Chen Lie was an actor, director, screenwriter and production manager in Hong Kong's Amoy-dialect cinema. He began on the stage in Xiamen, appearing in plays such as Sunrise and The Opium War. As early as 1953 he acted in The Romance of Lychee and Mirror, Part One, and over the following decade he appeared in more than ninety Amoy-dialect films, becoming one of the genre's most important supporting actors. Largely because of his build he was typecast as crafty and snobbish villains, such as the rogue Liu Chang in Gu Nu Lei (1957) and the scheming director Chen Wen-hai in Xu Ji Xin Tao Hua Jiang (1960). He also worked behind the camera: his first assistant-director credit was on Zhou Shi-lu's Niu Lang Zhi Nu (1955), and after assisting Chen Yi-qing on Lan Fang Cao Tan Jian (1957) he co-directed more than twenty Amoy-dialect films with him, several of which they also co-wrote, among them Tao Hua Xiang (1957), Shao Nu Shi Ba Bian (1958), Ci Mu Xin (1958) and Xu Ji Xin Tao Hua Jiang; he also produced films such as Jia Feng Xu Huang (1959). When Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) set up an Amoy-dialect unit in 1959, Chen was hired as its chief planning consultant, and he also acted in its titles of the period, including Wang Ge Liu Ge (1959), Si Sheng Nu (1959), Xia Men A Jie (1959), Wu Ye Jing Hun (1960), Yong Ji Wo Xin Tou (1960), 33 Hao Nu Jian Die (1961) and Fan Qu Xiang Gang Qu Shui Mou (1961). As the genre faded he produced Hong (1968) for Shaw, and from Yu Mo (1974) onward he served as producer or executive producer on more than sixty Shaw films, most of them directed by Chor Yuen or Chang Cheh.
Chen worked on both sides of the camera, acting in more than ninety Amoy-dialect films, co-directing over twenty with Chen Yi-qing and serving as chief planning consultant to Shaw's Amoy-dialect unit. After the genre faded he became a Shaw producer, long supporting Chor Yuen's and Chang Cheh's productions.
Achievements
- 1953 · Appeared in the film The Romance of Lychee and Mirror, Part One, beginning a decade of steady work.
- 1959 · Was hired as chief planning consultant when Shaw Brothers set up its Amoy-dialect unit.
- 1974 · From this year served as producer or executive producer on more than sixty Shaw films.