The Flower Girl (1952)

Yee Chau-shui is one of the best comedians in Hong Kong cinema and he first played the Tramp character in the 1939 film Song Girl White Peony, a remake (or ripoff) of Chaplin's City Lights (1931). Flower Girl is a remake of that remake, transposing the story from Great Depression America to postwar Hong Kong, where devastating poverty is compounded by an egregious wealth gap between sectors. Yee's Tramp is an inspired blend of Chaplin's slapstick gags and the Cantonese opera chou san (the clown) shtick, exemplified by his performance of the song Fantasy of Riches, in which he likely improvises lyrics to generate laughter. Leung Sing-po co-stars, in one of many pairings that feature two of Hong Kong's best comic personalities.