Signal Fires of Shanghai (1944)
During the Taiping Rebellion of the mid-19th century, anti-Qing (Manchu) Chinese forces led by Taiping commander Li Xiucheng march on Shanghai. Although the Western powers are officially neutral, the British consul in Shanghai sides with the Qing imperial government, and counter to his own government's policy he retains American adventurer Frederick Townsend Ward to raise a mercenary force of foreigners in Shanghai and oppose the Taipings. Ward's force is routed, with heavy casualties, but since many of the casualties are British, the British army soon is drawn in on the side of the Qings. The only support for the Chinese comes from Japanese in Shanghai and anti-imperialist demonstrations in Japan. A family drama plays out against this historical background. After a Chinese home is destroyed by careless British shelling, killing the father and crippling a daughter, the surviving son vows revenge but begins to see that his true friends may be the Japanese.
Directors:
Hiroshi Inagaki, Griffin Yueh Feng.
Writers:
Fuji Yahiro, Doe Ching.
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Tsumasaburō Bandō as Shinsaku Takasugi |
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Ryūnosuke Tsukigata as Saisuke Godai |
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Li Li-Hua as Wang Ying |
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Ryōsuke Kagawa as Heirokurô Numata |
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Ryōnosuke Azuma as Shakusaburô Ôtsuka |
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Tatsuya Ishiguro as Kuranosuke Nakamuta |
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Yoshimatsu Nakamura as Boartman |
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Xiucen Duan as Ah Yang - the waiter |
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Han Lan-Gen as Ah Lin - the waiter |
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Jiang Ming as Shen Changling |
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Kiang Sieu as Townsend Ward |
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Wang Danfeng as Shen Taohua |
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Chun Yen as Li Xiucheng |
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Kōichi Kuzuki as Hikojirô Aizawa |
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Hiroshi Mizuno as Yashirô Iwase |
| Directing | Hiroshi Inagaki | Director |
| Directing | Griffin Yueh Feng | Director |
| Writing | Fuji Yahiro | Screenplay |
| Crew | Jun'ichirō Aoshima | Cinematography |
| Sound | Yue Yin Liang | Music |
| Writing | Doe Ching | Screenplay |