While the period of 1920s-30s was the golden age of Shanghai cinema, it was also the era in which actresses ruled supreme.

Whether it be in melodramas, comedies or kungfu movies, the popularity of women lead roles was unprecedented.

Actresses including Li Lili, Ruan Lingyu and Hu Die (Butterfly Hu), portrayed characters ranging from traditional housewives and labor women to prostitutes.

"Many women initially began their career as actress because their husbands were directors," says Wan Chuanfa, a Shanghai-based PhD student in film studies. "With the help of their husbands, many of them used the opportunity as a stepping stone to fame."

Actress Li did not have a director husband. Instead she started out as a member of a song and dance troupe where her bright, amicable personality caught the attention of directors who soon cast her in their films.

Born in Beijing, Li - whose original name was Qian Zhenzhen - migrated to Shanghai and went on to become one of Shanghai's most famous movie stars.

Her vibrant, yet gracefully, personality proved a winner with audiences.

"Li Lili's personality was very different in that she didn't play the role of a traditional housewife in movies. She had a sporty, energetic attitude, like in her movie 'Queen of Sports'," says Professor Chen Xihe, vice dean of Shanghai University's Film and Television School.

Li starred in more than 20 films during her career with some of the more popular productions including "The Little Toys" (1933), "The Highway" (1934) and "The Lost Pearl" (1937).

Actress Ruan was one of the most prominent Chinese movie stars of the 1930s and is still regarded as an icon.

Following a humble upbringing as a maid in a rich household, she received her first big break in "Reminiscences of Beijing" (1930) which was a major hit.

"Ruan Lingyu often portrayed herself in her movies," says Professor Chen. Most of the roles Ruan played featured her as a tender, loving young woman, often caught up in grim situations such as "The Peach Girl" (1931).

It was a tragic love story involving Ruan's character and a rich landlord's son whose relationship was not permitted because of their class disparity.

In "Little Toys" (1933) she played a tragic toy-making heroine who loses her son and struggles to compete with imported toys for survival.

"The Goddess" (1934) was a powerful film in which Ruan played a young mother forced into prostitution to support her son's education. Her performance in "The Goddess" epitomized her eloquent and emotional personality.

As a result of Ruan's fame, the media was obsessed with her personal life, an obsession which eventually led to Ruan taking her own life at the tender age of 24.