[In October, 1956, the China Film Press 中国电影出版社 of Beijing launched a new periodical, Zhongguo Dianying 中国电影 (Chinese Cinema). In addition to reviews and commentaries on current film, the new publication in each issue took a look back at China's motion picture history, including the first-person recollections of some pioneer filmmakers. These were collected and republished in book form by the China Film Press in 1988. While prowling one day through Beijing's many bookstalls, looking for materials on the early history of Chinese movies and the people who made them, the editor came across this out-of-print item that gives us some unique and valuable insights into China's early movie industry. These oral histories will be translated and published here in the hope they may prove useful to film scholars and historians in the West. Full bibliographic citation is given at the end of the article. Items in brackets, like this one, are Chinese Mirror editorial notes, provided for clarification. The subject of this first interview, Qian Huafo 钱化佛, while an accomplished actor who specialized in comic roles, achieved his greatest fame as an artist, one of China's foremost painters of the first half of the 20th century.]
[left, Qian Huafo in an undated newspaper photo]
I guess I'm qualified to talk about the Asia Film and Theater
Company, because I was involved in the making of nearly all of that
studio's films, either as an actor or writer. So here is what I know.
The studio had been started by an American named Benjamin Brodsky,
and another central figure in the business was an Englishman familiar
with the Chinese language. I never knew the Englishman's name:
everyone just called him "Blondie," (黄毛) so "Blondie" became his name
at the studio.
The company was set up with an investment of US$30,000, and was
located in a large building at No.5 Hong Kong Road in Shanghai. The
empty space had advertising on all the walls up to about 3 meters from
the ceiling, so we just covered one wall with a white sheet, and
considered that to be our movie stage.
Where did the actors come from? At first, they were people recommended by the Minming Society (民鸣社). Minming was a Beijing opera theatrical troupe organized by Zhang Shichuan, Zheng Zhengqiu and Li Huaishuang 李怀霜, 附设图画据报社. We had three people handling the photographic work: Xiong Songquan 熊松泉, Shen Pochen 沈泊尘 and Qian Binghe 钱病鹤 . The number of people coming over to us from Minming then was growing by the day, and the atmosphere was really exciting. Zhang Shichuan and Zheng Zhengqiu were also creating new scripts for the Minming Society's actors. We had more than 10 actors: Ding Chuhe丁楚鹤 , Yang Runshen 杨润身, Ma Qingfeng 马清风, Wang Bingseng 王病僧, Lu Ziqing 陆子青, Wang Xihua 王惜花, Zhang Shuangyi 张双宜, Guo Yongfu 郭咏馥, Hu Hensheng 胡恨生, Xu Shoumei许瘦梅, and me. Qian Binghe designed the sets, and Gu Laoda 顾老大 handled the curtain. Ticket sales were quite good, and we became a very well-known new theatrical troupe.
At that time, Isher and "Blondie" were living in the Kalee [Keli] Hotel 客利饭店, at the intersection of San Ma Road and Jiangxi Road. It was a prominent Western-style hotel, in a five-story foreign-style building. Isher had wanted to invest in making Chinese movies, but was stymied by the lack of Chinese actors. But by lucky chance, Zhang Shichuan had an uncle, Jing Runsan 经润三 , who was a comprador for a foreign insurance company in Shanghai. Jing often booked rooms in the Kalee Hotel, he knew some foreign language expressions, and in addition to that, Isher had an interpreter named Du Junchu 杜俊初 , so the two sides really had no barriers to their discussions. After some long days of talks, Isher and Blondie got to know [Jing] rather well and Isher gained confidence in him. So when Isher mentioned he needed Chinese actors if he was going to make movies in China, and [Jing] strongly recommended they seek out Zhang Shichuan and Zheng Zhengqiu's Minming theatrical company to fill their movie roles, Isher was very happy to hear this. So Jing Runsan asked Zhang and Zheng to join the negotiations, and they were delighted to do so. Originally, since stage performances were in the evening and filming was done in the daytime, there were no time conflicts and all the actors were able to participate and add to their income. The contract Zhang and Zheng signed with Isher raised everyone's pay, including their own, while the costs of making the films were to be borne by Isher. They insisted on the raises because the actors were unhappy with their low pay from Minming, each of us getting about 30-40 yuan apiece per month. So getting a deal like this, and on Isher's account, was no small achievement.
With the contract concluded, and everything ready, we started making our first film in the fall of the 2nd year of the Republic (1913). The stipulations were that we would show up every morning at 7:00 to start applying makeup, then filming would begin at 9:00. The only makeup we had was rouge and powder, nothing else. To save on expenses, our props and costumes were all taken from the Minming Society's supply. Zhang Shichuan was the director, Zheng Zhengqiu took on the writing responsibility, and Qian Binghe did all the art work. The sets were very crude, and cracks in the floor were covered as best we could. When a scene called for a clock on the wall, Qian just painted a clock face on it. Even when a modern-style chair was needed as a prop, it was decided that was too expensive, so a paper one was constructed as a substitute.
Outdoor scenes were filmed on the outskirts of the city, which also held costs down. The movies were silents, without titles, and each took about 4 to 5 days to complete. After each was finished it was exhibited in a small theater, a ticket costing one jiao [Chinese unit of currency, comparable to a dime], and because they were popular, business was very good. But the most important exhibiting locations were in Southeast Asia, mostly for the Overseas Chinese there, and that brought in a lot of income.
As the business developed, and to get some ideas, we began drawing on experienced actors from the New Stage theatrical company. At that time, New Stage was located on a street just off the Bund, and it was a new type of theater. In addition to performing Beijing opera, they also did newer, contemporary plays, like "Longhua Temple," "Noblewoman," "The Martyr Pan's Suicide by Drowning," and "Victims of Opium." "Victims of Opium" sold the most tickets, so much so that we began negotiations to move it to the screen. Negotiations relied on New Stage's close relationship with Zheng Zhengqiu. Zheng had once written an article for the "Min Li" newspaper which praised the new dramas, and singled out the New Stage company in particular, after which the theater had a 60-yuan per month increase in ticket sales. So its relationship with Zheng had become very close. He negotiated with New Stage's representative Xia Yueshan 夏月珊, and Yan offered to sell everything: the actors' salaries, the properties, scenery, as well as all its internal plans. The asking price was 30,000 yuan. This was a huge figure, so naturally Isher wanted to think it over. In the end, he decided that a play about a family's destruction by opium brought in by foreigners would be too critical of Western people, so he decided to drop the whole thing.
All the actors were men, no women, and all the female roles were played by men. I was a full-time clown, and so was Ding Chuhe. He later changed his name to Ding Guaiguai丁怪怪 and went out on his own as a single comedy act, but later on, when the Nationalist reactionaries were in control, he found life so unbearable he committed suicide. Yang Runshen was a fat man in his 40s, with the air of an old-style official, and was good at playing pompous bureaucrats. Ma Qingfeng was a Muslim in his 20s, very handsome. Wang Bingseng oversaw our making up, and if an actor playing a female role hadn't given enough attention to how he combed his hair, Wang would pretend to go crazy about it, running around madly. Lu Ziqing was in his 30s, with delicate features and a scholarly air. He's still living. Wang Xihua's father was an antique dealer in the city, so his life had been rather comfortable, and that was reflected in his bearing, which was confident and a bit overbearing. Zhang Shuangyi played shrewish women. Guo Yongfu specialized in playing ugly old crones. Hu Hensheng was delicate and exquisite, so always played young girls. Xu Shoumei had been a doctor of Chinese medicine, well-educated and a good writer, with a dignified manner, so played gentlemen.
[In the balance of the interview, Qian Huafo recounts the plots of the ten films completed by the Asia studio. Since all can be found in our 1913 filmography, they will not be repeated here.]
Source:
Qian, Huafo 钱华佛. "The Founding of the Asia Film and Theater Company,"
Zhongguo Dianying 中国电影 (Chinese Cinema), premier issue, October, 1956.
Reprinted in: Gankai hua dangnian 感慨话当年 (Recalling those years with a
sigh), by Wang, Hanlun, 王汉伦et al.. Beijing: China Film Press, 1988,
pp.1-6.
