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青春兒女 (1959)
Spring Song


Reviewed by: Stephe
Date: 01/27/2011

Spring Song details the rivalry between two college girls, one
a singer and the other an athlete, as played by Grace Chang and
Jeanette Lin Cui. It's kind of cool to see Jeanette with long hair in
a ponytail, just like Grace has here, because she usually has short
hair in her roles. Peter Chen, Tin Ching, and Roy Chiao play upper
classmen, and Wang Lai plays the music teacher in charge of the two
girls' hostel (dorm) that they share with two other roommates. The
timid Peter is an old friend of Jeannete's and is buddies with star
athlete Roy, while Tin Ching plays an affable bully (if there is such
a thing). Jeanette likes Roy, but Roy likes Grace. Grace likes Peter,
and that makes Jeanette jealous. Both actresses are charismatic and
riveting here, and the script plays to their strengths, but the roles
are indulgent. Their rivalry becomes too serious, and this leaves a
slightly sour taste as the two feud with each other for almost half
the film's running time over their mutual lack of ability in each
other's areas of strength, and over the men they like. It is indeed
fun, however, to see Roy Chiao play a jock who can't dance. For those
who care, you get to see him shirtless when he benchpresses free
weights and drives a boat while Jeanette Lin Cui waterskis. He was
Cathay's only real beefcake.

Reviewer Score: 5