The Black Rose (1965 film)

The sisters Chan Mei-Ling and Chan Mei-Yi steal from the rich, leaving behind a black rose as their calling card, and give help to the poor. At a masquerade ball at the Chans' home, Chan Mei-Ling dresses up as the Black Rose, explaining that it is merely a costume for the masquerade ball. The power suddenly goes out and a guest named Mr Li claims that a valuable sapphire has been stolen from him by the Black Rose. Mei-Yi dresses up in a Black Rose costume and overhears Mr Li scheming to obtain an insurance payout for the sapphire, so she holds him at gunpoint and forces him to give her the gemstone. Mr Li is unable to report the robbery because he has already reported the sapphire as being stolen in order to obtain the insurance payout. Mei-Yi warns him to start being an honest man and to stop smuggling, evading taxes and selling drugs or else the Black Rose will come back for him. When Mei-Ling returns home from distributing money in the slums, Mei-Yi takes her place and heads out to do good deeds. She gives money to a mother and child whose husband has died and fights off a gang of men who are harassing a woman. The next day, the two sisters entertain numerous wealthy male suitors and flirt with them to be given their money. Cheung Man-Fu, a private investigator from the Gold Star Insurance Company, arrives to investigate the theft of the sapphire. At that moment, the elderly Mr Yaung receives a phone call that the Black Rose has left a letter for him threatening to take his jade seal at midnight that night because it is a cultural artifact that belongs to the country. Mr Yeung then suffers an allergic reaction and must be wrapped in gauze and taken to his bed at home. He tells Cheung Man-Fu that he only ate a bowl of soup at the Miss Chan's house that day and gives him the combination to his safe so that Cheung Man-Fu can hold the jade seal in his safekeeping. Cheung Man-Fu puts the jade seal in his jacket pocket, and he and the police sergeant retire to the sitting room to wait for midnight, leaving Mr Yeung alone. Detective Ceng Ming proudly admires the multitude police officers stationed in and around the house, insisting that the Black Rose will never be able to enter. Detective Wong Sing says that he thinks that the Black Rose has already entered the house. Meanwhile, Mei-Yi dressed as the Black Rose examines a set of exterior glass doors leading into Mr Yeung's bedroom. Near midnight, Cheung Man-Fu proudly proclaims that the jade seal cannot be stolen and returns it to the hands of the bedridden Mr Yang. At precisely midnight, Mei-Yi dressed as the Black Rose is seen outside the glass door. The police open the glass doors to chase after her, leaving detective Ceng Ming to guard Mr Yeung by himself. Ceng Ming cautiously closes the glass doors and tightly grips a gun as he shakes in fear. The police chase the Black Rose through the woods and into a dilapidated house. There they find Mr Yeung tied up, who says that the Black Rose brought him there that afternoon. He asks about the jade seal, and Cheung Man-Fu realises that he has fallen for the Black Rose's trap. Back at Mr Yeung's home, the bandaged person in bed beckons Ceng Ming to come closer, then knocks him out. Removing the bandages, it is revealed to be the Mei-Ling, who ties up Ceng Ming and leaves him in bed in her place. Upon returning, Cheung Man-Fu notices a black hair on the bed and follows his intuition back to the home of the Chan sisters, where he sees Mei-Ling removing her Black Rose outfit. Cheung Man-Fu brings the police sergeant and several policemen to the home of the Chans and accuses Mei-Ling of being the Black Rose. The men search the home and find her Black Rose outfit, but she laughs and explains that it was a costume for the masquerade ball, which the police sergeant confirms. They suddenly receive a call that the Black Rose is robbing houses in the West District. Cheung Man-Fu notices that Mei-Yi is not around and demands to see her. They knock on Mei-Yi's bedroom door, where Mei-Yi answers. Cheung Man-Fu and the police leave, and Mei-Yi explains that she called the police herself after her robberies and then rushed home. The next day, Cheung Man-Fa follows a person who is drawing arrows on walls around the city. He eventually reaches the house where they found Mr Yeung. He is tricked into giving up his gun by Mei-Ling, who reveals that she and her sister are the Black Rose. The sisters tell him to leave and not interfere with their affairs, which he agrees to do. That night, Mei-Ling tells Cheung Man-Fa about the sisters' history as travelling circus performers whose father was framed by a corrupt politician, leading to his suicide and their mother's death of poverty and illness. The sisters then chose to adopt the persona of the Black Rose to combat injustice. Mei-Ling returns the jade seal to Cheung Man-Fa so that he will not be disgraced. Mei-Yi sneaks into the boot of Cheung Man-Fa's car and rides with him to Mr Li's home, where Cheung Man-Fa is knocked out by Mr Li and taken to a secret location where he stores his opium. Mr Li beats Cheun Man-Fa and demands to know the identity of the Black Rose. The sisters don their Black Rose outfits, break into Mr Li's house and force his wife to tell them where hr took Cheung Man-Fa. The sisters reach the secret location and confuse the kidnappers by shouting from and appearing in different locations. Together they distract the kidnappers long enough for the police to arrive, who discover the jade seal in Mr Li's bag as well as a discarded Black Rose outfit. The police arrest Mr Li and his men, accusing them of being behind the Black Rose's crimes. The next day, the sergeant apologises to the sisters for accusing them of being the Black Rose and states that he has now caught the real criminals responsible for the crimes. A subordinate then rushes in to tell him that the Black Rose was spotted committing thefts in the East District again the previous night. The sisters and Cheung Man-Fa tell each other that they hope to see each other again someday, then Cheung Man-Fa boards a train and leaves. ==Cast==