Hong Kong

THE SHAW (MANDARIN) EMPIRE

In 1934, largely due to the unstable political situation in China, the second son of the Shaw family, Runde, had been sent to Hong Kong to set up a branch of Tin Yat, Shaw's film company in Shanghai. From the late 1930s until the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, a good number of Cantonese films were produced in Tin Yat's Nan Yang Studios, including such classics as The Tearful Bauhinia ( Qi Jing Hua , 1934), I Have Wronged My Loved One ( Ge Ge Wo Fu Ni , 1935), and Poison Rose ( Du Mei Gui , 1935).

In 1954 Cathay (Wah Mou) and Yung Wah, the two biggest companies at the time, were busy building big studios, and preparing even bigger budgets and more lavish (Mandarin) films. (Yung Wah soon went bankrupt, having lost the China market due to ideological clashes with the Communists.) Meanwhile, Runde's company, now called Shaw and Sons, had only two Mandarin directors, Li Han Hsiang (1926–1996) and Ho Meng Wah. Furthermore, he sold the Nam Yang studios and did not do much with his new project, the Clear Water Bay studio construction. Seeing no promising plan from Runde, in 1958 younger brother Run Run Shaw (b. 1907) left Singapore for Hong Kong and became the managing director of the company. He immediately planned for twenty Mandarin films and twelve Cantonese films, and began the construction of the Clear Water Bay studio complex, clearly preparing for serious competition with Lee and Loke. But the swift action of Run Run was not appreciated by Runde, who took over the company again while Run Run started another company, Shaw Brothers (SB). The inaugural film of Shaw Brothers was Jiang shan mei ren ( Kingdom and the Beauty , 1959), directed by Li Han Hsiang and starring Lin Dai (1934–1964), who later became the biggest female star in Hong Kong cinema history. This mega-budget (Mandarin) film was a colossal success, establishing the dominance of Shaw Brothers. By 1961 Run Run Shaw had completed Clear Water Bay (which was run by a staff of close to two thousand), bought up theater chains, built up his star system, established an acting school, and set up technician-training classes. In doing so, he became the first and only person to ever have full control of every aspect of filmmaking in Hong Kong.

During this time and until the 1970s Mandarin films were mainstream. The large population of Chinese refugees who fled the Communist rule in the mainland constituted the majority of the audience. They favored nostalgic stories of their homeland and did not mind—indeed, some preferred—the use of Mandarin in their films. Furthermore, many of the filmmakers themselves were from the mainland, so Mandarin was also their preferred dialect. With strong financial backing from both previously wealthy Shanghai families and the nationalist government in Taiwan, as well as strong talent, Mandarin cinema prevailed even in this Cantonese-speaking community. Some of the classics of the time included Bu liao qing ( Love Without End , 1960), Liang shan ba yu zhu ying tai ( Love Eterne , 1963), Dubei dao ( One-Armed Swordsman , 1967), Long men ke zhen ( Dragon Gate Inn , 1966), and Hsia nu ( A Touch of Zen , 1969). The key directors of the time included Li Han Hsiang, Chang Cheh (1923–2002), and King Hu (1931–1997), with Li being the most versatile in making films in several genres.

Even though Run Run Shaw was a hardworking and insightful leader, his accomplishments owed much to his right-hand man of twenty years, Raymond Chow (b. 1929), who left Shaw in 1970 to form his own company, Golden Harvest. Chow, who was well educated, had a different management style: instead of tight personal control in the manner of Run Run Shaw, Chow adopted a more hands-off approach. Chow's new company became competitive with Shaw when it formed a distribution partnership with Cathay and later contracted Bruce Lee (1940–1973) as its major actor. Its first success was Bruce Lee's Tang shan da xiong ( The Big Boss , 1971). With the sudden death of Lee in 1973, Golden Harvest declined until the arrival of a rising star, the social satirist Michael Hui (b. 1942). In 1974 Hui's wildly popular comedy Gui ma shuang xing ( Games Gamblers Play ) proved to be a forerunner of the Hong Kong New Wave. From then on, Golden Harvest was Hong Kong's dominant production house, forming partnerships with US studios and international distributors, including Columbia Tristar and New Line Cinema. Golden Harvest was also successful in its international productions, with box-office hits such as Enter the Dragon (1973), Cannonball Run (1980), and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television series (1990–1993). It also produced almost all of the films featuring Jackie Chan (b. 1954) during the 1980s and 1990s.