White Powder and Neon Lights (1947)

(0) based on 0 votes
This is the first 16mm Cantonese film in full colour, shot on 1940s state-of-the-art Technicolor film stock. Opera star Man-ha (Leung Bik-yuk) enjoys tremendous popularity during her performances in San Francisco, but drowns herself in the vices and temptations of the big city. Increasingly, she fails to show up for performances, almost causing the theatre to go bankrupt. When she sees her lover for the scoundrel that he is, she also sees the errors of her own ways and saves the theatre, restoring it to glory. Joseph Sunn Jue established the Grandview Film Company in Hong Kong during the 1930s and continued making films in the USA during wartime by collaborating with Chinese opera performers in exile there. Wong Hok-sing, an opera actor himself, directed, wrote and starred in this film. He staged a spectacular play-within-a-play at the end, not only to promote the art of Cantonese opera but also to boost solidarity among overseas Chinese through difficult times.
Directors
Release Date
Jan 01, 1947
Runtime
01h 34m
Genre
Available in streaming on

This is the first 16mm Cantonese film in full colour, shot on 1940s state-of-the-art Technicolor film stock. Opera star Man-ha (Leung Bik-yuk) enjoys tremendous popularity during her performances in San Francisco, but drowns herself in the vices and temptations of the big city. Increasingly, she fails to show up for performances, almost causing the theatre to go bankrupt. When she sees her lover for the scoundrel that he is, she also sees the errors of her own ways and saves the theatre, restoring it to glory. Joseph Sunn Jue established the Grandview Film Company in Hong Kong during the 1930s and continued making films in the USA during wartime by collaborating with Chinese opera performers in exile there. Wong Hok-sing, an opera actor himself, directed, wrote and starred in this film. He staged a spectacular play-within-a-play at the end, not only to promote the art of Cantonese opera but also to boost solidarity among overseas Chinese through difficult times.

Movies like White Powder and Neon Lights

The Mistress of Spices

Tilo is an Indian shopkeeper in America with an ability to see the future and a magical connection to powerful spices, which she uses to help her customers satisfy their various needs and desires. One day she falls in love with an American man. But the spices forbid it.
Search similar movies
6.2
The+Mistress+of+Spices
The Mistress of Spices

2005

Search similar movies
On the Beach

In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other?
Search similar movies
6.6
On+the+Beach
On the Beach

1959

Search similar movies
The Pursuit of Happyness

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Search similar movies
7.9
The+Pursuit+of+Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness

2006

Search similar movies
The Lady from Shanghai

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Search similar movies
7.3
The+Lady+from+Shanghai
The Lady from Shanghai

1947

Search similar movies
Pacific Heights

A couple works hard to renovate their dream house and become landlords to pay for it. Unfortunately one of their tenants has plans of his own.
Search similar movies
6.2
Pacific+Heights
Pacific Heights

1990

Search similar movies
The Towering Inferno

At the opening party of a colossal—but poorly constructed—skyscraper, a massive fire breaks out, threatening to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Search similar movies
7.0
The+Towering+Inferno
The Towering Inferno

1974

Search similar movies
The Good Heart

Jacques is the curmudgeonly owner of a gritty New York dive bar that serves as home to a motley assortment of professional drinkers. Jacques is determinedly drinking and smoking himself to death when he meets Lucas, a homeless young man who has already given up on life. Determined to keep his legacy alive, Jacques deems Lucas is a fitting heir and takes him under his wing.
Search similar movies
6.4
The+Good+Heart
The Good Heart

2009

Search similar movies
Mrs. Doubtfire

Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids. When Daniel learns his ex needs a housekeeper, he gets the job -- disguised as a British nanny. Soon he becomes not only his children's best pal but the kind of parent he should have been from the start.
Search similar movies
7.2
Mrs.+Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire

1993

Search similar movies
The Game

In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
Search similar movies
7.6
The+Game
Man from Reno

A mystery outside of San Francisco brings together small-town sheriff Paul Del Moral, Japanese author Aki Akahori, and a traveler from Reno who soon disappears, leaving behind his suitcase and a trail of questions.
Search similar movies
6.4
Man+from+Reno
Man from Reno

2014

Search similar movies
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.
Search similar movies
7.6
Guess+Who%27s+Coming+to+Dinner
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

1967

Search similar movies
A Woman Deceived

It’s been one year since Elizabeth’s husband, Bill, died in a tragic horseback riding accident and she is starting to move on. When she runs into Travis Brown, the cowboy she met the same weekend Bill died, the two immediately hit it off. Travis is just what Elizabeth needed to come into her life and they soon get married. When new evidence surfaces implying that Bill’s death wasn’t an accident, Elizabeth must find a way to protect herself and her son from the man she married.
Search similar movies
6.4
A+Woman+Deceived
A Woman Deceived

2017

Search similar movies
The Zodiac

An elusive serial killer known as the Zodiac terrorizes the San Francisco Bay in the late 1960s, while detectives aim to stop him before he claims more victims. Based on a true story.
Search similar movies
5.4
The+Zodiac
The Zodiac

2005

Search similar movies
House of Sand and Fog

Behrani, an Iranian immigrant buys a California bungalow, thinking he can fix it up, sell it again, and make enough money to send his son to college. However, the house is the legal property of former drug addict Kathy. After losing the house in an unfair legal dispute with the county, she is left with nowhere to go. Wanting her house back, she hires a lawyer and befriends a police officer. Neither Kathy nor Behrani have broken the law, so they find themselves involved in a difficult moral dilemma.
Search similar movies
7.2
House+of+Sand+and+Fog
House of Sand and Fog

2003

Search similar movies
She's in Portland

Two college friends, now in their thirties, admire each others' lives and feel trapped in their own. Wes, tied to a demanding career and responsibilities to family, extends a work trip to drag his dispirited artist friend Luke to find Luke's "one that got away."
Search similar movies
5.4
She%27s+in+Portland
She's in Portland

2020

Search similar movies
Vanishing Point

Kowalski works for a car delivery service, and takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to drive from Colorado to San Francisco. Shortly after pickup, he takes a bet to get the car there in less than 15 hours.
Search similar movies
7.1
Vanishing+Point
Vanishing Point

1971

Search similar movies
Dead Again

In 1949, composer Roman Strauss is executed for the murder of his wife. In 1990s Los Angeles, a detective comes across a mute amnesiac woman who is somehow linked to the Strauss murder.
Search similar movies
6.4
Dead+Again
Dead Again

1991

Search similar movies
Dogfight

In the fall of 1963, Eddie Birdlace is an 18-year-old Marine Corps volunteer who is about to ship out with three of his buddies for a tour of duty in Vietnam. Planning a massive blowout for their last night in San Francisco, Eddie, his buddies, and a number of other Marines set up a contest they call a "dogfight”.
Search similar movies
6.9
Dogfight
Milk

The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
Search similar movies
7.2
Milk
Magnum Force

"Dirty" Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When shady characters are murdered one after another in grisly fashion, only Dirty Harry can stop them.
Search similar movies
7.1
Magnum+Force
Magnum Force

1973

Search similar movies
Farewell My Concubine

In an epic tale of theater, gender, love and class, two Beijing opera actors navigate political turmoil as their friendship evolves over decades.
Search similar movies
7.9
Farewell+My+Concubine
Farewell My Concubine

1993

Search similar movies
Rainbow Girls

As San Francisco’s tech boom gentrifies their city, three young black trans women decide to take matters into their own hands, staging an audacious heist targeting the city’s most exclusive luxury brands.
Search similar movies
Rainbow+Girls
Rainbow Girls

2025

Search similar movies
The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Jimmie Fails dreams of reclaiming the Victorian home his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. Joined on his quest by his best friend Mont, Jimmie searches for belonging in a rapidly changing city that seems to have left them behind.
Search similar movies
7.0
The+Last+Black+Man+in+San+Francisco
The Last Black Man in San Francisco

2019

Search similar movies
Genesee

Iconic imageries and moments of strange magic in California.
Search similar movies
9.3
Genesee
The Room

Johnny is a successful banker with great respect for and dedication to the people in his life, especially his future wife Lisa. The happy-go-lucky guy sees his world being torn apart when his friends begin to betray him one-by-one.
Search similar movies
4.0
The+Room
The Age of Adaline

After 29-year-old Adaline recovers from a nearly lethal accident, she inexplicably stops growing older. As the years stretch on and on, Adaline keeps her secret to herself until she meets a man who changes her life.
Search similar movies
7.5
The+Age+of+Adaline
The Age of Adaline

2015

Search similar movies
Freebie and the Bean

Two San Francisco detectives want to bring down a local hijacking boss. But they'll have to get to him before a hitman does.
Search similar movies
6.1
Freebie+and+the+Bean
Freebie and the Bean

1974

Search similar movies
The Penalty

Blizzard, deranged from a childhood operation in which both his legs were needlessly amputated after an accident, becomes a vicious criminal, and eventually mob leader of the San Francisco underworld.
Search similar movies
6.9
The+Penalty
The Penalty

1920

Search similar movies
San Francisco

A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the great earthquake and subsequent fires in 1906.
Search similar movies
6.5
San+Francisco
San Francisco

1936

Search similar movies
Anjaana Anjaani

Akash and Kiara are trying to find luck in their life after several failed attempts to be successful in their careers and in love. Fed up, they both decide to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. However, both land up on the same bridge at the same time.
Search similar movies
6.0
Anjaana+Anjaani
Anjaana Anjaani

2010

Search similar movies
I Remember Mama

Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.
Search similar movies
7.1
I+Remember+Mama
I Remember Mama

1948

Search similar movies
Thieves' Highway

Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfriend, Polly Faber. He learns, however, that his father was recently beaten and burglarized by mob-connected trucker Mike Figlia, and Nick resolves to get even. He partners with prostitute Rica, and together they go after Mike, all the while getting pulled further into the local crime underworld.
Search similar movies
7.2
Thieves%27+Highway
Thieves' Highway

1949

Search similar movies
Sita Sings the Blues

Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.
Search similar movies
6.9
Sita+Sings+the+Blues
Sita Sings the Blues

2008

Search similar movies
Time After Time

Writer H. G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to modern day San Francisco after the infamous serial killer steals his time machine to escape the 19th century.
Search similar movies
6.8
Time+After+Time
Time After Time

1979

Search similar movies
Cry Vengeance

Ex-cop Vic Barron crossed the wrong mobsters; his wife and child were killed and he was scarred, framed, and imprisoned. On release, Vic has but one desire, revenge on still-hiding Tino Morelli.
Search similar movies
5.9
Cry+Vengeance
Cry Vengeance

1954

Search similar movies
Hito Hata: Raise the Banner

The film looks back at the life of a man named Oda and other Japanese Americans through the decades as they face great challenges and joys living in the United States.
Search similar movies
Hito+Hata%3A+Raise+the+Banner
Hito Hata: Raise the Banner

1980

Search similar movies
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those who have harmed him.
Search similar movies
7.3
Rise+of+the+Planet+of+the+Apes
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011

Search similar movies