Stars: Orientation

The Skinny Monkey and the Little Black Ghost are boffo in Hong Kong.

They are big back home as well, but in the U.S. the stars go under far less appealing appellations. The monkey is Frank Sinatra, the ghost is Sammy Davis Jr.

The change of marquee names, according to Variety, is a vault over the East-West language barrier. Most Western names cannot be translated accurately into Chinese ideograms. Thus, like the old-style movie moguls, Hong Kong exhibitors simply change the billing to something that their audiences find catchy and attractive.

Ursula Andress, for example, is the Woman with the Most Beautiful Lines in the World. David Niven is the Mod el British Gentleman. Doris Day is advertised as the Freckle Queen. Warren Beatty, naturally, is the Film World's Flirtatious Boy.

Circumstances occasionally force distributors to change a name. Gary Grant, formerly the Fan's Lover, is now known as the Old Handsome Man. As a child star, Elizabeth Taylor was assigned two symbols signifying Jade (meaning beautiful) Girl. Later the second symbol was changed and she became Jade Woman. Still another calligraphic character was recently added. Hong Kong customers who go to The Comedians will now see the Fleshy Woman.