Chinese Film Golden Rooster Award for Lifetime Achievement Film Artist.
Wang Xiaotang's husband is the youngest son of Yan Jupeng, the founder of Peking Opera Yanpai Art, and an actor in Bayi Film Studio. The couple had a son Yanqun, but he died of liver disease at the age of 18. In 1992, Yan Xiaopeng passed away. The death of the two relatives made Wang Xiaotang suffer a blow. However, life is impermanent, what is manpower?
As a generation of screen beauties, Wang Xiaotang has played Li Ying in "Mysterious Traveling Companion", Alan in "Heroes and Gallant", Mano in "Bianzhai Beacon", Yufen in "Sea Eagle", and "Wildfire". The screen roles such as the golden ring and the silver ring in "Spring Wind Fighting Ancient City" have become popular screen images of that era.
Wish the old artist Wang Xiaotang, who is both De and Yixin, happy, healthy and long life in his old age!
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