Crows and Sparrows backdrop

Crows and Sparrows 1949 Directed by Zheng Jun-li 烏鴉與麻雀

At a Shanghai apartment, Mr Hou, a Nationalist official, gets ready to move to Taiwan upon the imminent defeat of the KMT during the Civil War. Mrs Hou gives an ultimatum to the rest of the tenants to move out on behalf of her husband, who is the "owner" of the flat and who is now planning to sell it. From the conversations with the rest, we find out that Hou has been a Hanjian during the Sino-Japanese War and that he has since taken over the apartment by force from the old landlord, Mr Kong. The tenants, including Mr Kong, Mrs Xiao, Little Broadcast (alias Mr Xiao, played by Zhao Dan) and a schoolteacher, Mr Hua, and his wife, initially plan to band together, but circumstances force them to find other ways out. Mr Hua tries to find a place to stay at the KMT-sponsored school he is teaching in. Little Broadcast and Mrs Xiao invest in black market gold. As the situation escalates, Mr Hua gets arrested by KMT agents and his young daughter falls desperately ill.

Country China
Production Country China
Language Mandarin
Spoken Language Mandarin
Gnere Drama
Production Company The Peak Film Industries
Release Date 11 January 1949
113 mins
Cast
Zhao Dan Little Broadcast/Boss Xiao
Wei Heling Mr. Kong
Qi Mengshi Lao Liu
Li Tian-Ji Mr. Hou
Baoluo Li Principal
Fu Botang Lao Zhao
Zhang Zhizhi Ruffian
Shi Ling Doctor
Huang Zongying Mrs. Hao
Wu Yin Mrs. Xiao
Daolin Sun Teacher Hua
Wang Bei Hsiao Ah Mei
Zhang Li-De Lao Wei
Xu Wei-Jie Da Mao
Miao Zhusan Assistant Manager Hu
Lan Xu Female visitor
Lan Wang Man handing out bread
He Jianfei Director Li
Lulu Wang Wei Yu
Han Cheng Spy 1