In 1964, the year before Qin Jian became the most expensive director of the Shaw Brothers Film Company.
In its hands, many film companies such as Lingfeng, Red Cotton, Film Art, Guangyi, Xinyi, and Guoyi are on the verge of bankruptcy because of their gambling squandering.
Qin Jian urgently needs to use a blockbuster movie to rescue the film company and save himself.
So he prepared to write and direct a color film of his own, "The Great Circus".
At that time, although Qin Jian was heavily in debt, as a generation of famous directors, his disciples were numerous, and all of them were big names in the entertainment circle who later sonic boomed: Chu Yuan, Lin Cui, Lin Feng, Long Gang, Xie Xian, Jia Ling, Nan Hong, Jiang Xue, Jiang Zhongping, Wang Wei, Chen Qisong, Hu Yanni...
When he wrote the script himself, the disciple Long Gang served as an assistant director and production assistant, and the art was handed over to Fei Boyi, and the lighting, editing, makeup, scene, costume design, editing, etc. were almost all his own people, which almost did not cost much.
In terms of actors, it was originally Lin Feng and Li Mei's double female protagonists, and Zhang Yang and Xie Xian's double male protagonists. As a result, when the film began to shoot, something changed.
First of all, the original male protagonist Xie Xian refused to act, at this time he was forming a band called "Silver Rat" with Zhang Chong, Chen Ziqiang, Chen Hao, Deng Guangrong, Qin Xianglin, Shen Dianxia, etc.
Secondly, the original heroine Lin Feng said that she was not in good health and could only make a cameo in a supporting role.
Qin Jian cried bitterly, but he couldn't do anything about it.
His wife, Lin Cui, a "student lover" in the 60s, saw her husband like this and comforted him: "Don't worry, I'll help you find someone to save the scene!" ”
Lin Cui was looking for his younger brother, Zeng Jiang!
This year, Zeng Jiang just graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, usa, as a surveyor in a construction company in Hong Kong, can he be qualified to be the male protagonist?
Theoretically!
Because Zeng Jiang had participated in Tao Qin's "Tonglin Bird" as early as 1955, and starred in "That Little Sentimentality" directed by Wang Tianlin the following year, he still had certain acting experience and acting skills.
But after he was an actor for a while, he found that acting was not interesting, so he went abroad to study and then went to work as a surveyor. So, did his sister Lin Cui please move him?
After the brothers and sisters had a free conversation in Hong Kong's Yongya Mountain House, Zeng Jiang said to Lin Cui: "It is no problem for me to act, I want to talk to my brother-in-law about the conditions!" ”
Lin Cui went back to tell Qin Jianyi that Zeng Jiang participated in the performance, and Qin Jian immediately asked someone to make a poster (Picture 1), with the text on it: Lin Feng ZengJiang, a couple.
A few days later, Zeng Jiang found Qin Jian and said, "I don't want a film salary, but the heroine must be Lan Di!" ”
This time Qin Jian was in trouble again, this movie invited the Shen Changfu Circus to assist in filming, before Lan Di entered the film and television circle, it was Shen Changfu Circus's master Hua Dan. Later, because Lan Di insisted on entering the film and television circle for development, the two sides broke up unhappily, but they did not expect to meet again because of a movie.
Fortunately, Qin Jian overcame all difficulties and invited Lan Di to come.
In this way, the two female protagonists became three female protagonists: Li Mei, Lan Di, and Lin Feng; the role of the big male protagonist was reduced, and zeng Jiang's role increased.
Zeng Jiang's seemingly simple condition directly led to the film's investment exceeding the budget - at that time, these starring actors, in addition to Zeng Jiang, were all superstars at the level of male gods and goddesses, and there was no problem in coordinating back and forth - paying! In the end, the film invested more than one million yuan (see figure 2), directly increasing Qin Jian's debt.
Why did Zeng Jiang insist on making Lan Di the heroine? Like her, want to chase her.
Soon after the film was made, Zeng Jiang and Lan Di established a romantic relationship, and soon after, the two married.
But this is not a happy outcome for everyone, because after the release of the movie, the box office fell on the street.
The qin sword that had broken the cauldron finally fell into the pit he had dug.
At this time, the Shaw Brothers Film Company took advantage of the void and offered the most expensive salary to sign Qin Jian into his command, although he was predicted to give him a salary of several years, but he still could not block his debt hole.
On June 15, 1969, Qin Jian hanged himself at shaw film company, and a generation of famous directors fell to the age of 43.
What is even more jaw-dropping is that on the second day after Qin Jian's death, Lin Cui admitted at the press conference with a big belly that the child she was pregnant with was the kung fu superstar Wang Yu, and the entertainment circle was in an uproar.
In this way, the power of the "butterfly effect" appeared: Lin Cuiqianfu pointed out that he withdrew from the film and television circle; Zhang Che was caused a headache by Wang Yu, a big disciple, and began to praise Dillon Jiang David; Zeng Jiang was portrayed as the spokesperson of "Hong Kong film and television star arrogance"; Lan Di and Zeng Jiang also quit the entertainment circle after marriage...
But is that the end of it?
After Lin Cui married Wang Yu, she gave birth to three daughters, Wang Xinping, Wang Jialu and Wang Meiyi, but the two still could not get to the end and divorced in 1975. Wang Yu was later involved in several fights with others, and his acting career was ruined, and Lin Cui died of asthma in 1995.
Zeng Jiang and Lan Di's marriage lasted only 10 years; later married columnist and famous model Deng Gongbi, this marriage also lasted only 10 years; in 1994, Zeng Jiang married a former famous actor and senior voice actor Jiao Jiao, although not divorced now, but there are often rumors of discord between the two in the media.
More importantly, this storm almost ruined Zeng Jiang's acting career.
After Qin Jian's death, Zeng Jiang's reputation in the circle has been bad, and for a long time he could hardly receive notices. Otherwise, with Zeng Jiang's appearance, stature, education, and acting skills, do you think his achievements in film and television are limited to this?
In 1972, Zeng Jiang, who had encountered a wall in the film circle, joined Radio Television Hong Kong, and the result was not smooth;
In 1975, Zeng Jiang switched to Jiayi Television (the predecessor of ATV) to become a director, and as a result, he lost everything;
In 1982, Zeng Jiang switched to TVB again, and the following year starred in the role of Huang Yaoshi in "The Legend of the Eagle Shooter", and his acting career began to pick up.
When the pickpocket sister re-clarified this old thing, you finally know why Zeng Jiang's reputation in the Hong Kong entertainment industry is not good, and why he rarely gets an acting award.
Many entertainment authors only attribute the reason to Zeng Jiang's bad temper, that Xie Xian's temper is not good, the two debuted almost at the same time, and both qin sword popularity, but the two people embarked on a completely different path.
All the gifts in life have long been secretly marked with a price.
Zeng Jiang is 84 years old, and he began to wear hearing aids as early as the age of 80, but it is interesting that the doctor checked Zeng Jiang's hearing without problems.
On his eightieth birthday, Jiao Jiao set up a banquet in Jiulongtang and invited Wang Lai, Zheng Peipei, Qin Ping, Zhang Yan, Yue Hua and other former movie stars.
If he knows that it is interesting, Zeng Jiang can hear it; when he talks about sadness, he will turn a deaf ear.
When the old naughty boy Cai Lan heard about it, he copied a copy of the Heart Sutra and gave it to him:
See that the five aggregates are empty, and live up to all suffering!
It's all there is to it!
Don't do it with evil, but encourage it.