''Strange Portrait'' was a film shot in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1966. It was directed by Jeffrey Stone and starred

Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter (born Henry Herman McKinnies Jr.; November 25, 1926 – May 27, 1969) was an American film and television actor and producer known for his roles in films such as ''The Searchers'' and ''King of Kings (1961 film), King of Ki ...

Barbara Lee Barbara Jean Lee (; born July 16, 1946) is an American politician who has served as the 52nd mayor of Oakland since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Lee previously served as a United States House of Repr ...

Mai Tai Sing Mai Tai Sing (December 22, 1923 – July 11, 2018) was an American actress and businesswoman. Her acting credits include the TV series ''Hong Kong'', '' Forbidden'', and '' Strange Portrait''. Background She was born in Oakland, California as Ma ...

and Tina Hutchence. Stone and his wife went searching for a distributor, hoping to enter it into the

Asian Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific (FPA). The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first he ...

; however, the film was never released, with sources differing as to the reason. One report is that it was destroyed in a warehouse fire. Stone said the film was suppressed by the film studio at the behest of the Hong Kong government because of a scene featuring partial nudity. It is considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Synopsis

The film has been described as a "spooky thriller". Jeffrey Hunter played the role of Mark, an expat American and petty thief in Hong Kong who lives with his Chinese girlfriend (Barbara Lee). One day while watching a soccer game, a mansion catches his eye and he breaks into it. Whilst inside, he notices a portrait there that closely resembles him. The only person living in the mansion is a wealthy but insane woman (Mai Tai Sing). Mark finds out that the subject of the painting is actually her husband, who apparently deserted her years ago. He also discovers that she has an abundance of jewelry, and decides to woo her and pretend that he is her departed husband. While entering the mansion's walk-in

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

to steal the woman's jewelry, he is shocked to discover her husband's mummified corpse inside. The woman locks Mark inside the safe and then falls fatally down a staircase, leaving Mark to his doom.

Cast and crew

Jason Evers Jason Evers (born Herb Evers or Herbert Everin; January 2, 1922 – March 13, 2005) was an American actor. He was the star of the 1963 ABC television drama '' Channing''. Early life Evers was born either as Herbert Everberg or Herbert Everin ...

was the original choice for the lead role. He had to vacate the role in favor of a television pilot, ''Three for Danger''; thus the role was filled by Jeffrey Hunter even though his agent was not keen on the idea. At the time of filming, Jeffrey Hunter was in a relationship with Mai Tai Sing, a businesswoman who had acted in the television series ''

''. Patricia Hutchence, the makeup artist in this film, was the mother of

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

frontman

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 ...

. Her daughter Tina Hutchence, who had a role in the film, is Hutchence's half-sister. Barbara Lee, better known by her stage name

Barbara Yu Ling Barbara Lee (4 November 1933/1938 – 6 April 1997), who used the stage name Barbara Yu Ling, was a Singapore-born actress of stage, screen, and television who was based in Britain from the 1950s. One of the first Singaporean Chinese actresses t ...

, was the first Singaporean Chinese actress to achieve success in Europe. According to director Jeffrey Stone's memoirs, ''Strange Portrait'' was suppressed by the Hong Kong censors because of a scene Lee shared with Jeffrey Hunter in which her breasts were partially visible. Christina Stone, who played the part of a ballet dancer, was the wife of Jeffrey Stone. She was once married to cinema magnate Dato Loke Wan Tho.

Actors

as Mark * Tina Hutchence *

* Christina Stone * John WallaceOsobnosti.c
Strange Portrait
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Crew

* Jeffrey Stone – director & writer *

Terry Bourke Terry Christopher Bourke (19 April 1940 – 29 June 2002) was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, producer and director. He worked as a show business journalist and production assistant in Hong Kong for a number of years before returning t ...

– associate producer * Paul Lewis – music * Peter R. Hunt – editor * Patricia Hutchence – makeup artist * Peter MacGregor-Scott – assistant director

References

External links

*
Patricia Hutchence and Jeffrey Hunter on set

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strange Portrait 1966 films Singaporean crime drama films 1960s lost films Unreleased films 1960s English-language films 1966 crime drama films English-language crime drama films