Chor Yuen started his directorial career with a bang. From its very first image, The Natural Son establishes Chor as a filmmaker of stylistic flourish, which would be sustained in various forms throughout his long tenure. Adapted from '30 cents' pulp fiction, it is a Kong Ngee melodrama made in the studio's mould, with Westernised characters and trendy middle-class lifestyles. Yet, Chor's first film is not exempt from the social urgency that characterises the Cantonese cinema of his father, Cheung Wood-yau. The film cloaks its entertainment in a moral deliberation on blood ties, its story about the raising of a bastard child a head-on challenge of archaic family values. An ostentatious start for a colourful and eventful career.

Rascal To Chai-yan brings a false charge of selling fake medicine against doctor Fan Tin-sang, who is sentented to a twenty-year imprisonment. Fan makes an escape after a decade, and secretly provides for the education of his son Fuk-kwan brought up by a poor blacksmith. Fuk-kwan grows up to be a doctor practising in the country. To again does harm to Fuk-kwan, only this time Fan intervenes. Both he and To die in the fight.

Lee (Ng Cho-fan), who is the retired jewel thief the Black Cat Burglar, is suspected by the police in a string of burglaries. While fleeing from the police's search, he realises he can only prove his innocence by catching the new Cat in the act. Meanwhile, he is romantically caught in between a young girl from overseas and his goddaughter. As a Cantonese ripoff of Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955), this remake does not have the beautiful scenery from the French Riviera but is full of economical wonders. Director Wong Hang employs westernised filmmaking troops to enhance the film, making it outstanding from other Cantonese films of the same time. From high society gatherings to a hide-and-seek in a masquerade, the film demonstrates not only an elegant style but the versatility and adaptability of Cantonese films. Unlike Cary Grant, Ng Cho-fan manifests himself with a mysterious and artistic aura.

Iron-Beaked Hen and Fatso Bo on their way to the city to help a relative out of some trouble, they run into a band of robbers. They stop over an allegedly haunted house where they save the lovers To Lok-yin and Yu Mei-yung from their attemped suicide. Hen learn their story and decide to help them out. Yin comes from a rich family, he lost his father when he was very young and was brought up by his uncle. Now that he is old enough to claim his inheritance, the guardian, his uncle, in order to keep the fortune under control, forces him to marry a girl of his choosing. The couple cannot face separation and resolve to end their lives together. Hen thinks of a way to help them, which involves Yin pretending to comply; that is, to go ahead with the marriage arrangement. On the wedding day, they swap the bride with Yung. Disguised as a matchmaker and a county official respectively, Hen and Bo reprimand To's uncle who schemes to seize To's family fortune. To and Yu marry.

Hak-ming heads the Ko Family, but he and his brothers, Hak-ting and Hak-on, and the second wife of the late Master Ko quarrel. Young Cousin Mui, who has tuberculosis, is forced by to marry an older woman. Kok-sun is guilty of being unable to stop the marriage. Sun and maid Chui-wan are wary of their feelings for each other due to class difference. Cousin Mui dies of illness. Hak-ting has his eyes on Wan. His wife, Wong, complains to their daughter, Shuk-ching, who cannot take it and commits suicide. Wong blames herself for her death. Undergone these tragedies, Cousin Kam's mother let Kam have a modern wedding with Kok-man. When Ming is ill, Ting and On want to sell the ancestral home. Hak-ming dies of angst. When the fifth uncle of Sun forces Wan to be his concubine, Wan tries to kill herself but is intercepted by Sun. Pressurised by people of the house over the issue of inheritance, Sun protests by declaring his love for Wan and leaves the family, with his mother, brother Man and Wan.

"Family" (1953), which launched the Union Film legacy, "Spring" (1953) and "Autumn" (1954) are adaptations of Ba Jin's highly regarded novel "Torrent Trilogy". In "Family", director Ng Wui skilfully condenses the voluminous first part of the novel into an emotionally powerful and intellectually focused story of youngsters struggling to survive oppression and repression in a feudalistic family. This well-received film quickly established the company's reputation.

Though her marriage with rich businessman Chan Hak-lit is crumbling, Anna Poon refuses to accept her childhood sweetheart Wong Kei-shu's courtship. Anna's younger sister Mei-na has a crush on Shu and treats Lee Man coldly. When she sees Anna being with Shu, she taunts Anna with stealing who she likes. Anna is hurt and goes back to Chan's house. Chan holds a house party and invites business celebrities. Shu attends it and when tells Anna he loves her when they dance. Anna rejects him and tells him never to see her again. Chan goes to the racecourse. When Shu falls down from a horse, Anna faints. Chan asks Anna what her relationship with Shu is. He warns her not to have any wrongdoing and ruin his reputation. Shu is fine and asks Anna to meet for the last time. Anna cannot turn down him and goes to meets him. Lit miscomprehends the situation and files a divorce. He even forbids Anna to see their daughter. A distressed Anna becomes a victim of love in a conservative society.

Chan Siu-hung is forced to become a prostitute, with the police following hot on her heels. Ching Chi-ko comes to her defence by claiming to be her husband. Chan is put up at Ching's roof hut named the 'Seventh Heaven' and the two gradually fall in love. Soon the war breaks out. Ching is drafted to do hard labour by the Japanese army. When the war is over, the crippled Ching returns and lies to Chan that he is already a married man, hoping to persvade Chan to marry someone else. Nonetheless, Chan's devotion overwhelms Ching.

The Lok's family disperses when Japanese occupied China. Mrs. Lok's company prospers in Hong Kong. Her son Tin-yam looks after her business. She misses her daughter. Another daughter Chui-yin dates Kuk-tat. Mrs. Lok hopes that Tin-yam will find a good partner. Wan Yuk-yin works in Mrs. Lok's company and meets Tin-yam. They fall in love. Mrs. Lok asks Yuk-yin to leave Tin-yam. Facing his mother's objection, Tin-yam falls ill. Mrs. Lok let them marry. The wedding guests despised the bride, which makes Mrs. Lok uncomfortable. The couple lives happily, but Mrs. Lok and Chui-yin make Yuk-yin embarrassed. Kuk-tat covets the Loks' fortune. He steals their jewels. Mrs. Lok thinks Yuk-yin did it. Yuk-yin is innocent, but she is expelled. Tin-yam returns. Yuk-yin's parents seek justice at the Loks. Mrs. Lok's saw the Yuk-yin's birthmark. She realizes Yuk-yin is her lost daughter. Mrs. Lok decides to be a dutiful mother. Tin-yam is an adopted son of the Loks so the couple lives happily.

Poor teacher Chan Chi-hong, his wife Lee Yuk-mei and their five children survive on his meagre pay. When he is laid off by two schools in a row, the family runs into difficulties. The children resort to begging on the streets to pay the mother's medical bills. Turning to writing, Chan's novel fails to find a publisher and, worse still, he comes down with tuberculosis. Dealt a further blow by the death of the youngest daughter and the pressures from the loan sharks, Chan contemplates killing himself and his family but changes his mind when he witnesses the sacrifices made by other parents for their children. He vows to be a dutiful father and tries his best to overcome their adversities. His novel is finally published and sells well. Through thick and thin, the family at last sees the light at the end of the tunnel.