The Chinese Mirror

《April Roses》(1926)

    We have written earlier about the career of Hong Shen, the "father of the Chinese screenplay," who after receiving dramatic training in the U.S. returned to China to establish theatrical direction as a profession, then in 1925 joined the Mingxing studio as a writer/director.  His first two productions,《Young Master Feng》(1925) and《He Wants a Baby》(1926), although critical successes, did not make much of an impression on audiences.  However, his next two efforts,《Love and Gold》(1926) and this film, were his breakthrough productions, both critical and box office successes, and established his reputation as a filmmaker, the former film as a writer, this one as a director.  This was a romantic comedy, which satirized the despicable behavior of some wealthy men who become serial adulterers, and sharply criticized the prevailing sexual morality among these men.  As Hong Shen put it in an article, that morality seemed to be "one's wife is not as good as a concubine, the concubine not as good as a servant girl, the servant girl not as good as a mistress," and "the family flowers not as sweet as roadside wildflowers."  In his discussion of the significance of this film, Hong questioned the double standard in Chinese society:  "Why is our society so strict with women and not men?  Why do we adopt different moral standards in judging transgressions by women?"  (1)  There are several reasons for this film's success in comparison to Hong's earlier efforts, beginning with the presentation of its message of social criticism in the form of comedy, without getting preachy.  Another was the performance of the two leads, Wang Jiting as the serial adulterer banker and Yang Naimei as the swindler who attracts him; both drew critical praise at the time for the comedy gifts they displayed in presenting a serious topic.  Also notable was the technical presentation of the film, which featured more long shots than usual, and shot location scenes at playgrounds of the rich, such as a racetrack and upscale restaurants.

(1)  Hong, Shen.  "Advertising《April Roses》."  Mingxing Magazine, no.13《April Roses》special issue, June 30, 1926.

    The plot focuses on the head of a bank who, despite having an opulent home, a wife, a concubine, and an affair with the household maid, still wants more.  He thinks he has found it when he meets a beautiful young woman, unmarried and living with her mother.  He decides she would be his ideal mistress, and rents an apartment near her home where she can live and they can use as a love nest.  But to his surprise she declines his invitation to have an ongoing relationship, although she is agreeable to occasional trysts.  What he doesn't know is that the girl and her mother are grifters, petty swindlers who employ the daughter's charms to get money from men of means, and in fact she is already the mistress of two other businessmen who live in her neighborhood.  When she finds herself pregnant and tells the banker of her condition, he is overjoyed, as he has no children.  He offers her marriage.  Although she would be her husband's third lady, subordinate to the first two, as the mother of his only child she would have a special status in his household, especially if she bore him an heir.  Marriage is not what she wants, but it gives the girl and her mother an idea, and they hatch a scheme which they believe has the potential of bilking the banker out of everything he has.  As their plan develops, the banker is sucked further in, but at the last instant realizes what is happening and saves himself from disaster.

[right, a female swindler (Yang Naimei) admires the looks that draw men in like moths to the flame.]

Siyueli de Qiangwei Chuchu Kai (1926) 四月里的蔷薇处处开 (April Roses)
literal English title:  Roses Bloom Everywhere in April

    Mingxing.  B&W.  Silent.  10 reels.  Premiered July 1, 1926 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai.  Direction and Intertitles:  Hong Shen.  Asst. Direction:  Wang Xianzhai.  Screenplay:  Zhang Shichuan.  Cinematography:  Dong Keyi.  Sets:  Dong Tianya.  Art:  Shen Yanzhe, Dong Hanyi.  Cast:  Yang Naimei (Wang Qiang), Li Shifan (Wang Qiang’s mother), Zhang Meiqing (A Jin), Wang Jiting (Yu Zhaotang), Wang Xieyan (Wang’s first lady), Fu Lühen (Wang’s concubine), Zhao Jingxia (Ah Bao, the Yu household maid), Lin Ruxu (the Yu household’s chauffeur), Wang Xianzhai (Hu Shouchang), Song Chanjiang (Zi Yiting), Yan Zhongying (Chen Tianfu), Zhu Shuxiu (Lanfang), Xu Feiqing (Aiyun), Zhang Aizhen (Miss Lin), Huang Junpu (detective).  Also:  Huang Yunzhen, Zhou Lüan. 

《Cycles of Debt》(1926)

    One of the more successful Chinese movies of 1926 was the Great Wall studio's (still extant)《A String of Pearls》, adapted from the 19th century French story "La Parure" by Guy de Maupassant.  The Chinese film version delivered a cautionary message, a strong warning to women of the dangers of vanity, blaming the principal female character for the financial and personal ruin brought to her family by her desire to show off an expensive piece of jewelry.  It also criticized her best friend for almost destroying her own marriage through a similar act of vanity.

    Blaming women for domestic problems seems to have been a popular theme at the time, for later that same year this film from the Da Zhonghua Baihe studio carried the same warning.  However, instead of a domestic tragedy, it related its story as a comedy with a crime subplot.  There is no indication the film was an adaptation, but with its trio of couples playing multiple games of musical beds and carrying on romantic liaisons in love nest hotels,《Cycles of Debt》might well have been taken from the works of another 19th century French writer, the farceur Georges Feydeau.  The movie's title is actually a double entendre, implying emotional and romantic debt as well as financial.

[left, a wealthy woman's love of money and luxury brings problems; Zhou Wenzhu.] 

    A departure from other films of the time is the character whose heroic actions bring matters to a successful conclusion.  Instead of a brave young man or a virtuous maiden, the heroine was a golddigger, a young woman of easy virtue; and instead of changing her ways in the end and moving onto a righteous path, she is content to go back to her former life as a professional mistress.

[right, a promiscuous young woman becomes an unlikly heroine; Tang Tianxiu.]

Lianhuan Zhai (1926) 连环债 (Cycles of Debt)

    Da Zhonghua Baihe.  B&W.  Silent.  10 reels.  Direction and Screenplay:  Zhu Shouju.  Cinematography:  Zhou Shimu, Yu Shengsan.  Principal Cast:  Zhou Wenzhu (Mrs. Wang), Tang Tianxiu (Zhou Aizhu), Wang Naidong (Huang Zheng), Wang Zhengxin (Xu Ming).

    Wang Zaixi is a businessman, head of the Near East Trust Company.  Though the business is a large and prosperous one, bringing him a great deal of personal wealth, Wang himself is very thrifty.  His wife however, loves to flaunt their wealth, which upsets Wang Zaixi, who would prefer they live more simply.  Wang has two young deputies at his business:  one, Xu Ming, has recently married; the other, Huang Zheng, is unmarried but romantically involved with Zhou Aizhu, a young woman of loose morals who has had a succession of lovers, even including Xu Ming at one time.   Of all her romantic relationships, Aizhu exploits the one with Huang Zheng the most:  his infatuation with her and eagerness to keep her satisfied leads Huang to spend all his savings, and even borrow money to keep his lover in the lifestyle she wants. When legitimate lenders turn him down, Huang turns to a local gang for his loans. 

    One Sunday afternoon, as Wang Zaixi and his wife are leaving a movie theater, they run into Xu Ming and his wife.  The two couples share a taxi, and during the ride Zaixi becomes very favorably impressed with his subordinate's young bride.  Similarly, Zaixi's wife finds Xu Ming an attractive young man.  So she begins inviting the younger couple over to their home from time to time.  

    One day when Mrs. Wang doesn't feel well her husband wants to take her to the hospital.  But just as he is about to leave work, something unexpectedly crops up which demands his immediate attention.  So he asks Xu Ming to accompany Mrs. Wang to the hospital.  Huang Zheng, already jealous of  Xu Ming's growing personal relationship with the Wangs, is even more resentful of his colleague's being given this assignment.  The next day, Mrs. Wang arrives at the business seeking her husband, but he and Xu Ming are at a meeting elsewhere, with only Huang Zheng there to receive her.  The two have a very pleasant conversation, after which Mrs. Wang invites Huang to her home for dinner that evening, which he accepts.  But as it happens, that very evening Wang Zaixi has a tryst with Mrs. Xu, while her husband Xu Ming is secretly meeting with Huang's girlfriend Zhou Aizhu.  So Mrs. Wang and Huang Zheng are left to have an intimate dinner for two.  

    Huang Zheng has fallen increasingly under the control of the gangsters he owes money.  One day, a client has 100,000 yuan in government bonds delivered to the trust company, but since it is after banking hours, Wang Zaixi entrusts Xu Ming to take the bonds home with him and deliver them to the bank the next morning.  Huang Zheng tips off the gangsters, and that night they steal the funds.  The next morning, Xu Ming discovers the money is missing and reports this to Wang Zaixi.  But Wang accuses Xu of embezzlement and has the younger man arrested.

    The robbers have had the Wang residence under observation, and when they note how expensively dressed Mrs. Wang is when she goes out, they decide the residence should be worth burglarizing.  Because Huang Zheng is familiar with the home, they have him help plan the heist, and to get Mrs. Wang away, they have Huang write her a note setting up a tryst at a local hotel.  Before going to the Wang home for the burglary, Huang keeps a date with Zhou Aizhu at her apartment, but forgets to take the note with him when he leaves.  Aizhu finds it and her suspicions aroused, disguises herself as a man and goes to the hotel, where she learns of the plot.  She immediately goes to Xu Ming's home, informs Mrs. Xu of the situation, and sends her to report it to the police.  Aizhu herself goes directly to Wang Zaixi to warn him, then goes to the Wang home.  There she finds the thieves have already broken in, and seeing her false lover standing watch outside, Aizhu scales a back wall, enters the home, and finding the thieves in a room they are burglarizing, locks them in.  The police arrive and arrest the thieves, who expose Huang Zheng as their inside man.

    The denouement:  Xu Ming and his wife find they are more in love than ever, while Zhou Aizhu goes back to her dissolute life, as before.  The person most shaken by these events is Mrs. Wang, who resolves to stop flaunting her wealth and always dress simply and plainly.  Her husband's happy reaction to this is, "If you had dressed like this before, how could there have been any robbery!" 

Han Lan'gen (1909-1982): the "Skinny Monkey"

    Han Lan'gen was one film star who was never accused of being just another pretty face.  Short, slight and, even after he became successful, looking like a man in desperate need of a good meal, Han could have been called plain-looking, even ugly.  But he made the most of it.  There were (and have been) other performers in China's classical era who were automatically associated with comedy, such names as Zhou Kongkong, Tang Jie and Qian Haha, but Han Lan'gen was probably the greatest Chinese comic actor of the classical film era, certainly the most successful and popular.  Not until Michael Hui, and later Stephen Chow, have there been any Chinese screen comics who reached the stature Han Lan'gen attained.  He appeared in more than 250 movies in his career, and of all China's screen comics, he was probably the one most deserving of becoming a household name.  His contributions to Chinese film history were immense, especially considering that many of his most successful films were not comedies.

    Han Lan'gen 韩兰根  was born to a worker's family in Shanghai.  There are few details recorded about his younger years, except that he was an early school dropout, and was apprenticed for a time to some tradesman, the details also unrecorded.  But in 1925 he joined the Huangpu movie studio as a stage manager, and from this he moved into acting.  His first roles were typical supporting characters, but the young actor found that in addition to his disdain for playing roles that were tragic in nature, other actors found him funny on and off screen, both in his actions and just to look at.  So he decided to pursue the possibilities of comedy, and began to study closely the various Hollywood comics popular in China at the time:  Chaplin, Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, etc.  But rather than imitate these masters, Han drew on them to mold his own characters:  a Han character might appear to be as hapless and innocent as Chaplin's "Little Tramp," but might also display the brash self-confidence of a Harold Lloyd character, etc.  His initial comic roles were as a foil in martial arts films, the dominant genre of the late 1920s, and while the great majority of these early silents are lost, we are fortunate to have available one of this comic legend's earliest screen appearances as a comic character, 1929's《An Orphan》in which Han played the heroine Wu Suxin's buffoonish arranged-marriage husband.

[Han Lan'gen at the right, with Ruan Lingyu and others from the cast of《Little Toys》. Click on any image to view full size]     

    It wasn't long before the major Shanghai studios discovered Han's comedic talents, and in 1932 he signed a contract with the progressive Lianhua studio, where he performed in a succession of social-realist classics opposite LIanhua's top leading men and leading ladies, garnering credits in such classics as《Little Toys》(1932) with Ruan Lingyu,《Song of the Fishermen》(1934), opposite Wang Renmei, and《The Big Road》(1934), with Jin Yan and Li Lili.  In these and so many others he was never the hero, but always a sympathetic character, often the leading man's best buddy or the leading lady's younger brother.  In 1935 he teamed up with another popular comic actor, Yin Xiucen 殷秀岑 to form an onscreen comedy team similar to that of Laurel and Hardy, one big and fat (Hardy/Yin) and one short and thin (Laurel/Han).  Their pairing was an enormous success, and later extended to veteran character actor Liu Jiqun, both of them pairing with Han, and even all three as a sort of "Three Amigos" comedy team.

[upper right, Han being playfully harrassed by Jin Yan in《The Big Road》]

[left, publicity still from 1937"s《Love Made in Heaven》with Liu Jiqun at left, Bai Lu at center]    

    Han's career bloomed throughout the late 1930s, and into World War II and the postwar era.  The coming of the People's Republic in 1949 meant the eventual demise of China's last two privately operated movie studios, both shut down in 1952.  Before that, he and Yin Xiucen collaborated on two more comedies, but they proved to be a last hurrah.  Despite his popularity (Han, his wife, and their 12 children were featured on the New Year's edition of China's last privately published movie magazine), Han's career declined steadily after that.  The institution of a centrally planned economy meant everyone was assigned a job, and Han's was to a Suzhou stage troupe, where he worked from 1952-57.  The reasons for his banishment from film work are uncertain.  It may have been the new regime found his style of broad comedy "politically incorrect" in the New China:  the relatively few comedies made in what Chinese film scholars refer to as "the 17 years" (the time between the establishment of the PRC and the onset of the Cultural Revolution) were relatively innocent and good-natured light comedies that relied greatly on such plot devices as misunderstandings and miscommunications between lovers -- but like all films of that era, they were also accompanied by a dose of political significance.

[right:  Han, Yin Xiucen and Liu Jiqun in 1939's《Three Chinese Swordsmen》]    

    But whatever the underlying factors, the fact remains that Han was never seen again on Chinese screens after 1952.  In 1957, he was reassigned to the Changchun Film Studio, reuniting him with his old partner Yin Xiucen, to make another film, the aptly titled (as it turned out)《Unfinished Comedy》.  Unfortunately, the movie was completed right in the middle of the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957, was condemned by the authorities and never released.

    Like most of the old Shanghai film community, Han was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.  He survived, and afterwards had hopes of returning to filmmaking in some capacity.  It never came about, however.  Han Lan'gen died on January 27, 1982.
********** 
Partial Filmography (as actor, unless indicated otherwise):

1929:
The Orphan
The Flying Thief
 
1931:
The Chicken Hero

1932:
Little Toys
New Year's Eve

1934:
Song of the Fisherman
The Big Road
Sins
Bright-eyed Blind Man            (also director)

1935:
The Bachelors

1936:
Back to Nature
Soaring Aspirations
Tomboy
Rebirth

1937:
Lianhua Symphony
Spring Arrives Everywhere
Love Made in Heaven
Wang Laowu
New Year's Money

1938:
The Beggar's Daughter
Mummy in an Old House
Invincible Martial Arts Troupe

1939:
Lady General  (aka Maiden in Armour, aka Mulan Joins the Army)
Wu Zetian
Three Chinese Swordsmen

1940:
The Emerald Hairpin
Wife and Concubine
The Bride Seeker
The Country Girl
Three Smiles

1941:
Two Tramps
Wild Rose

1942:
Congratulations
Endless Joy
College Students
Brotherhood

1943:
Always
Losers (aka Brothers in Trouble)
Free Spirits
A Riot of Color
The Fisherman's Daughters

1944:
Bitter Paradise
Struggle
Backgammon                           (director)
Great Detective Rose Dragon    (also director)
Signal Fires of Shanghai            

1945:
Love and Hate
Ten Thousand Updates
Many Households Renewed

1948:
The Foggy Night Murder Case
Soul of the Nation
A Dream of Joining the Army    (also director)
A Navy Hero                             (also director)
Year After Year                        (also director)

1949:
Intelligence Stars
Catching the Dream
Loose Love

1952:
Jack-of-All-Trades
Everybody's Happy

1957:
Unfinished Comedy
********** 
Resources:

Cong, Cong.  "Han Lan'gen."  China Screen 1991-01, pp.30-31.

Gu, Guge.  "Chaplin and Han Lan'gen."  Movie Age v.2, no.7, April 25, 1936.

"Han Lan'gen."  Baidu online encyclopedia article.  Retrieved October 21, 2011.

Wang, Wenhe 王文和.  Jiaoxiang le chuohao de yingxing 叫响了绰号的影星 (Film Stars Known by Nicknames).  Beijing:  Academic Press, 1990.  pp.81-94:  “Skinny Monkey:  Han Lan'gen."

Yong, Kang 永康.  "The Oriental Laurel and Hardy:  Han Lan'gen and Liu Jiqun" in:  "Chats under the silver lamp," feature in Li Bao August 14, 1938.  

Xu Suzhen (? - ?): Funny Lady

    Although Xu Suzhen 徐素贞 was a very popular comic actress with a movie career that spanned nearly two decades, most of her performing was done on the Shanghai stage, making her number of screen roles relatively few and infrequent.  She was the younger sister of silent star Xu Sue, and sister-in-law of early martial arts star and director Zhang Huichong, although surviving records do not show Xu Suzhen working in any of his movies.  Her film career began in 1923, with the female lead in《The Predestined》, but after this she returned to the stage.  In 1926, she was lured back to movies by the Kuaihuolin Film Company and cast in female leads in more than a dozen of its silent productions over the next few years, often paired with Han Lan'gen, Qin Haha and/or Zhou Kongkong, three of the top cinema comics of the silent and early sound eras.  In the 1926 fan voting for "Movie Empress," she came in second to Zhang Zhiyun. When Kuaihuolin shut down for fiscal reasons, she returned to the stage, but came back to movies in 1931 when the studio was restarted to make sound movies.  She continued intermittent film work through the 1930s for several smaller Shanghai studios, making her last appearance in 1939 for Linhua, a wartime "orphan island" Shanghai company, after which she retired. 

Filmography (all as actress):

1923:
The Predestined

1926:
As They Wished

1927:
Substitution
Four Guardian Warriors
Brother's Good Fortune  
The Matchmaker Makes a Fool of Herself
Adventures of a Modern Girl
A Woman Warrior

1929:
The Pirates [aka The Emperor of Shanghai]

1932:
Four Big Men

1933:
Adventures on a Desert Island, pts.I,II [aka Journey Through the Wilds]
The Twins
Saga

1934:
A Couple Reunited
A Virtuous Woman
A Woman Criminal

1935:
Three Daughters-in-Law [aka Three Brides]

1939:
A Pink Murderer

《Visiting the In-Laws》(1926)

Tanqin Jia (1926) 探亲家 (Visiting the In-Laws)

    Da Zhonghua Baihe.  B&W.  Silent.  10 reels.  Direction and Screenplay:  Wang Yuanlong.  Cinematography:  Zhou Shimu.  Cast:  Shao Ruying (Li's wife, née Shao), Li Minghui (Li's elder daughter Putao), Yang Jingwu (Li's younger daughter Lüping), Wang Zhengxin (Zeng Boqing), Chen Yitang (Zeng Shuqing), Wang Naidong (Wang Zhiyi), Zhou Wenzhu (Zhou Meiyun), Wang Cilong (Wu Yafeng), Xie Yunqing (Li Dacheng).

[right, Yang Jingwu as the younger daughter Lüping]

    Although slapstick comedies had waned somewhat in popularity by the middle of the 1920s, they were still being made.  This one relates the misadventures of a rural family on a trip to the city to visit their eldest daughter, married to a city man.  The comedy centers around the visitors' mistakes in the unfamiliar urban setting, for example not knowing how to eat at a welcoming banquet where the table is set with knives and forks instead of chopsticks, etc.  There is an implied criticism of the eldest daughter who, out of her embarrassment at her family's lack of sophistication, just makes matters worse rather than easing their adjustment.  But all ends well, with the family's younger daughter becoming engaged to their son-in-law's younger brother and the rural family planning a return for the wedding.

Zhou Kongkong (1887-1930): "the Oriental Chaplin"

    The popularity of slapstick comedies on American screens in the silent era naturally produced many marvelous comic actors, such legends as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, to name a few.  As China's domestic film industry grew, the popularity of these and other Hollywood comics with Chinese audiences inevitably led to Shanghai studios fostering their own screen funnymen.  Among the Chinese comic actors of the classic era, two are mentioned most often in Chinese film histories:  Han Lan'gen, who began in the mid-1920s in small martial arts movie roles, and only later became a comic, his career not taking off until the 1930s; and Tang Jie, who began in serious roles, then turned to comedy in the early 1930s, gaining fame with his very popular "Mr. Wang" character.  Their careers and popularity extended well into the era of sound. 

    But even before Han and Tang there was another Chinese screen actor who specialized in comedy and became so popular that in the 1920s he became known as "the Oriental Chaplin."  While there were others who had done comedy, especially comedy shorts, Zhou Kongkong was the first to gain stardom in that genre in feature-length films.

    Zhou Kongkong 周空空 (birth name Zhou Dapeng 周大鹏) was born in Changshou Township near Chongqing (Chungking), Sichuan in 1887.  He came from a family of scholars:  his paternal grandfather was a Qing dynasty official who at one time served at the imperial court as teacher to the royal family's children.  After the grandfather retired and returned to Changshou, he became president of the Changshou College there.  The future screen comic's parents were also scholars, his mother the founder and first headmistress of the Changshou Girl's School, at a time when it was rare for a woman to rise that high in education.  Not surprisingly, their son was also an apt student, especially in art and music. He also studied and performed in Sichuan opera, usually in a female role, which led to his interest in acting. 

[Zhou in a publicity still.  The writing on the barrel says "Zhou Kongkong's makeup." Click on any image to enlarge.]  

    Zhou's early years were also the last years of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, a time of civil unrest, rampant political corruption and widespread poverty domestically, accompanied by humiliating diplomatic and military weakness and repeated territorial concessions in China's foreign relations. Zhou's parents had sent him to Japan for his higher education, and planned for him to become an imperial official like his grandfather.  But at that time, a number of ambitious young Chinese studying in Japan became enthused with anti-Manchu revolutionary fervor, and joined the Tongmenghui (Revoutionary Alliance) organized and led by Sun Yat-sen.  One of these students was Zhou Dapeng.  He later returned to Sichuan to join the revolutionaries and worked in the anti-Manchu underground.  The Manchus were overthrown in late 1911, and in his home  town a stage production was written and staged to celebrate the event.  Zhou auditioned for and secured the female lead in the production. 

    In the Zhou family, Dapeng was considered the brightest of five brothers and sisters, and his parents considered him the most promising for success.  But instead of returning to his studies, he concentrated on honing his performing skills.  They had earlier feared that his covert participation in a revolutionary party would hurt the entire family; now they were further upset by his becoming a performer, and moreover his dressing as a female was outrageous.  Parents and son became daily more estranged, and when they at last confronted him with a demand he stop, and he replied with his characteristic wisecracking humor, his father slapped him.  At that, Zhou Dapeng left his parents' home and went alone to Chongqing.

    After arriving in Chongqing, he formally took up performing as a career by joining a Sichuan opera troupe, and changed his stage name to Zhou Kongkong.

    He soon attained local reknown as an opera "leading lady," but after a few years certain practices required of performers began to chafe on him.  At the time it was a customary practice for opera companies to hand out free tickets to warlords, bureaucrats, local thugs and hooligans, or giving free performances when some politico hosted a banquet, a birthday, a wedding, etc.  These practices he could not accept:  he was a skilled professional, with talents people would pay to see, so why should he be forced to donate those talents to people whose status demanded it?  So about 1922 he resigned from the opera company.  But it raised a dilemma:  what was he to do?  He made up his mind to continue with opera performances, traveling from province to province working here and there as a freelance, often continuing in female roles but sometimes just clowning around.  But in 1924 an audience member in one small town changed his life forever.  The man in the audience was Mingxing studio head and chief director Zhang Shichuan, who found he couldn't stop laughing at the young comic's antics.  So he went backstage and recruited him for China's fledgling movie industry, an opportunity Zhou didn't hesitate to accept.

[left, one of Zhou Kongkong's characters in a typical tough spot.]

    For some reason, however, Zhou Kongkong made his motion picture debut in 1925 not with Mingxing, but with the smaller Xinhua studio, which folded a year later.  Perhaps Zhang Shichuan owed someone a favor, but whatever the reason Zhou moved to the Mingxing studio later in 1925.  From that point until 1930 he logged nearly 40 movie credits, and earned the rubric the "Oriental Chaplin."  Although none of his films have survived, it appears this was not due to his duplicating Chaplin's "little tramp" character, but rather because he was funny, the first outstanding Chinese screen comic. 

    The details surrounding Zhou Kongkong's eventual fate is unclear.  In 1930 he returned to Chongqing in his native Sichuan province to direct a movie, a serious non-comedy.  The movie, to be called《Repentance》(忏悔) was believed to be a searing critique of Chinese revolutionaries.  Shortly after he arrived, Zhou Kongkong died suddenly on August 12, 1930.  The Chinese sources vary widely as to the cause:  some say he succumbed to a sudden illness; some say he was murdered by a warlord who bore him a grudge.  (They may have both been right.)  Whatever the truth, the career of China's first major screen clown ended abruptly. 

[right,Zhou Kongkong out of character, in dapper street clothes]

《Real and False Daughters》(1927)

    Another of the popular movies of 1927 was this story of inheritance and greed, combining a romantic triangle, a kidnapping and a climactic fight, interspersed with some comedy throughout.  Two veteran characters actors, Wang Xianzhai and Huang Junfu, nearly always cast as serious villains, in this film portrayed comic bumblers.

Zhenjia Qianjin (1927) 真假千金 (Real and False Daughters)

    Mingxing.  B&W.  Silent.  9 reels.  Premiered August 24, 1927 at the Palace theater in Shanghai. Direction:  Zhang Shichuan.  Screenplay:  Yin Minwei.  Program notes:  Zheng Zhengqiu.   Cinematography:  Dong Keyi.  Sets:  Dong Tianya.  Cast:  Xuan Jinglin (Chang Manying), Zheng Xiaoqiu (Chang Guoying), Huang Junfu (Chang Songzhai), Wang Xianzhai (Hu Yuanfang), Zhao Jingxia (Li Aijuan), Zhu Fei (Kong Buan), Wang Jiting (Gu Shaoru).

    When Chang Xuzhai, a widower and the richest man in the county, dies in early middle age, he leaves behind two teenage children:  a teenaged son Guoying, and his slightly older sister Manying. Always believing his wealth would guarantee his children's futures, Mr. Chang devoted his time to making money, giving little attention to their upbringing and education, either formally or socially.  As a result, Manying just wants to party and have fun, while Guoying thinks of little other than sports.  Both are naive, ignorant of the dangers in the world and how treacherous other people can be.

[plotting to get their niece and nephew's fortune:  Huang Junfu, left, and Wang Xianzhai]

     The father's will stipulates that two-thirds of the estate go to Guoying, with the remaining one-third to Manying as her future dowry.  The size of the estate and the orphans' youth brings out a swarm of relatives and others hoping to share in the inheritance.  Particularly covetous are uncles Chang Songzhai and Hu Yuanfang, who keep hatching schemes to get the fortune, none of which ever work.  Manying steps up her busy social life, and spends lavishly on parties and clubs.  Her circle of friends expands.   One of Manying's girl friends is Li Aijuan, who has a boyfriend named Kong Buan she introduces to Manying.  Another of Manying's new acquaintances is a shady character named Gu Shaoru, also covetous of the heiress's fortune. 
    When Manying expresses a desire to learn to dance, Kong says he is also interested in learning, and offers to be her partner.  As the two frequently go to dancing classes together, and become better acquainted, they begin falling in love.  Li Aijuan grows increasingly  angry and jealous about what she sees happening.  Kong wants to extricate himself from this romantic tangle, and at last decides on Manying, telling Aijuan it is over.  Aijuan angrily goes to see Manying and accuses her of betraying her and stealing her boyfriend.  They have a bitter quarrel, but just as the argument is about to get violent, Guoying intercedes and tries to be a peacemaker.  Aijuan leaves.  Two old friends have now become enemies.  Seething with anger and bitterness, Aijuan approaches Gu Shaoru with the proposal the two of them kidnap Kong, then demand a large ransom sum from Manying, an idea he immediately approves.        Manying is understandably alarmed when she receives the ransom note, but having already squandered so much of her inheritance she is unable to meet the demands.  So she turns to her brother for help, and he generously agrees to amass the necessary amount of ransom money.  The ransom note also instructs Manying to personally deliver the money, and fearing for her safety, Guoying dresses as a girl and goes with his sister.   When they arrive at the ransom drop-off location, they meet the two kidnappers disguised as street thugs, but the brother and sister quickly see through the ruse.  A struggle ensues, but the criminals are quickly overpowered by the athletic Guoying and his sister, who then set free Kong Buan. 
    When the three return home, the police are there to notify them they have captured two additional kidnapping subjects:  it turns out to be the greedy uncles Chang Songzhai and Hu Yuanfang.  When the two had observed the brother and sister preparing the ransom money, they secretly took some of the banknotes, unaware that the bills had been marked beforehand, and the authorities instructed to arrest anyone later attempting to cash them.  So the two uncles had to suffer the embarrassment of being jailed, then having to rely on their niece and nephew to bail them out.  

[Manying (Xuan Jinglin) identifies her two conniving but ultimately incompetent uncles]

《Sister, I Love You》(1929)

Meimei Wo Ai Ni (1929) 妹妹我爱你 (Sister, I Love You)
alternate title: Feixing Da Dao (1929) 飞行大盗  (The Flying Thief)

    Shanghai Yingxi (Shanghai Shadow Play).  B&W.  Silent.  Direction and Cinematography:  Dan Duyu.  Cast:  Yin Mingzhu (Fengyan), Dan Erchun, Han Lan'gen.

    In a prosperous southeast China village, an old man lives with his five sons:  a martial artist, a lawyer, an artist, a rickshaw puller and a cook.  One day, the father informs them he has received a letter from their cousin Fengyan, due to arrive at their hometown that same day and he wants them to meet her at the bus station.  The sons are very excited to learn their cousin is a beautiful girl, and each takes special care in grooming and dressing himself for the meeting.  They have a series of comic misadventures on the way to meeting her and during her visit, as the brothers compete with each other to impress her.

[Five brothers compete to woo their pretty cousin.  Yin Mingzhu, lower right} 

 

《Family Heirloom》(1926)

Chuanjiabao (1926) 传家宝 (Family Heirloom)

    Shanghai Shadow Play Co.  B&W.  Silent.  9 reels.  Premiered April 5, 1926 at the Palace Theater in Shanghai.  Direction:  Dan Duyu.  Cinematography:  Dan Ganting.  Cast:  Yin Mingzhu (Lüping), He Rongzhu (Lingling), Dan Erchun (Xiao Lin), Wang Naidong (Wu Mutian), Chen Baoqi (Jiang Gui), Zhou Hongquan (A Da), Dan Tanmin (Diao Ziqing), Shi Dingpan (Dang Tu).

    Relates the story of what happens when several sons and daughters of a wealthy family find a document which hints at the existence of an ancient and cherished "family heirloom," and provides clues to where it can be found.  Seeing the possibility of increased riches, they undertake a fierce competition to be the first to find this valuable item.  After intensively battling each other in the search, they at last discover the "family heirloom" to be no more than a single page document bearing the family crest. 

Tang Jie（1899—1953:) : "Mr. Wang"

[left, Tang Jie early in his movie career.  Click on any picture to enlarge it.]

Throughout the history of motion pictures, common literary sources for screen adaptations have been comic strips or comic books, including real-life versions as well as animations.  There have been many of the former in U.S. movie history, e.g. Dick Tracy, Batman, Spiderman, many others.  Other countries have given their people's favorite comic characters the big-screen treatment as well:   France, Greece, Turkey, the Phillippines, Finland, et al, have all turned comic/graphic novels into live action movies, and sometimes these have been so successful as to spawn multiple sequels.  China has been no exception, and in the classic era the most successful of these was the "Mr. Wang" series of comedies.  The comic character was a career milestone for two men involved with it:  for the young cartoonist who created "Mr. Wang" it was the initial success in what would become a long and legendary career in Chinese art circles and education; for the character's onscreen portrayer, a veteran but hitherto unheralded supporting actor, it meant a breakthrough to stardom at last. 

[left, a typical "Mr. Wang" cartoon]
 
     Around 1930, a young cartoonist named Ye Qianyu 叶浅予 (1907-1995) published a full-length comic graphic novel featuring a character he called "Mr. Wang."  Readers found the character's misadventures hilarious, and gobbled up a series of sequels.  (These collections are still in print eight decades after their initial publication.)  "Mr. Wang" was a distinct and easily recognizable character, strangely dressed and usually wearing a pith helmet on his bald head.  His partner in various comic misadventures was his friend Xiao Chen (小陈), who with his trademark Panama hat and horn-rimmed glasses resembled Harold Lloyd, although I don't know if that was the intention.  The other regular characters in the series were the two men's wives and the Wangs' daughter.

[below right, cover of a recent "Mr. Wang" book collection]

      The popular character appeared ripe for a film treatment, and in 1932 Shao Zuiweng 邵醉翁 (aka Runje Shaw), studio head and director at the Shao (Shaw) Brothers' Tianyi studio obtained the rights to make a "Mr. Wang" movie. For the title role, Tianyi selected a newcomer to that studio, veteran character actor Tang Jie 汤杰, who had worked for a succession of Shanghai studios, one of those actors whose face is quickly recognizable while the name just as often is not.  Although he was often in demand for important supporting roles, Tang had never been the lead in a major film, and by 1930 had decided his future lay behind the camera.  Zhang Shichuan at the Mingxing studio liked Tang Jie and gave him the opportunity to train by co-directing, after which he was sole director of a successful film called "Mother and Son," co-starring Xuan Jinglin and Zheng Xiaoqiu.  Tang's prospects at Mingxing seemed bright, but Zhang Shichuan's mentoring of Tang had aroused the jealousy of several other Mingxing employees.  The result was that Tang Jie left and moved over to Tianyi.

[left, Tang Jie in his "Mr. Wang" persona]     

    Although "Mr. Wang" the movie, directed by Shao Zuiweng and released in 1934, was a success, as far as Tianyi was concerned that was the satisfactory end of the matter. But Tang Jie had other ideas:  he recognized this as his big chance, and seized it.  Since Tianyi had not thought of "Mr. Wang" as a franchise, they had only obtained the rights to make one movie; Tang secured the film rights to the character, set up his own studio Xin Shidai (New Era), and turned out three sequels in 1935, all directed by and starring himself.  Correcting their earlier oversight, the Tianyi studio contracted with Tang to continue the series with them.

[right, Tang Jie, with Zeng Xuesong as Xiao Chen in 'Mr. Wang's Secret' (1935)]
  
        The "Mr. Wang" series of films were the most popular domestically-produced comedies on Chinese screens in the late 1930s, and after a decade of struggle (starting with being disowned by his family, who considered his career choice an unforgivable loss of face) Tang Jie had achieved genuine star status.  He (or rather Mr. Wang) was in demand off-screen as well as on, portraying the character on stage and making frequent appearances at various public events.  Tang Jie buried his own personality in that of Mr. Wang, shaving his head, assuming the character's distinct dress and appearance year-round and in public (complete with pith helmet and wispy moustache), and in the most extreme action, having his front teeth pulled.  Tang was unmarried, but regarding the lack of teeth he once said, "Maybe no woman will ever love me, but all that matters is that I look ugly.  The only real inconvenience is that sometimes when I'm eating, I'll swallow without really tasting the food."  So total was the transformation of actor into character that he was always referred to in the media and in public as "Mr. Wang," and people who met him addressed him that way, not as "Tang Jie." 

[from left to right, Tang Jie, Sang Shuzhen as Mrs. Wang, Huang Naishuang as Wang Liuru (Miss Wang), Zeng Xuesong as Xiao Chen, and Zhai Qiqi as Mrs. Chen in 'Mr. Wang Visits the Countryside' (1935)]    

 

[Tang also portrayed Mr. Wang on stage, as in this 1930's production, right]    

    The last three Mr. Wang movies were released in 1940, after which Tang Jie abruptly left motion pictures and disappeared from public view, with nothing more heard of him until the announcement of his death in Shanghai in 1953.

Resources:

Fang, Shuo 方朔.  "Tang Jie zai ying jie shiwunian" 汤杰在影界十五年 (Tang Jie's 15 years in movies) Dianying Xinwen 《电影新闻》(Movie News), no.10, May 12, 1939.     

______________.  "Tang Jie" Yingmi Huabao 《影迷画报》(Movie Fan Pictorial), no.16, August 10, 1940. [appears to be a slightly updated reprint of the previous citation, although not identified as such.  The title link is to our archived English translation of the full article]

Lu, Jie 陆洁.  "Tang Jie jun" 汤杰君 (Mr. Tang Jie) Dianying Zazhi《电影杂志》(Movie Magazine), no.7 (n.d.)