The Legend of the White Serpent

"Unique in its Depiction of the Magic and Enchantment of the Orient"

- English tagline

The Legend of the White Serpent 白夫人の妖恋 (Byakufujin no Yoren) is a 1956 tokusatsu fantasy romance film co-produced by Toho and Shaw Brothers. An adaptation of the Chinese stories Story of a White Snake and White Woman's Magic, it was released to Hong Kong theaters by Shaw Brothers on March 1957 and to Japanese theaters by Toho on June 22, 1956.

Plot
One rainy day, Hsu Hsien, a poor Chinese youth, lends his umbrella to beautiful Madam White. She falls in love with him and asks him to marry her, giving him a package of money to prepare for the wedding. Hsu Hsien is elated, but when he opens the package, to his horror, it is the sliver that has been stolen from a government warehouse the night before. He is arrested for the crime and exiled to Soochow. Madam White follows him there and the hate that has smoldered in his heart once again turns to love. They live happily together until Hsu Hsien discovers that Madam White is really the spirit of a snake. Shocked by the revelation; he takes refuge in a temple. But Madam White loves Hsu Hsien so much that she can not give him up and she goes to the temple and entreats him to return to her. When she realizes that he will never listen to her, she invokes her magic power and causes a flood and Hsu Hsien is on the verge of drowning. On seeing this, she relents but she is caught in a counter current and drowns. And now, though too late Hsu Hsien realizes how great was her love for him.

Characters

 * Madam White

Alternate titles

 * The Bewitched Love of Madame White (literal Japanese title)
 * Madame White Snake (United States)

Theatrical releases

 * Hong Kong - March 1957 (Mandarin dub); May 1957 (Cantonese dub)
 * Japan - July 5, 1956
 * United States - October 22, 1965

U.S. release
The Legend of the White Serpent was released theatrically in the United States by Frank Lee International on October 22, 1965, with English subtitles.

Video releases
Toho (2015)
 * Region: 2
 * Discs: 1
 * Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono)
 * Subtitles: Japanese
 * Notes: Released on July 15, 2015.

Trivia

 * Toho submitted the film to the US copyright office on December 29th, 1997 with the registration number PA0000889360. The film was submitted under its Romaji title, Byakufujin no Yoren, and its international title, The Legend of the White Serpent. The copyright registration was a multi-item claim. Toho also submitted Sudden Rain (1956), Rainy Night Duel (1956), A Wife's Heart (1956) and A House of a Geisha (1956) during the same registration process.
 * The film was the first period fantasy piece Toho produced after World War II. Mentioned in Age of the Gods (self-published).
 * Toho has co-produced many films with other companies. The Legend of the White Serpent is unique, though, as Toho and Shaw Brothers share the same logo title card at the start of the film rather than have one logo be shown after the other.