The Chinese Mirror

The Chinese Filmography: 1920-1922

    With its new equipment and staff training from Universal Pictures, the Commercial Press paved the way for China's newly-emerging industry at the start of the 1920s, with all seven Chinese productions released in 1920 from that one studio. 

Che Zhong Dao (1920) 车中盗 (Railway Robbers)
    Commercial Press.  Direction:  Ren Pengnian.  Screenplay:  Chen Chunsheng, adapted from an American detective story.  Cinematography:  Liao Enshou.  Cast:   Ding Yuanyi,  Ren Pengnian, Bao Guirong, Zhang Shouwu.

Note:  The actual English title of the source story is not recorded:  Chen Chunsheng later said he based his adaptation on an American detective story titled (in Chinese) 《火车行动》 ("The Railway Action") in a collection titled 《焦头烂额》, which might be translated as "Badly Battered" or "In a Big Fix".

    Two men recently released from prison for armed robbery overhear in a bar that on a certain day, the owner of an iron company will be traveling by train to his foundry carrying silver to be paid as wages.  They plot to steal the silver, and on the day, board the train and sit near the owner.  When the train stops at a small station, they seize the opportunity to grab his bag and flee the train.  They hide the loot in the cellar of a female accomplice.  The chief of police asks a famous detective to consult on the case.  He goes through many dangers, and with a clue provided by a girl flower seller, finds where the silver is hidden and brings the thieves to justice.

Chunxiang Nao Xue (1920) 春香闹学 (Chunxiang Disturbs the Studies)
    Commercial Press.  300m.  Direction:  Mei Lanfang.  Cinematography:  Liao Enshou.  Cast:  Mei Lanfang (Chunxiang), Yao Yuxiao (Du Liniang), Li Shoushan (Chen Zuiliang).
    Classical opera excerpt.  Magistrate Du, an important official, invites Chen Zuiliang, an old-style private tutor, to teach poetry and writing to Du's daughter Liniang and her companion, a girl named Chunxiang.  But Chunxiang is too fond of play, and when Mr. Chen criticizes her, instead of being ashamed she unexpectedly teases him.  This so angers the teacher he threatens to resign, but decides to stay after Liniang mollifies him with sweet talk.

Huang Shan De Jin (1920) 荒山得金 (Gold in the Wasteland)
    Commercial Press.  7 reels.  Action.  Direction:  Ren Pengnian.  Screenplay:  Chen Chunsheng.  Cinematography:  Liao Enshou.  Cast:  Zhang Shengwu (Song Jinlang), Bao Guirong (Liu Yichun), Hong Jingling (Liu Youquan), Wang Guilin (old man on neighboring boat).
    After bandits raid and destroy his family's home, a young man, Song Jinlang, becomes a drifter.  He is taken in by boatman Liu Youquan, who gives him a job.  The young man's work and concern for others so impresses everyone that he soon is married to the boss's daughter.  All is well until the bandits reach their area and begin preying upon the people who live along the river.  Jinlang draws on his own experience to lead the river people in resistance.  They trap the bandits in a cave and wipe them all out.

Li Da Shao (1920) 李大少 (The Li Family Scion)
    Commercial Press.  2 reels.  Direction:  Ren Pengnian.  Screenplay:  Chen Chunsheng.  Cinematography:  Liao Enshou.  Cast:  Ding Yuanyi, Zhang Shengwu, Bao Guirong, Hong Jingling. 

Meng Huitou (1920) 猛回头 (Sudden Turnaround)
    Commercial Press.  2 reels.  Direction:  Ren Pengnian.  Screenplay:  Chen Chunsheng.  Cinematography:  Liao Enshou.  Cast:  Ding Yuanyi, Bao Guirong, Zhang Shengwu.
    An unfilial son hears of the filial actions of another, which so moves him he resolves to mend his ways and becomes a filial son.

Pipa Ji (1920) 琵琶记 (Pipa Story)
    Commercial Press.  Unfinished.  Cast:  Zhou Yanfang, Wang Lingzhu.  Plot unavailable.

Tiannü San Hua (1920) 天女散花 (The Angel Scatters the Flowers)
    Commercial Press.  300m.  Direction:  Mei Lanfang.  Cinematography:  Liao Enshou.  Cast:  Mei Lanfang (the angel), Yao Yuxiao (the servant), Li Shoushan (Wei-Mo-Gu).
     Classical opera excerpt, based on a Buddhist story. 

A Bridge Too Far: Zhang Xinsheng (1923)

[below, in a scene from 'Zhang Xinsheng," Wang Xianzhai is at center, in dark glasses.  Click on image to enlarge]
 
    After the huge success of the previous year's "Yan Ruisheng," the Mingxing (Star) studio decided to follow up on its own hit from 1922,  "An Orphan Rescues his Grandfather," by bringing out another docudrama recreating a sensational true-life murder case.   It was fortunate for Mingxing that "Orphan," which actually saved the studio financially, came out prior to this one, because if the sequence of release was reversed it probably would have finished off the studio at that point.  Although the case had grasped the public's attention when it occurred, and the studio put its best on- and off-screen talent into making it, they exceeded the audience's tolerance limits.  The scenes of degradation and the victim's agonized death throes were too graphic, and the last straw was the recreation of the corpse's exhumation and autopsy:  people literally fled from the theater, and the film was withdrawn within a few days of its release.  Although it may seem strange to refer to a total failure as a "lost classic," this film actually holds a place in China's film history as one of its classic failures.

The Chinese Filmography: 1923

       By the mid-1920s, although still very much in an exploratory phase, China's young movie industry was sufficiently established that its studios were entering commercial competition.  At first glance the statistics would seem to indicate a fervor of filmmaking was sweeping the country:  during the five-year period from 1922-1926, 175 movie studios were established nationally, with more than 140 of these in Shanghai, which by then was well on its way to becoming China's Hollywood.  The rest were medium and small-scale companies scattered among the cities of Guangzhou, Beiping (now Beijing), Tianjin, Hangzhou and Shantou.  But in reality most of these startups were "filmmakers" in name only, and never actually made a motion picture.  The statistics also show that during that same five-year period China's studios collectively produced a total of 192 narrative films, including numbered sequels and shorts, and the great majority of these were from only a handful of established Shanghai studios.  In this regard, it is interesting to note that while the year's biggest hit was from the Mingxing studio, the most prolific studio was the Commercial Press Motion Picture Division.
    With this post we initiate an occasional series, The Chinese Filmography, citing noteworthy motion pictures from China's classical era, year by year.  These are films which may not merit in-depth articles, but are still notable in historical context, from major Shanghai studios, and made by the era's most important on- and off-screen filmmakers.  While the Chinese Mirror will of course continue to post full articles or retro reviews on the classic era's most historically significant Chinese movies, a section providing less detailed data should give a fuller picture of the era's output, much as our "Brief Biographies" category does for lesser, but still significant, filmmakers.

Dan Duyu and《The Sea Oath》(1922)

    As mentioned in the last post, China's first full-length feature film (and first docudrama), 1921's highly successful "Yan Ruisheng" was soon followed by two more full-length features, both also critically and financially successful, and each marking some Chinese cinematic "firsts" of its own.  This article discusses the second in this initial trio of full-length features, "Hai Shi" 海誓 (The Sea Oath).  In addition to being China's first screen romance, it also marked the appearance of the country's first filmmaking couple, director Dan Duyu 但杜宇and his leading lady (and later wife) Yin Mingzhu 殷明珠.
    No discussion of 1920s Chinese cinema would be complete without mention of Dan Duyu.   Although the term auteur filmmaking, referring to film as an expression of the director's personal creative vision, did not begin showing up in film theory literature until the 1950s, Dan Duyu was an early auteur practitioner, certainly China's first.  And while the term today most likely refers to a combination director-screenwriter, Dan Duyu went far beyond that, especially in his earliest movies.

[left, Dan Duyu in early career]

After《Yan Ruisheng》: 1922's《The Sea Oath》and《Women Skeletons》

Stories Longer in the Telling

    After the Commercial Press of Shanghai (CP) established its Motion Picture Division, the new venture's activities were not limited to its own productions:  it also made its advanced technology and facilities available to small-scale, independent film studios.  Of China’s first three full-length narrative films, all made in 1921, only 《Yan Ruisheng》was a CP production; the other two were made by independents, with CP technical assistance.

    Unlike earlier films like 《A Couple in Difficulty》,《Yan Ruisheng》, 《The Sea Oath》and 《Women Skeletons》[aka 《The Ten Sisters》 were more comparable to full-length foreign films of that time, and more intricately plotted, especially the semi-documentary 《Yan Ruisheng》, which proved a massive success with its accurate recreation of a sensational contemporary murder case.  The appearance of these three films is generally regarded as marking the end of Chinese cinema’s exploratory phase.

Lost Classic:《An Orphan Rescues his Grandfather》(1923)

      After turning out a sizable number of short films and a handful of full-length features, Chinese filmmaking formally entered its full-length feature stage in 1923 with the production of "An Orphan Rescues His Grandfather" (Guer Jiu Zu Ji) 孤儿救祖记).  In an earlier post, we discussed how this movie made its leading lady Wang Hanlun an overnight star; this time, we will talk about the film itself.

    Despite the success of the Mingxing film studio's first two productions, the aforementioned《A Laborer's Love》 and 《The King of Comedy Visits Shanghai》(Huaji Dawang You Hu Ji 滑稽大王游沪记), the latter a three reel comedy relating a fictional visit to China by Charlie Chaplin (never named as such, but obviously the subject), the studio's heads were well aware their struggling young company's survival could not be totally reliant on slapstick comedies.  So they followed other Shanghai studios in trying their hand at a full-length, non-comedy feature.

Retro Review:《A Laborer's Love》(1922)

The Oldest Survivor

    In 1922, the first year of its existence, the Mingxing (Star) Film Company made three short comic films, all written by Zheng Zhengqiu and directed by Zhang Shichuan.  The titles of these initial efforts were "The King of Comedy Visits Shanghai" (Huaji Dawang You Hu Ji 滑稽大王游沪记), "A Laborer's Love" (Laogong zhi Aiqing  劳工之爱情) and "Eerie Events in the Theater" (Da Nao Guai Juchang"大闹怪剧场).  The most significant thing about these is that 80-plus years after its making, "Laborer's Love" still survives, making it the oldest Chinese motion picture in existence.

    Unlike "A Couple in Difficulty," for which we have only second-hand sources to draw on, "A Laborer's Love" is a movie we can actually view, and from it draw our own impressions of what early Chinese cinema comedy was like.  Update:  the entire film, with English intertitles, is freely available at a Chinese online streaming site, after about a minute of commercials.