Ms Pak Yin

1920-1987

Actress

Born Chan Yuk Ping, actress Pak Yin was accepted by a film studio in Guangzhou in 1936, but the film that was to be her debut, Twin Lotuses, fell through due to financial troubles. In 1937, she was invited to come to Hong Kong to act in The Magnificent Country (1937) and Shanghai under Fire (1938). Her career flourished and she made a number of films in the pre-war period, including The Magnificent Ones (1938) and Madame Butterfly (1940). When the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression ended, she teamed up with Ng Cho Fan to initiate the production of the first post-war Cantonese film, My Love Comes Too Late (1947), which depicted Japanese atrocities in China. It paved the way for more Cantonese films that followed. In 1952, Pak co-founded Union Film Enterprise, and went on to appear in Union productions, including Big Thunderstorm (1954) and Anna (1955). She won the First Class Individual Achievement Award from the Cultural Ministry of the People’s Republic of China for her role in Spring (1953). In total, Pak made more than 300 films covering a range of roles. But she was most notable as a loving wife and doting mother, as in The Prodigal Son (1952) and It Was a Cold Winter Night (1955). In 1954, with Ng Wui and Cheung Wood Yau, she founded Shan Luen Motion Picture Company, which produced Madam Wan (1960) and The Great Devotion (1960) among other classics. Pak Yin retired in 1964 after making A Mad Woman (1964).