The Chinese Mirror

Back Home From the City (1925)

    In an earlier article, we discussed the career of first-generation director Dan Duyu, the portrait artist-turned-filmmaker who created and operated the Shanghai Shadow Play Company during the 1920s.  As noted then, Dan was an early practitioner of what later became known as auteur filmmaking, and some of his movies must have struck early Chinese moviegoers as strange, if not bizarre.  This 1925 effort is an example, a Chinese morality play employing allegorical characters to teach moral lessons.  As in the morality plays of medieval Europe, the "Everyman" characters here (Purity and Chastity) are the only ones to make it all the way to the end of the journey, while Beauty and Youth are soon gone and Vanity seduced by Lust.

     As in most of Dan Duyu's earlier productions, the principal character was played by his actress girl friend Yin Mingzhu (aka Pearl Ing), who he would marry the following year. It is also interesting to note in the supporting actor credits (and the technical) the names of two men who would become major Shanghai directors in the 1930s:  Maxu Weibang and Shi Dongshan.  These will both be discussed more fully in future articles. 

[left, Yin Mingzhu as "Purity."  Click on image to enlarge.]

Chongfan Guxiang (1925) 重返故乡 (Back Home From the City)

literal English title:   Returning Home

    Shanghai Shadow Play Co.  9 reels.  Premiered July 9, 1925 at the Olympic Theater in Shanghai.  Direction and Screenplay:  Dan Duyu.  Cinematography:  Dan Duyu, Dan Ganting.  Set design:  Chen Puyun.  English intertitles:  Maxu Weibang.  Drawing:  Shi Dongshan.  Cast:  Yin Mingzhu (Purity), He Peirong (Chastity), He Peiying (Beauty), Xie Caizhen (Vanity), Han Yunzhen (Youth), Maxu Weibang (Wealth), Shi Dongshan (Sincerity), Wang Duanchen (Chivalry), Chen Baoqi (Flattery), Jin Shengsan (Seduction), Dan Ziwen (Lust), Lei Meili (Flirtation), Cao Yaohe (Cowardice), Zhao Wanmei (Indulgence), Jiang Hanqiao (Time), Xie Yunqing (Power).

    In a certain village, a woman named Time has raised five daughters:  Purity, Vanity, Chastity, Youth and Beauty. She takes them on a visit to the city to meet various relatives:  Indulgence, Cowardice, Wealth, Flattery, Seduction, Sincerity, Treachery, Power, Flirtation, Chivalry and Lust.  The results:  Purity and Wealth fall in love; Beauty drinks too much and dies; Youth is taken back home by her mother; Vanity and Lust steal all of Purity's belongings and run away together; Chastity and Sincerity, who had become close friends upon their first meeting, are jailed when Purity mistakenly accuses them of the theft; the girls' Uncle Cowardice and Aunt Indulgence become fugitives; Uncle Power and Aunt Treachery have a falling out and become bitter enemies.  In the end, Purity in despair concludes her extended family is hopeless, and she and Chastity return to their native village.

There's a Full Moon Tonight (1925)

Huahaoyueyuan (1925) 花好月 (There's a Full Moon Tonight)
alternate English title:  Conjugal Bliss
 
    Shenzhou.  B&W.  Silent.  8 reels.  Premiered July 20, 1925 at the Palace.  Genre: Romance. Direction:  Qiu Yixiang.  Screenplay:  Chen Zuiyun, Qiu Yixiang.  Cinematography:  Wang Xuchang, Qiu Yiwei.  Cast:  Ding Ziming (Zhang Suzhen), Li Pingqian (Ye Yuanjun), Yuan Xiaqi (Mrs. Wang), Yan Gongshang (Ye Jingshan), Wang Zhao (Wang Peiying), Li Minghui (the nurse).

[left, Ding Ziming.  Click on image to enlarge.]
  
    When Ye Yuanjun returns home on summer vacation from college, his stepmother Mrs. Wang wants to match him up with her niece Peiying.  But when Yuanjun meets another girl named Zhang Suzhen, it is love at first sight and he only has eyes for her, paying no attention to Peiying.  After his graduation, Yuanjun resumes his courtship of Suzhen, but Mrs. Wang and her niece continue their efforts to break up the young lovers, including spreading falsehoods about Suzhen.  When Yuanjun is injured in a fall, Suzhen rushes to the hospital to see him, but Peiying has someone on the staff bar her entry, saying that this was Yuanjun's request.  Heartbroken, Suzhen packs up to leave the area and start over elsewhere. Meanwhile, Yuanjun is also sad she has not visited him, but when he is released from the hospital a nurse tells him what happened.  He rushes and finds Suzhen before she can leave, and the two resolve their misunderstanding. 
    Comment:  this is a typical example of the "Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies" romantic sub-genre so popular in the mid-20s.

Young Master Feng (1925)

Feng Dashaoye (1925) 冯大少爷 (Young Master Feng)
alternate title:  Wan Kuzi 纨绔子 (The Playboy)

    Mingxing (Star).  9 reels.  Premiered September 23, 1925 at the Palace.  Direction and Screenplay:  Hong Shen.  Cinematography:  Dong Keyi.  Sets:  Dong Tianya.  Cast:  Zhao Chen (Feng Jiayao), Shu Yun (Madame Chen, Feng's wife), Fu Yuanhen (Laowu), Gao Lihen (Feng Shen'an), Zhang Minwu, Zheng Xiaoqiu (Feng Shen'an's grandsons), Zhu Shunfang (servant girl), Huang Yunzhen (Laowu's aunt), Zhao Weisan (Wang Daren), Chen Lerui (Mrs. Wang), Zhou Kongkong (Huang Huzi), Song Chanhong (Manager Zhang), Wang Xianzhai (Jin Liubao), Wang Jiting(the driver), Maxu Weibang (Li Ziqing), Shen Wenjun (the woman), Shao Zhuanglin, Zhu Fei (fashionable young men), Xiao Sheng (the apprentice).

    As his company grows, wealthy Suzhou businessman Feng Shen'an expands his operations to Shanghai and assigns family scion Feng Jiayao to manage the new branch.  Soon after his arrival, Jiayao becomes entranced with Shanghai's pleasures, and during one night on the town meets and becomes acquainted with a man called Liubao, who becomes his regular club-hopping buddy.  Liubao introduces Jiayao to a glamourous prostitute named Laowu, and she becomes Jiayao's mistress.  When the older Mr. Feng learns of this, he orders his son home, and although his son complies, father and son quarrel frequently.  When the father dies, Jiayao promptly moves his family to Shanghai and takes up with his mistress Laowu once more, at last moving in with her and abandoning his wife and two sons.  When Jiayao's distraught wife visits Laowu to beg the mistress give up her husband, she is rebuffed and humiliated.  

  [An adulterer hears of his wife's humiliation.  Click on image to enlarge]     

    One day, as Feng Jiabao is leaving on a business trip, he returns unexpectedly for something forgotten and finds Liuwu and Jiabao in a compromising situation.  Now Jiabao learns his "friend" is really Liuwu's husband and pimp.  Sadder but wiser, Jiabao returns to his family, vowing to be a better husband and father from then on. 

Repentance (1925)

Li Di Cheng Fo (1925) 立地成佛 (Repentance)

    Tianyi.  Silent.  9 reels.  Genre:  Premiered October 22, 1925 at the Palace Theater.  Direction:  Shao Zuiweng.  Screenplay:  Shao Cunren, Gao Lihen.  Titles:  Zheng Yaofeng, Zhao Tieqian. Cinematography: Xu Shaoyu.  Principal cast:  Fu Qiusheng (the warlord), Zhou Kongkong (the eminent monk), Zhang Dagong (the warlord's son).  Also:  Wu Suxin.

[left and right, two stills from 'Repentance'.  Wu Suxin is the young woman in both pictures, but sources do not identify the other actors, or any details as to what is happening in these scenes.  Click on images to enlarge.]     

    A ruthless warlord uses his troops to greedily plunder the region he controls,  causing widespread suffering to the common people. His son is even more savage and ruthless, committing numerous atrocities in a reign of terror.  One day, as the son is sadistically amusing himself by torturing some civilians, a man who can bear it no more stands up to the son and kills him, and is himself slain by the warlord in retaliation.  Soon afterwards, the grieving warlord happens to meet an eminent itinerant monk who is passing through the capital, and the latter explains to him the Five Precepts of Buddhism (do not kill; do not steal; do not engage in sexual misconduct; do not lie; do not drink intoxicants).  With enlightenment, the warlord involves himself in religious studies and begins to lose his bitterness and hatred over his son's death. Deeply remorseful for his past actions, he takes a leave from his position and goes out among the people to build up the area.  He contributes much to the public welfare while also learning of the common people.  He grows to love them so much he dismisses his wife and concubines, abandons his mansion and riches, shaves his head and goes into the mountains to spend the rest of his life as a Buddhist monk serving the people.

    Comment:   Although the Shao (later Shaw) Brothers would become a family name synonymous with action and swordsman films, during their Shanghai Tianyi studio days, their productions often centered on Buddhist precepts and values.  This is one example of that.

Battle Exploits (1925)

    Although not one of our award winners for 1925, this film from that year also deserves attention. We don't know how popular it was with audiences, but it was very timely, as it dealt with a topic of considerable concern in China at the time, i.e. warlordism.  (For background, consult the excellent Wikipedia article on the subject.)  By 1925 the fledgling Chinese Republic, begun with such high hopes, had suffered through nearly a decade of  continuous civil conflict, with warfare going on somewhere in the country during that time.  The central government seemed powerless to stop it, and those suffering most (as in all wars) were the civilians, and that was the movie's focus.  For in spite of its title, this was not a war movie in the usual sense, but rather a look at how war affects the ordinary people who are charged with fighting it, in this case two love stories related against the background of war.  
     From the film historian's standpoint, the film is notable for its casting, which included major stars of the time as well as several future marquee names starting out in small, even uncredited, roles.  In addition, the male and female leads, Wang Yuanlong and Zhang Zhiyun, played both pairs of lovers, a dual-role casting device which later became commonplace, but was innovative at the time.

Zhan Gong (1925) 战功 (Battle Exploits)
alt. English title:  Amid the Rattle of Musketry

    Da Zhonghua.  Silent, with Chinese and English intertitles.  9 reels.  Premiered May 9, 1925 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai.  Producer:  Lu Jie.  Director:  Xu Xinfu.  Screenplay:  San San.   English Captioning:  Su Gongjuan.  Cinematography:  Jingguangfu+.   Cast:  Wang Yuanlong (Wang Yihua/Zhu Zhuofu), Zhang Zhiyun (Zhang Yijun/Tong Yihan), Li Minghui (Wang Lihua), Hu Die (Hu Cuiying), Tang Jie (Tang Zigang), Zhao Chen (Zhao Xiaowei).
(+indicates the transliteration of a foreign name, which is unknown.)   

    Wang Yihua, scion of a noble family, and his girlfriend Tong Yihan are in love.  One day, when Yihua and his younger sister Lihua are visiting relatives in the countryside, he meets Zhang Yijun, a woman who dresses in male clothing.  The two strike up a friendship.  The siblings return to the city, and soon thereafter Yijun shows up.  She and Yihua renew their friendship, which upsets his girlfriend Yihan.  
     When their girls school holds a benefit musical performance to help people in a disaster-stricken area, Lihua and Yihan take the stage to perform.  Yihua and Yijun attend, as do Yihua's old friend Zhao Xiaowei and his friend Zhu Zhuofu.  When they are introduced before the performance, Yijun and Zhuofu appear somewhat surprised.  

[a volunteer parts from his lover; Zhang Zhiyun, left, Wang Yuanlong, right.  Click on any picture to enlarge.]

     Afterwards, Yihua and Yijun grow even closer.  But when war erupts, Yihua bids Yijun and his family farewell and joins the army.  Zhuofu also enlists, and the two leave for the front lines.  Before they leave, Yihua writes to Yihan, breaking off their relationship. 

    [lower right, a call to service; Wang Yuanlong, right]

    When Yihua returns from the battlefield, and his father asks about Zhuofu, the son sadly tells of how an artillery shell exploded near them, and when Yihua awoke in the hospital he could learn nothing of Zhuofu.  When she hears this, Yijun turns pale and looks horrified.  That evening, Yihua proposes to Yijun, but she sadly tells him she cannot, for she is already married to Zhuofu.  He had become a drunk, and abandoned her in the countryside.  After that, she had dressed as a man to make herself less attractive to another man who was harassing her, and finally fled the countryside for the city.  She tells Yihua, "I can only be your friend, not your wife". 
     At that time, Zhu Zhuofu, having lost a hand and a foot, crawls into the house.  When he sees Yihua and Yijun together, he makes to leave.  But Yijun stops him and brings him back, saying, "As you are today, do you really want to leave me again"?  
     At this point, Lihua brings Yihan in to welcome Yihua back.  It turns out his sister had interrupted Yihua's breakup letter to Yihan, and she has been waiting for him faithfully.  Yihua realizes where his true happiness lies, and both couples are reunited.

[This picture does not fit in with the above narrative, but I have included it anyway.  The Chinese source for this labels it a still from the movie, but since it was by no means a comedy, it was Hu Die's first movie appearance -- in a supporting part -- and the two wounded soldiers (Zheng Xiaoqiu, left, and Gong Jianong, right) were in uncredited minor roles, it was more likely an outtake of clowning around on the set.]

Hong Kong's First Feature-Length Film: "Rouge (1925)"

    In an earlier post, we discussed "Ma Jiefu" the 1926 full-length film adaptation of a story from Pu Songling's 17th century collection, "Strange Stories from Liaozhai," that has proven so rich a source of material for Chinese filmmakers over the decades. But that was actually just the first adaptation from a Shanghai studio:  the first Chinese production was done a year earlier, in Hong Kong.  In addition to being the first filmed adaptation from this classical collection, it marked another first:  it was the first full-length motion picture from a Hong Kong studio.   The movie's makers read like a Who's Who of early Hong Kong cinema:  in addition to Li Minwei, the father of Hong Kong film, and his real-life wife Lin Chuchu (the first Chinese woman to appear on screen) as the lovers, it was directed by Li's  brother Li Beihai (who also played the first villain) and featured Liang Shaobo, director of the first Hong Kong-made film, in the role of murderous second villain.  Some Chinese sources list this as a mainland film, but the Minxin studio had not yet relocated to Shanghai, and while filming was done across the border in Guangdong, the studio was still located in Hong Kong.

Yanzhi (1925) 胭脂 (Rouge).  This is the English title listed in mainland Chinese references.  The Hong Kong English title was:  Love is Dangerous .  Thanks to Mr. Frank Bren for this additional information.)

    Minxin.  Silent.  Release date:  February 20, 1925.  Direction and Screenplay:  Li Beihai, adapted from a short story in the Liao Zhai Zhi Yi ("Strange Stories from Make-Do Studio") by Pu Songling (1640-1715).  Cinematography:  Luo Yongxiang.  Cast:  Lin Chuchu (as Yanzhi), Li Minwei (as E Qiuzhun), Li Beihai (as Su Jie), Liang Shaobo (as Big Mao).

    One day, as a girl named Yanzhi ("Rouge") is out with her friend Madame Wang, she meets a handsome young man named E Qiuzhun.  Afterward, when Yanzhi tells her friend how attractive she found the young man, Madame Wang jokingly offers to act as their matchmaker.  Madame Wang mentions the incident to her lover Su Jie, and he tries to exploit the situation by disguising himself as Qiuzhun, then sneaking into Yanzhi's home in the middle of the night in an attempt to seduce her.  But Yanzhi, although deceived into believing that the intruder is really Qiuzhun, firmly rejects him anyway. Su Jie leaves, taking along one of the girl's shoes as a souvenir.  The shoe later comes into the possession of a thug called Big Mao, who also sneaks into Yanzhi's home at night in the guise of Qiuzhun, with the same intent of seduction.  This time, Yanzhi's father intercepts the intruder, and in their struggle the father is killed. Big Mao flees, leaving the shoe behind.  E Qiuzhun is accused of the crime, tried and convicted.  But Qiuzhun persuades the local authorities to reopen the case, and further investigation gains him a new trial, which this time results in an acquital.  At the end, he and Yanzhi become husband and wife.

Announcing the Chinese Mirror Film Awards (a historical conceit)

    By 1925, Chinese movie studios were turning out a full product line of motion pictures, many of them including filmmakers' social messages while entertaining the moviegoing public.  As noted earlier, in 1925 these studios completed and released 54 full-length features (usually defined as one which is 4 or more reels in length. i.e. more than 30 minutes), and only 8 shorts.  Mingxing again led the way, with 9 features, and 29 other studios churned out the rest.
    To this point, we have been listing in our archival (filmography) categories all films released in a particular year.  But the growing annual production output makes a total listing an impracticality.  So with this post we initiate a new series, The Chinese Mirror Film Awards, recognizing the most noteworthy motion pictures of China's classical era, year by year.  These awards are a total conceit, an invention of the editor's imagination, as China did not actually start bestowing awards on its motion pictures until the 1962 Hundred Flowers Awards.  There were two fan votes prior to that, the "Four Great Dan" election of 1926, and the 1934 election to determine the "Emperor and Empress" of movies, but these were votes to choose fans' favorite performers, not best pictures as judged by industry professionals.  While the Mirror awards are wholly imaginary, there is a sound basis for singling out these particular films for distinction:  these are the movies which crop up repeatedly in Chinese film histories, and are cited in such standard film references as The Chinese Cinema Encyclopaedia (Shanghai, 1995) as being among the nation's best early productions.
        The eligibility rules are as follows:

1.  In determining to which year a film belongs, "year of release" is the operative phrase.  The uniform practice among Chinese scholars is to list a film by year of production, whereas Western sources (e.g. the The Internet Movie Database) usually list a film by its initial release in country of origin, regardless of when made.  So our years may differ from those given in Chinese sources.  This practice will be followed in all subsequent Chinese Mirror posts:  if a film's actual release date can be determined with certainty, that film will be counted as being from that year, otherwise we will follow the Chinese sources.
2.  Since we have no box office or attendance figures to draw on, let alone a vote by the "members of the academy", the films are not ranked, but are listed in alphabetical order.  
3.  All of this year's nominees are lost films, so there will be no effort to avoid "spoilers," by giving away plot twists or endings.

    So without further ado, the envelopes please.  And the nominees are: