CHINA: Little Meow

Chinese Cinemogul Yen is not given to Hollywood hyperbole like “sensational” and “terrific.” When he first signed the slinky, unknown actress Li Lihua, he told his friends simply: “I am setting out a beautiful tree that money drops from.” He was right. Li’s first movie packed them in. Last week her latest, The Barber Takes a Wife (TIME, Aug. 4), was breaking all Shanghai box-office records, giving every promise of being the biggest cinematic smash China had ever seen.

Li, who is known to her fans as Little Meow, spends five hours a day on her makeup. In other respects, she is as unlike a Hollywood actress as could be. A recent interview illustrates some of the differences. “What do you think of the love letters written you by admirers?” the reporter asked. “They are funny,” said Li.

“How do you feel about getting older and older?” he continued.

“I am glad of it,” she said.

“When do you prefer to die?”

“I hope I shall die when I am old, and at a place unknown.”

“When you tell lies, are you happy or not?”

“I am unhappy.”

“What is your habit word, the word you utter unguardedly?”

” ‘Obnoxious.’ ”

“Whom do you admire most?”

“Confucius.”

“Do you think you have defects to your physical beauty?”

“No.”

“Which part of your face gives you most trouble in your make-up?”

“Eyebrows.”

“What news in the papers do you read first?”

“News that concerns me.”

Recently an old woman turned up at Li’s studio claiming to be her real mother. Li’s other mother, she said, had only adopted her. “In my circle,” said Little Meow, “there are many people who know all about me. You can ask them how big my mother’s stomach was.”