Founded in
1897 with only two printing presses, the Commercial Press of Shanghai had by
1912 grown into the unmatched publishing giant of China, with separate
editorial, printing and translating divisions, as well as a school and a
library, all housed in two gleaming new buildings. 
(left, the Commercial Press of Shanghai, circa 1920)
We don't have his name, but in the autumn of 1917 an American entrepreneur arrived in China with many boxes filled with negatives and motion picture camera parts, along with a sizable amount of start-up money. He settled his family in the city of Nanjing, and set up a film company there. Unfortunately, he was unfamiliar with Chinese customs and business methods, and unlike Benjamin Brodsky a few years earlier, was unable to find anyone to help him. After two years, he had depleted his capital without completing even one film. He fell ill, and decided to sell all his equipment at a loss for money to return home. But after some time passed with no buyers coming forward, he contacted a Chinese friend who worked at the Commercial Press, and invited him to Nanjing to discuss a possible deal. After looking over the equipment, the Chinese friend cabled his supervisors with details of the proposed deal, and they granted him permission to work out a deal on behalf of the firm. At a deep discount, the Commercial Press took possession of an old Camel brand Pathe camera, a quantity of negatives, and all furniture and miscellaneous items from the failed studio. The Press turned this equipment over to its photographic processing and printing department, and began the process of establishing a new section of the company for the express purpose of motion picture production.
To head the
new section, the Press hired Chen Chunsheng, editor of publications for the
Shanghai Christian Association. To
assist him, Chen had a young man named Ren Pengnian transferred from the
Press's binding department. Ren had
joined the company at the age of 16 as a trainee after graduating from a
technical school. Chen selected Ren, now
23, because the two were from the same home town, and because the younger man
was an opera buff involved in amateur dramatics, avocations Chen thought might
be useful. In April 1919, the new section
began trial production of a few short films, and in June, 1920, the company's
Board of Directors gave formal approval to establishment of the Motion Picture
Section.
At the
outset, company policy regarding the scope of the new section's role was somewhat
restricted: its primary mission was to
process films for China's embryonic film industry. The Press regarded cinema as an
"essential tool for the spread of education" and likened it "as
books are to a school: different things,
but with the same ends". Since its
films must "contribute to the education of society", the Commercial
Press would confine its filmmaking to such topics as "education, current
affairs and travelogues". In
keeping with this policy, the Motion Picture Section in its earliest days
confined itself largely to documentaries, but did turn out a few entertainment
shorts, either excerpts from Beijing operas or slapstick comedies.
However, the
Motion Picture Section took a radical turn in direction at the end of 1919,
when a film crew from Universal Pictures in Los Angeles arrived in Shanghai to
do location shooting for a 12-part film serial to be titled "The Dragon's
Net". In addition to China, the
Universal crew would be filming in the Phillipines and Japan, and director
Henry McRae (sometimes MacRae) wanted to have his film processed in Asia. As payment, McRae offered to take Motion
Picture Section staff along with his crew as observers and to receive on
location film training, and in addition offered to sell his equipment to the
Commercial Press at a low price when filming was completed. The Press's management accepted his offer,
and designated some individuals to travel with and be trained by the Universal
crew. Among these were Ren Pengnian,
mentioned earlier, and Liao Enshou, a technician in the photography
department. The two were assigned to
training as a director and cinematographer, respectively.
When their
film had been processed and their equipment turned over to the Chinese, the
American crew returned home, and episode 1 of "The Dragon's Net"
opened in the U.S. on August 23, 1920. No
copies of any of the episodes are known to exist today, but since the film was
adapted from a short story by pulp writer J. Allen Dunn, we do know the plot concerned
a search for eight golden lotus leaves, which when combined would complete a
puzzle unlocking the secrets of immortality. Marie Walcamp, frequently employed by McRae in silent adventure shorts,
was cast as the female lead. The young
heroine comes into rightful possession of one of the leaves, but is swindled
out of it before she learns its significance. With the help of a dashing male adventurer, played by Harlan Tucker,
she
sets out to recover it and the rest of the leaves. Director McRae was
proud of his efforts. On the eve of the serial's release, he told
the New York Times that "The Dragon's Net" was "not
filled with blood and thunder punches", but was actually "a scenic
travelogue and adventure thriller combined," and in making it he had laid particular
stress on accurately depicting Asian life and environment. (NY Times, 8/01/1920).
With
state-of-the-art cinematographic equipment and key American-trained staff as
the nucleus, the Commercial Press Board of Directors adopted a visionary
approach toward motion pictures. They recognized
that with fully qualified directors, actors, makeup artists, costumers, etc., backed
up by capable cinematographers and other technicians, movies had the potential
to become a true art form, an invaluable tool for realizing the publisher's
objective to educate society, moving far beyond the comic operas and slapstick
shorts China's infant film industry had concentrated on to that point. So in keeping with the company's educational
objectives, the Board of Directors dipped into the Commercial Press's substantial
funds to send more of its staff to the United States to learn the management
side of the movie business, as well as a sales representative to purchase even
more of the latest equipment available in the U.S. With these technical and skill advantages,
China's other movie entrepreneurs were forced to begin scrambling to catch up. China had a competitive film industry.
[right: Henry McRae (right, in hat) directing Marie Walcamp and Eddie Polo in 1916's 'Liberty' (Click on picture for larger image)
