The Chinese Mirror

《An Orphan's Cry》(1925) and the first woman director

[left, China's first woman director, Xie Caizhen]

    Not much is recorded about this early call for women's rights, a minor Shanghai studio's only production.  But it still is of historical significance, as leading lady Xie Caizhen also directed the film, making her the first female director in Chinese motion picture history.  Although I have been unable to find any personal information about her, she was a frequent supporting player for Dan Duyu's Shanghai Shadow Play Company in the early 1920s, with at least one credited role in《Back Home From the City》(1925).

Guchu Beisheng (1925) 孤雏悲声 (An Orphan's Cry)
literal English title:  Pitiful Cry of the Lonely Bird 

    Nan Xing (Southern Star).  B&W.  Silent.  9 reels.  Premiered December 20, 1925 at the Victoria Theater. Direction:  Xie Caizhen.  Screenplay:  Lu Zutong.  Cast:  Xie Caizhen, Jiang Zhipeng, Yu Yunqing.

   A domestic tragedy, highlighting the struggles of women oppressed by traditional feudalism, and strongly advocating for social change.

 

[left, Xie Caizhen in a scene from her self-directed film]

《The Stormy Night》(1925)

    This would appear at first to be another of the movies, so popular in the mid-1920s, that warned of the dangers to domestic tranquility when husbands are dominated by their wives.  But reading the plot synopses in Chinese written sources suggests that rather than another moralistic bit of preaching, this lost film might have been an early comedy of the non-slapstick variety, in this case a comedy of errors. Therefore I have classed it in the genre of comedy, although I am uncertain of that.

Fengyu zhi Ye (1925) 风雨之夜 (The Stormy Night)

    Dazhonghua Baihe.  B&W.  Silent.  9 reels.  Direction and Screenplay:  Zhu Shouzhu, adapted from the short story of the same title by Chen Baichen 陈白尘 (1908-1994).  Cinematography:  Zhou Shimu.  Cast:  Wang Yingzhi (Yu Jiaju), Han Yunzhen (Yu's wife, Madam Zhuang), Wang Guiqi (Jiaonuo), Wei Wei (Sun Naiwen), Wang Xieyan (Aunt Yu), Bao Mengjiao (Bian Ziming), Yang Jingwo (Yujie), Zhou Wenzhu (Yuqing), Yan Bingheng (Qian Dawei).

[left, a poster advertising this film, featuring Han Yunzhen glaring daggers at someone, probably her husband.  It is one of the first to carry an English title along with the Chinese]    
    Madame Zhuang, the wife of novelist Yu Jiaju, loves the good life:  she spends a lot, dresses well, and has a good social life, entertaining often.  This puts a strain on Jiaju's limited finances.  But he can't deny her anything, so to increase his income he takes on another job, which leads to overwork and exhaustion that make him sick.  To  recuperate he takes his wife and their daughter Jiaonuo to a rural village, where they rent a home next to a Taoist temple.  But after only a few days there, Madame Zhuang misses her previous lifestyle so much that she leaves and returns alone to the city.  After she leaves, the daughter becomes friends with Yuqing, the second daughter of one of the priests.  This development is greatly appreciated by her father, since it keeps his daughter from becoming lonely.  Through her new friend, the writer's daughter meets Dawei, a local boy and the romantic target of the priest's elder daughter Yujie.  Through a misunderstanding one stormy night, Jiaonuo is thought to be involved with Dawei, which disrupts her friendship and brings Madame Zhuang hurrying back to the countryside to break up what she views as an unacceptable mismatch.  She also berates her husband for his apparent lack of control over their daughter.  But after much arguing and explaining back and forth, the truth comes out and matters are straightened out.  The father having recovered his health, the family returns to the city but Jiaju remains as henpecked as ever. 

 

1925: Taiwan Gets Into the Game

    Until now, we have not mentioned any filmmaking activity on Taiwan, although there was a little.  China's island province of Taiwan was ceded to the Empire of Japan by the Qing (Manchu) Empire in the Treaty of Shimonoseki following the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, after which Taiwan was a Japanese colony until the end of World War II in 1945.  In the early 1920s, a few Japanese filmmakers took advantage of the island's scenic beauty to film some location scenes there for their own productions.  The first film made entirely in Taiwan was a 1923 short fiction film titled《An Unfeeling God》(alternate title:《Cowherd》).  Produced by the Film Department of the Taiwan Daily News, it was a paean to the Japanese occupation and colonization of the island.  However, because none of the filmmaker credits have survived, it is not regarded as the first "Taiwan" movie.

    The film which is considered Taiwan's first domestic production is this 1925 melodrama, and all the names in the credits are indeed Chinese.  Taiwan and Chinese sources (at least the ones I have found) list it as the first Taiwan feature film "made solely by Taiwanese."  However, the only surviving photo related to the movie suggests there was foreign (i.e. Western) involvement, in some aspect.  In the group photo which accompanies this article, at least three of the subjects appear to be Caucasian:  the woman at center right, in white blouse and wearing a hat; the fair-haired young man directly behind her; and the bearded young man two places over from him.  Who these people were, what was their ethnicity, and what role they played in the film's production remain unknown.  What is known is that this first production was a financial failure, as was another attempt the following year, effectively ending Taiwan efforts for the rest of the decade.

Shui zhi Guo (1925) 谁之过 (Whose Fault?)

    Taiwan Dianyin Yanjiu Hui.  (Taiwan Film Research Association).  B&W.  Silent.  8 reels.  Premiered September 9, 1925 at the Yongle Theater in Taipei, Taiwan.  Producer:  Li Songfeng.  Direction and Screenplay:  Liu Xiyang.  Cinematography:  Li Songfeng.  Cast:  Liu Xiyang, Lian Yunxian.

    A young couple, very much in love, have their relationship interrupted by a wealthy playboy who wants the girl for himself.  The playboy hires a thug to get her away from the young man, but in a reversal of fortune, the thug is so dazzled by the girl's beauty that he beats up the playboy and abducts the girl for himself.  In the end, she is rescued by her true love and they are reunited at last.

[left, those involved with making Taiwan's first cinema production gathered for a group photo.  Click on image to view full size. ]

《Past Loves》(1925)

Qian Qing (1925) 前情 (Past Loves)

    Baihe.  B&W.  Silent.  5 reels.  Direction and Screenplay:  Zhu Shouju.  Cinematography:  Zhou Shimu. Cast: Wang Yingzhi, Wang Xiuying.

    The surviving written records regarding this film do not indicate clearly what genre it falls under, but while it could be a domestic drama about a couple's temptations to cheat on each other with their old flames, the situations described suggest it could also be a comedy.  Perhaps both:  a "dramedy" or seriocomedy.

    When a woman named Qin Bofang receives word that her sister in Shanghai is ill, she takes a train there to visit her, accompanied by her husband Xi Heren.  After arriving, they check into a hotel, and the wife leaves to visit her sister.  As the husband sits by himself in the hotel room, his memory wanders back to when he was living in Shanghai, and had a pretty girl friend he wanted to marry.  But when her father refused his permission, the couple were forced to part, and he returned to his native village where he met and married his present wife.  Since that time he and his old love had no contact, but now revisiting the city stirs his long-forgotten emotions and he wonders what became of her.  He looks in the telephone directory and finds her number is unchanged, so he calls it.  She is not at home, but he is happy to hear she is safe and sound.  As he calculates how long his wife might be away, she telephones to say her sister has greatly improved, so the couple can return home.  He is a bit unhappy at this development, but prepares to return.  Just then, he gets a phone call from his old girl friend.  Not knowing he was now married, she thinks he has come to Shanghai specifically to see her, and to again propose marriage.  He is uncertain how to handle this development, and as he thinks it over, there is a knock at the door.  He opens it to find an strange, ugly woman standing there.  She greets him by name, then enters and embraces him.  He is amazed that this unattractive woman is the girl he once loved.  She tells him that bitterness and anger over the breakup of their former relationship led to her no longer taking care of herself, aging her prematurely and destroying the beauty she once had.  He shows her his wife's photo and hastens to tell her he is now married, and that his phone call to her was not made with romantic intent.  The woman does not believe him at first, but he is at last able to persuade her to leave.  Not long after she goes, there is another knock at the door, and it turns out to be his wife Madam Qin, who says she has a confession to make.  Three years earlier, she had fallen deeply in love with a Shanghai man who turned out to be married.  With no prospects of a future with him, she returned to the village where she later met and married Mr. Xi.   She had recently received a letter from her past love, telling her his wife had died, and asking to see her again.  Her sister's "illness" was a lie, just an excuse to see her old lover once more.  But when she met him, she discovered that since his wife's death her onetime love had become a drunk and a frequent patron of brothels.  After she tells her husband this, he tells her of what happened while she was gone from the hotel.  The couple sit in wonder at each other's story, and at last decide to enjoy their visit as best they can, then return home.   

[right, a bit sadder but wiser about their relationship, a couple treat themselves to dinner at a restaurant]

《A Filial Daughter's Revenge》(1925)

Xiao Nü Fuchou Ji (1925) 孝女复仇记 (A Filial Daughter's Revenge)

    Baihe.  B&W.  Silent.  8 reels.  Premiered in Shanghai in 1925, exact date and venue not recorded.  Screenplay:  Guan Haifeng.  Cinematography:  Zhou Shimu.  Cast:  Lu Jianfen (Madame Hu), Liu Jinbiao (Captain Liu Biao), Wang Yingzhi (Wang Mou).

[right, program notes cover for the film]

    A tale of revenge, served with a moralizing message of filial piety. In a certain province, the governing warlord general's most trusted confidant is Captain Liu Biao, so he appoints Liu commander of the general's personal bodyguard. Captain Liu has recently married, and this promotion coming so soon after the wedding would seem to make his happiness complete. One evening, as Liu and his bride Madame Hu are relaxing at home, they receive an unexpected caller, retired officer Wang Mou. Wang was the captain's predecessor as commander of the bodyguard, and during his visit Wang tells them he has returned at the request of the general, with the mission of finding the warlord a beautiful girl he can take as his concubine. A few days later, Madame Hu receives a letter informing her that her mother is critically ill. The captain of course tells his wife to return at once to her native province, and she leaves. Not long after her departure, Wang Mou reports to the general he has found a beauty the general should find to his liking, and when they are introduced the warlord is delighted with the beautiful and sexy young woman, so he chooses an auspicious day for the wedding. Following the ceremony and a lavish wedding banquet, the general and his bride withdraw to the bridal chamber. But to the warlord's shock, his bride pulls a dagger from beneath her wedding gown and stabs him to death. She flees through a window, but Captain Liu, on watch outside, hears the commotion inside the chamber and chases her. He overtakes the assassin and places her under arrest.    

    The next day, a military tribunal is convened, at which the murderess is brought to trial. To the shock of the court, the accused removes her wig and her elaborate makeup to reveal herself as Captain Liu's own beloved wife, Madame Hu. She freely admits to killing the general, and declares her motive was filial piety. Years before, near the end of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, her father had been an important figure in the Democratic Party, a revolutionary group working for overthrow of the Qing government. Her father and the future warlord had been close colleagues in the organization, but out of greed and a lust for power the latter had sold out his friends, with the result that her father was captured and executed by government forces. As she grew up, the daughter had plotted to avenge her father, and she had married Captain Liu in order to get close to the warlord. Her chance came when she learned Wang Mou was seeking a concubine for the general, so she forged the letter calling for her return home, giving herself the opportunity to disappear for a time. In disguise, she presented herself to Wang Mou as an eligible young candidate for the warlord's desires. Alone with him in the bridal chamber, she at last fulfilled her filial mission of avenging her father.

《Who is the Mother?》(1925)

Shui Shi Muqin? (1925) 谁是母亲 (Who is the Mother?)
alternate title:  Sishengzi (1925) 私生子 (The Illegitimate Son)

    Da Zhongguo (Great China).  B&W.  Silent.  9 reels.  Direction:  Gu Wuwei.  Screenplay:  Xia Chifeng, based on the French play《Le Fils naturel》(The Illegitimate Son) by Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824-1895).  Cinematography:  Bu Wancang.  Program notes:  Zhu Shuangyun.  Cast:  Lin Ruxin (Sun Fanglan), Liu Yushan (Sun Zhenpeng), Ye Wenying (Sun Yunlan), Gu Wuwei (Shi Zhixin), Gu Baolian (the illegitimate son), Zhang Xiaotian (Ye Guoying), Chen Qiufeng (Zhou Mulian), Zhao Xiaofei (Zhou Shugong), Wang Wanru (Mulian's mother), Zhu Jianling (Wang Bosheng), Zhang Feiwo (Bosheng's father), Wang Juru (Bosheng's mother), Weng Meiqian (old woman Zhang), Chen Yechan (blind man), Wang Mengshi (county official), Wang Mengsheng (doctor's assistant), Chen Huifang (Zhang Yunsheng), Wang Yanbing (mistress).

    The elder of two sisters has an illegitimate child, and in order to protect her sister's reputation the younger sister publicly acknowledges the child as hers.  From this, the younger sister suffers a great deal of humiliation and mistreatment, and ultimately expulsion from her family.  Alone and helpless, her life in ruins, she goes to the seacoast to commit suicide.  The elder sister follows and at last finds her.  The two sisters hold each other and want to cry, but have no tears.  
 
[right, a family admires its youngest member, while also condemning his mother] 

    This was an ethical film about family issues, touching upon the ideas of filial piety and sisterhood.  When the younger sister ruins her own reputation and pays a huge price for her elder sister, she bases her actions not on instructions from ancestors or family regulations, but totally on love.  By sacrificing herself to protect her sister, the younger sister was actually challenging the old feudal code of ethics, which would have mandated that she join her family in condemning the sister who was the actual mother.

    An interesting bit of casting was that of the illegitimate son:  the role was acted by Gu Baolian, actor/director Gu Wuwei's 4-years old daughter and in her first movie.  She went on to a good acting career, particularly on the stage. 

《A Home Truth》(1925)

    As noted in earlier posts, 1920s Chinese cinema was dominated by three genres:  first, comedy shorts (mostly slapstick) imitative of the American comedies of Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, etc.  As Chinese productions transitioned from shorts to full length features, "mandarin ducks and butterflies" romances became dominant, and toward the end of the decade martial arts fantasies became the mania.  While the titles credited with touching off that mania are the entries in the《Burning of Red Lotus Temple》series, there were earlier martial arts films, which while often popular, never achieved the heights of success that the《Burning》series did.  One popular entry was this early 1925 release that seemed to have something for everyone:  it was a romance co-starring the athletic action hero Zhang Huichong and his real-life wife and frequent leading lady Xu Sue; it was a crime film, with a cruel murder and a frame-up of the hero; and it was an action film, giving Zhang ample opportunity to show off his fighting skills.  Before Zhang Huichong went into full-time filmmaking he was an officer in the Chinese merchant marine, and in several of his films his characters were also former sailors.  This film continued that trend.  

Qing Hai Fengbo (1925) 情海风波 (A Home Truth)

    Lianhe.  B&W.  Silent.  Premiered January 17, 1925 at the Carlton Theater in Shanghai.  Direction:  Zhang Huichong.  Screenplay:  Wu Baoying.  Cinematography:  Xu Wenrong.  Principal cast:  Zhang Huichong (Di Zhiguang), Xu Sue (Rong Ruyue), Zhang Meilie.

    When her husband dies at an early age, a young widow is left to raise the couple's son by herself.  She does a good job and the boy, Di Zhiguang, grows up to become a naval academy graduate and ship captain.  But when the political situation grows turbulent, he leaves the service and returns home, where he meets and falls in love with Rong Ruyue, a local girl of good family who lives with her own widowed mother, Madame Gu.  But when the young couple express their desire to marry, the very traditional Madame Gu forbids it, in the belief that marital choice is wrong.  For some time, a wealthy but frivolous cousin of Ruyue named Hu Litu has wanted the girl for his wife, and through currying favor with Madame Gu by bringing her gifts of money and goods, he has obtained her promise to give no one but him permission to marry her daughter.  Ruyue has steadfastly opposed this marriage, even more so after meeting Zhiguang.

[right, a young woman (Xu Sue) begins to appreciate her own beauty when she finds true love.  Click on images to view full size.)

    So Zhiguang and Ruyue take to meeting secretly.  One evening, as they are sitting on some rocks by the seacoast talking of love, they are discovered by Hu Litu.  Overcome with jealousy, he goes to Madame Gu and tells her of this.  Furious, Madame Gu goes to the young couple, curses Zhiguang, and drags her daughter home.  Zhiguang is upset, and in his frustration and anger he strikes Litu, knocking him down.  Just before Madame Gu had burst on the scene, as Zhigguang and Ruyue were sitting and talking, they had been about to cut up some pears to snack on, and in the ensuing commotion the pears and knife were dropped to the ground.  After Litu is knocked down, he sees the knife, picks it up and, seeing Zhiguang's name on the handle hatches an evil trap for his rival. 

[left, lovers are forced into clandestine meetings.  Zhang Huichong and Xu Sue]

    Late that night, he goes to Ruyue's home, scales the wall and sneaks into the house where he stabs Madame Gu to death, leaving the knife next to the corpse before he flees the scene of the crime.  Investigators find the knife and immediately arrest Zhiguang, charging him with manslaughter.  Although Zhiguang vigorously denies the charge, he has no evidence to clear himself.  Ruyue knows he is innocent, but each time she visits him, the two can only sit in silent sorrow.  Worry about her son causes Zhiguang's mother to fall ill, and as her condition worsens, she begs to see her son one last time.  Ruyue goes to the jail to plead for his release, and the warder, who had once received a kindness from Ruyue's father, agrees to release Zhiguang on his own recognizance.  Zhiguang races to his mother's bedside and embraces her, holding her and crying until she at last dies in his arms.  After the mother dies, Ruyue persuades Zhiguang to take this opportunity to escape. During his flight, the police pursue him for over 100 li [about 30 miles], and during the chase he has several struggles with the police, finally jumping into the sea to shake them off.  After his escape, Zhiguang changes his name and exiles himself to a rural area, and it is several months before he contacts Ruyue, who has been distraught since Zhiguang fled. 

    Hu Litu, meanwhile, renews his pursuit of the girl, often bringing her clothing and jewelry, which she steadily refuses to accept.  At last he attempts to force himself on Ruyue, kissing her, but she yells for a servant who comes to her aid and drives Litu from the home.  Giving up on ever winning Ruyue, Litu seeks and finds a new love.  But this woman turns out to have even looser morals than his, and after they marry he finds she continues to have other sex partners.  He finds out where she is having a tryst, and taking a pistol, surprises her with one of her illicit lovers.  But as the two men struggle over the gun, it goes off, mortally wounding Hu Litu.  As he lays dying, he tells detectives that he wants to get something off his conscience, and confesses to having murdered Ruyue's mother Madame Gu and framing Zhiguang for it.  The next day, the newspapers publish the story of Hu's confession and Zhiguang's innocence.  This publicity prompts Zhiguang to return from the countryside and stand trial.  He is quickly acquitted.  After this, the couple pay the money to get the warder out of trouble for freeing Zhiguang, then they marry and look forward to a new life together. 

《A Fatal Love》(1925)

Qingtian Jie (1925) 情天劫 (A Fatal Love)
alternate title:  Du Juan Xuelei (1925)  杜鹃血泪 (Du Juan's Sorrow)

    Commercial Press Motion Picture Div.  B&W.  Silent.  10 reels.  Premiered December 6, 1925 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai.  Direction:  Ren Pengnian.  Screenplay:  Dong Xuexue.  Cinematography:  Liao Enshou, Yu Maoting.  Cast:  Wang Fuqing (Tao Xinyi), Ren Aizhu (Shi Xiangjun), Wu Lizhu (Shi Xiangyun), Bao Guirong (Qian Xinfu), Chen Jinping (Mother Tao), Man Yaxiang (Du Juan), Chen Baoshan (Zhu Jitang), Wu Wansheng (Pan Songge), Hong Jingling (Huang Shaoqing), Chai Xiaoyun (Wang Zipan), Weng Xiaxian (Mother Du).

    Writer Tao Xinyi earns a modest living, but his wife craves a luxurious lifestyle, so she leaves him to become a wealthy man's concubine.  The writer then meets a young woman named Du Juan, and they fall in love.  But malevolent forces keep putting barriers in their way, and in the end they both die of sorrow. 

《Heroine Li Feifei》(1925) and "Shuomingshu"

    No one has asked me, but a question that could be raised is:  "Since such a large percentage of Chinese films of the classic era have been lost, including an estimated 95% of the silents, how can these lost films be reconstructed in such sources as The Chinese Mirror, and often in such considerable detail?"  The answer is:  by drawing on the multiple printed and online Chinese sources which relate the films' plot synopses, and cast listings as they were presented on screen.  But this begs the question, "So where do they get their information?"  In many cases, the answer is from archived shuomingshu (说明书), invaluable documents for the Chinese film historian.

    To clarify what these were, a brief lesson in the Chinese language may help.  If one consults a modern Chinese-English dictionary, the usual definitions of shuomingshu that first turn up are "reference book," "manual" or "guide."  For example, if you acquire an appliance or an electronic device, it usually comes with a booklet telling you in some detail how to set it up, operate and maintain it.  That booklet in the modern sense is a user's manual, in Chinese a shuomingshu.  But the classic meaning of the term is somewhat different:  the basic meaning of shuoming (说明) is "explain," and while shu (书) is most often used to mean "book," its basic meaning is "document."  So a shuomingshu, in its most fundamental sense, is an "explanatory document."  I have found no standard English translation for shuomingshu when applied to movies, but they remind me of the "playbills" or "program notes" handed out to audiences attending stage productions in the West, except that the Chinese version carried plot synopses, telling the filmgoers much (or all) of what would happen in the movie.  So without a standard definition, I have chosen in my filmography plot synopses to use the more modern Western expression "program notes" as my translation for shuomingshu.

    Like the films themselves, the earliest program notes were imported into China by Western movie companies.  At first these were in the same foreign languages as the films they accompanied, but soon were being printed in Chinese, a way of increasing Chinese audiences' interest in attending foreign movies.  Chinese filmmakers soon began issuing program notes for their own movies, and by the time China's classic film era was reaching its peak, almost every movie was accompanied by one of these publications, many of them free of charge but sometimes sold at very low prices.  They ranged from single sheets of paper having only a short statement of introduction, to relatively elaborate multi-page pamphlets.  The latter, heavily subsidized by advertising, were illustrated and beautifully printed, and sometimes even contained the entire script of the film.  It was not uncommon for someone who had enjoyed a particular film to keep the program notes document and affix it to a wall at home as a keepsake, a memento of a pleasant afternoon or evening's entertainment.  It is fortunate they did so, for such private contributions have enriched the collections of these documents at motion picture archives in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei, and today these aged and yellowed documents are a rich and invaluable source for researching the history of Chinese film.

    Program notes are especially useful for information on those films which, while perhaps popular at the time, are not usually listed in standard Chinese movie histories and reference works as being classics, or included on "best" lists, etc.  An example of a successful "non-classic" is this early silent, a hybrid of two popular 1920s genres.

    This 1925 production featuring a flying heroine interceding to save two lovers' romance and eventual marriage was popular with audiences, but is not usually listed by historians as being among the landmark films of its era.  It's plot was nothing unusual, a standard "mandarin ducks and butterflies" romance of two young lovers breaking up because of a jealous third party creating a misunderstanding between them, with all turning out well in the end.  It's popularity at the time derived largely from, first, its casting:  it co-starred Fen Juhua and Lin Yongrong, two very popular opera performers of the day, and included over a dozen of the Tianyi studio's top talent in supporting roles.  Second, although wire work to give the appearance of flying was not new, this is generally regarded as the first film to feature a flying female.  While not a martial arts film as we think of the term today, Chinese movie historians classify it as one of the pioneer films of that genre because of the flying heroine.  A variation from other films of the time is its treatment of the practice of arranged marriage:  usually an inequitable burden imposed on the couple, in this instance it was something they readily accepted.

    Chinese sources disagree as to the film's actual premiere date, varying from December 16, 1925 to January 1, 1926.

Nüxia Li Feifei (1925) 女侠李飞飞 (Heroine Li Feifei)

    Tianyi.  B&W.  Silent.  10 reels.  Direction:  Shao Zuiweng.  Screenplay:  Shao Cunren, Gao Lihen.  Cinematography:  Xu Shaoyu.  Principal cast:  Fen Juhua (Li Feifei), Lin Yongrong (Hong Yulin), Wu Suxin (Guo Huizhu), Wei Pengfei (Zhang Shen), Gao Lihen (Chen Shu'an, the matchmaker), Tan Zhiyuan (Guo Houzhai), Zhang Dagong (Jiang Yimin).  Also:  Fu Shusheng, Zhang Lingli, Ding Huashi, Zhou Kongkong.  

[left, the original program notes for《Heroine Li Feifei》carried only drawings of the principals, along with cast lisitings]   

    A wealthy man named Hong is obsessed with respectability and his family's public image, so much so that he strictly controls their activities and appearance.  As he ages, Hong wants before he dies to see his son and heir Yulin married, so arranges for a matchmaker to find the young man a bride.  He wants the bride-elect to be a suitable consort for his son, a respectable young man who will someday be a leader in the community, honorably carrying on the family's name.  So Hong demands the girl selected also be of good family, virtuous and innocent without even a suggestion of scandal about her.  A businessman named Guo Houzhai has a beautiful daughter, a student named Huizhu, and a match is made.  Although an arranged marriage is not of the young couple's own choosing, on their first meeting the two are very impressed with each other, and agree to the match.  One person not at all happy about it is Jiang Yimin, a classmate of Huizhu who had been courting her without success.  Consumed with jealousy at missing out, Jiang begins stalking the young woman, hoping to find something which will break up the engagement.

[But when the film proved to be more successful than expected, a more elaborate and detailed version was issued. Heroine Fen Juhua is at the center, with Wu Suxin above her (at noon) and leading man Lin Yongrong at one o'clock .  The entire film synopsis is presented.]

    One day when his father is away on business, Yulin is out dressed in casual clothes, rather than the business suit and tie he usually wears in public.  By chance, he runs into Huizhu on the street, and they stop for a chat.  While they are talking, Jiang covertly takes a photograph of the two together, but with Yulin only seen from the back, his face not shown.  Jiang then sends the photo to the elder Mr. Hong, with an anonymous cover letter claiming it is proof Huizhu is a tart who talks with strange and lower class men on the street, and not at all the demure and respectable young woman she claims.  The father angrily sends a message to Huizhu and her father breaking off the engagement, and forbids his son from ever seeing her again.  Since he doesn't explain his actions, the confused and distraught girl attempts suicide by swallowing poison, but a heroine named Li Feifei flies over the wall and into the Guo family compound to stop her.  Convincing Huizhu to have hope, Li Feifei then flies to the Hong compound and insists the elder Hong talk to his son.  When Yulin sees the photo he explains to his father that he sometimes liked to dress in something more comfortable than standard business attire, and the man in the photo was indeed him. The father, embarrassed at not recognizing his own son, relents, and the couple is together again.   

[right, Several of the makers of《Heroine Li Feifei》gather for a group photo.  From left, actor Zhang Dagong, actor Lin Yongrong, director Shao Zuiweng, cinematographer Xu Shaoyu, actress Wu Suxin, studio executive Shao Yifu, actor/screenwriter Gao Lihen.]

 

 

 

 

 

[The explanatory information of "Shuomingshu' was a necessity for films imported from the West.  At left is the one for the first sound film, 1927's《The Jazz Singer》, bearing the Chinese title《King of the Jazz Singers》, while below is the one issued for 1932's《Tarzan the Ape Man》. Click on any image to view full size.]

   

《Little Friend》(1925)

[The Mingxing (Star) studio published a magazine featuring its latest films and articles about the studio's stars.  The June, 1925 issue was devoted to《Little Friend》, premiering at the end of that month] 

    Throughout motion picture history, filmmakers have frequently based their productions on such published literature as books and short stories, usually domestic but sometimes foreign publications.  Chinese filmmakers have been no exception, and we previously published a filmography of Chinese films based on foreign sources.  While one of the goals of The Chinese Mirror is to provide full descriptions of the most successful Chinese films of the classical era (as full as possible, since so many of the films are lost), we will also include films -- successful or not -- which were adaptations of foreign literary sources. Although《Little Friend》was not the first Chinese film to be based on a foreign source, it is the first for which we know the exact literary source.

    In its July, 1912 issue (v.4, no.4), the Commercial Press of Shanghai's publication Jiaoyu Zazhi《教育杂志》("The Education Magazine") devoted a considerable amount of space to the first part of a serial, Kuer Liulang Ji 苦儿流浪记 (Record of a Suffering Son's Wanderings), a translation of the French novel Sans Famille.  The translation, somewhat modified for its Chinese audience, was done by Bao Tianxiao, a Chinese author whose own original works were synonymous with the "Mandarin ducks and butterflies" school of popular literature in the 1920s.  With its many vivid characters (a child being the principal), and frequent plot twists, the series was very popular with Chinese readers.  This public acceptance continued right through to publication of the final installment, in v.6, no.12, December, 1914.

    The series' popularity led to the Commercial Press bringing out a monographic book edition the following year, as well as receiving a certificate from the Ministry of Education authorizing educational institutions at various levels to purchase copies for presentation to outstanding students as an award for academic achievement.  This gave it a far-reaching distribution among educated young people, joining such other foreign classics as Uncle Tom's Cabin and La dame aux Caméllias.  Chinese publication records also show that after Bao Tianxiao's there were at least six more translations of Sans Famille published in China, indicating the esteem publishers of that era had for the novel.

    Sans Famille was the masterpiece of French writer Hector Malot.  The work had major impact in France and globally, and long before the 1925 Chinese film adaptation, French filmmakers had produced a screen adaptation of the novel, which was shown in China.  About that time, a prominent Shanghai art educator named Yang Baimin 杨白民 (1874-1924), founder and operator of a school for young women, adapted the book for a stage production.  He brought it to the attention of a group of modern drama exponents (which included Zheng Zhengqiu) and they gave him support and guidance which resulted in the production being done at the school as a senior class play.  It may have been this experience which first gave Zheng Zhengqiu the idea of adapting Bao Tianxiao's version for the screen, but it is certain that in 1923 he began working on a screenplay that would place greater emphasis on Kuer Liulang Ji's underlying social themes.  On June 28, 1925, the movie version, retitled《Little Friend》for the screen, premiered at the Grand Theater in Shanghai, with its screenplay by Zheng Zhengqiu, directed by Zhang Shichuan, and starring Zheng Xiaoqiu, Xuan Jinglin and Wang Xianzhai.

    《Little Friend》, Zheng Zhengqiu's adaptation, changed quite a few things from the original source novel, as well as making all its characters Chinese and moving the setting of the story to China.  Basically every part of his screenplay brought up one of the social problems of the time, and developed his points through the plot.  In《Little Friend》, Zheng made complex issues simple, and went deeply into probing their heritage and legal implications.

    A full synopsis of the plot follows, but basically it relates an evil man's scheme to take over his late brother's estate by having the deceased man's sole heir killed, thereby giving the villain patrilineal rights to the estate, a discriminatory Chinese legal practice Zheng would attack again in《He Wants a Baby》(1926).  After the movie's release, public opinion was quite good, and a succession of reviews in newspapers and magazines declared《Little Friend》(in the words of one) a "rare example of a popular film pointing up the evils that persist in modern society," and praising the Mingxing studio for "holding up a beacon shedding light" on its problems.  But in reality, the happy ending that wraps up the movie was something only taking place on screen, with no foundation in what was happening in society.  The film's makers were themselves clear on this, and Mingxing's own publication carried an article which noted that "society's victims, when making legal appeals, too often find the law to be of no use!  There are two lawyers in the story:  one is a man of integrity, while the other's greed blinds him to the point where he can no longer discern right from wrong.   Unfortunately, those with integrity sometimes seem outnumbered by those motivated by greed and personal ambition." 

    Contemporary comments of this sort give us a better understanding of what Zheng Zhengqiu was thinking as he adapted the work.
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Xiao Pengyou (1925) 小朋友 [Little Friend]

    Mingxing.  B&W.  Silent.  11 reels.  Premiered June 28, 1925 at the Grand Theater in Shanghai.  Direction:  Zhang Shichuan.  Screenplay:  Zheng Zhengqiu, adapted from the novel Record of a Suffering Son's Wanderings, by Bao Tianxiao (1876-1973), his modified translation of Sans Famille by Hector Malot (1830-1907).  Cinematography:  Dong Keyi.  Sets:  Dong Tianya.  Program notes:  Zhou Jianyun.  Cast:  Zheng Xiaoqiu (Little Tang/Laifa), Xuan Jinglin (The elder Tang's wife, Madame Shen), Yao Zhigang (Little Brother), Wang Xianzhai (Tang Zhongshan), Shao Zhuanglin (Long Sheng), Fu Lühen (Mei Zhanchun), Wang Jiting (Tong Huaiyü), Huang Junfu (Qiao Fusen), Li Shifan (Qiao's wife, Madame Jiang), Wen Shaoru (Sheng Shiming), Zhao Weisan (Zhang Gongda), Maxu Weibang (Pan Zhifang).

    A well-to-do man named Tang and his wife, Madame Shen, have a baby boy they call "Little Tang."  But Mr. Tang dies, leaving his widow with a two-year-old.  Tang's younger brother Zhongshan sees an opportunity to take over the deceased man's estate if the child is out of the way, so he hires some thugs to kidnap the child.  But the kidnappers, fearing someone has seen them, abandon the child in the countryside, where he is found by a stonemason named Qiao Fusen.  Qiao has a gambling addiction and when he sees the quality of the boy's clothing, he figures returning the child should bring a handsome reward, so he takes him home, but Qiao's kindly and childless wife Madame Jiang treats the child as a family member.

[Her son having disappeared, a grieving widow is informed by her scheming brother-in-law that he is laying legal claim to her home and estate.  Xuan Jinglin, left, and Wang Xianzhai.]

    With the child missing, Zhongshan visits his brother's widow and while feigning concern for her welfare, informs her that as the closest surviving male relative he is starting legal procedures to inherit the Tang estate, although he allows her to continue living there.

    Over the next decade, Madame Jiang raises Little Tang as her own child, and gives him the name Laifa.  But one day Qiao Fusen suffers heavy gambling losses, and in panic attempts to recoup some of his losses by selling the boy to Sheng Shiming, the operator of a traveling puppet show.  Sheng recognizes the boy as bright and capable, so buys him as an apprentice, and teaches Laifa the puppeteer's art.  But soon, in one town, something in one show offends a local government official who has Sheng arrested.  Before he leaves for jail Sheng encourages Laifa to carry on the show by himself.

[right, before going off to jail, an elderly puppeteer (Wen Shaoru) urges his apprentice (Zheng Xiaoqiu) to carry on the act alone] 

    Her grief from successively losing her son, her late husband's estate, and ownership of her home makes Madame Shen ill, and to convalesce she takes a boat trip.  On the trip she happens upon Laifa's puppet show being held on the riverbank, and although she doesn't recognize the boy as her own son, she likes Laifa so much she asks him to stay with her until Sheng Shiming is released.  But after Sheng Shiming is released from prison, he suffers a relapse of an old illness, and realizing he is dying, spends the rest of his days wandering aimlessly from place to place. Meanwhile,  Madame Jiang's grief over the loss of Laifa causes her to sink slowly into madness, spending her days cradling a doll dressed in the child's old clothes, and crying.

[Madame Shen (Xuan Jinglin, second left) introduces her brother-in-law to a bright young boy (Zhang Xiaoqiu) she has brought home as a substitute for her lost son]

    Madame Shen, unaware of Laifa's true identity, continues her search for her son, and learns that Qiao Fusen may know something about the child's fate.  When her brother-in-law Zhongshan discovers  this, he summons Qiao and his wife Madame Jiang to the Tang mansion and offers the couple a large bribe to keep quiet.  But Madame Jiang sees the boy, her lost adopted son, and becomes hysterical.  Repentant over what his actions have done to his wife, Qiao angrily rejects Tang Zhongshan's offer.  The two men fight, and in the struggle Zhongshan falls from a high window and is killed.  Qiao confesses to Madame Shen the truth of what happened, and that "Laifa" is really her son "Little Tang."  Mother and son are reunited.

    Qiao Fusen is brought to trial for Zhongshan's death, but Madame Shen, once again in control of her late husband's fortune, hires a good defense lawyer, and the accused is acquitted on grounds of self-defense.  Now that she knows her adopted son's fate and that he has a bright future, Madame Jiang gradually begins to recover her sanity.