Red Heroine
Red Heroine was a smash hit on release and a prime example of the martial arts explosion of the late 20s (setting the template for later revivals), but with a crucial twist: in place of the typical, manly hero we have a swashbuckling woman. At first she’s a helpless abductee, then an unstoppable killing machine, fighting to stop a tyrannical warlord ravaging the countryside and enslaving numerous (very) scantily-clad young women.
From the archive
I've been researching newly public domain films from 1929 and earlier, along with other pictures of the era that I find interesting, so I'm uploading the best possible copies that I can find. As an early martial-arts film, Red Heroine has a lot to offer. It has fantasy elements, sword fighting, and plenty of special effects. While there doesn't seem to be much evidence of surviving reviews or box office returns, this film seems to have enough to offer that it was likely a hit on release. Though it is the highest quality picture I could find, this version has part of the picture cut off. Because of this, new English subtitles are burnt-in to the picture to translate what is off screen or frankly just poorly translated.
Why this is free to watch
Red Heroine (1929) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Internet Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Wen Yi-Min
- Starring
- Xuepeng Fan, Chu Shao-Chuen, Wen Yi-Min, Zhao Tai-Shan, Shang Guan-Wu, Qu Yi-Feng, Chuqin Wang, Guohui Xu
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