J arvie, lan. Window on Hong Kong: A bocwtoy- snonai, mia ana KODert 3iam. Linrmniting- cat Study of the Hong Kong Film Industry Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the ORGANIZATIONAL HEGEMONY IN and Its Audience. Hong Kong: Cenb-e for Media. London: Routledge, 1994. East Asian Studies, 1977. Skeldon, Ronald (ed). Reluctant Exiles? Migra- Lai, Linda Chiu-Han. "Nostalgia and Non- tionfrom Hong Kong and the New Overseas THE HONG KONG CINEMA sense: Two Instances of Commemorative Chinese. Hong Kong: Hong Kong UP, Practices in Hong Kong Cinema in the 1994. Early 1990s" In Fifty Years of Electric Shad- Teo, Stephen. Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra ows. Ed. Law Kar and Stephen Tea. Hong Dimension. London: BFI, 1997. Kong: Urban Council, 1997. 90-97. Tea Yu-Ming and Lao Tuen-Yu. "Global Ex- HECTOR RODRIGUEZ Lao, Sing Hing. DinyingFuBeihingJap (Movie port of Hong Kong Television: Television & Metaphors). Hong Kong: Cosmos Broadcasting Limited." Asian Journal of Books,1991. Communication 5.2 (1995): 108-121. Law, Kar. "Certains Trend of the Hong Kong Turner, Matthew and Irene Ngan. Hong Kong Movie Culture of the 1960s and 1970s" In Sixties: Designing Identities. Hong Kong: Culture and Society in Hong Kong. Ed. Hong Kong Art Centre, 1995. Elizabeth Sinn. Hong Kong: Centre for Wong, Cindy. "Doing Fieldwork on Chinese 'inema historians have often noted creative personnel to the party's cause, and East Asian Studies, 1995.316-323. Vietnamese in America." 15.2 Amerasia the close linkage between the Hong (iii) establishing and maintaining contacts Li, Cheuk-To. Rinyupian. Hong Kong: Subcul- (1989): 179-185. 'Kong film industry and China's with other Hong Kong social movements tural Press, 1996. -. "Ritual Revisited" In Moving the Image: national politics throughout the 1950s and and organizations outside the film industry. Leung, Grace and Joseph Chan. "The Hong Asian Pacific Americans in the Media Arts. Sixties. Many production, distribution, and I describe the pursuit of this agenda as a Kong Cinema and its Overseas Markets, Ed. Russell Leong. Los Angeles: Visual exhibition companies were aligned with work of "organizational hegemony." The 1950-1995" In Fifty Years of Electric Shad- Communications, 1991. either the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political dimension of the Hong Kong cin- ows. Ed. Law Kar and Stephen Teo. Hong -. "Chinese Outside Chinatown: A Chinese or its Taiwan-based rival, the Guomindang ema does not only (to my mind not mainly) Kong: Urban Council 1997.136-152. Community in South Florida." Chinese (GMD). While neither political organization consist in the thematic contents of indi- Liechty, Mark. "Kathmandu as Translocality: America (January 1991): 49-66. was officially registered in Hong Kong, vidual films so much as in the organiza- Multiple Places in Nepali Space." In The -. "Communities Through the Lens: Grass- their sympathizers nonetheless continued tional context of their production and dis- Geography of Identity. Ed. Patricia Yaeger. roots Video in Philadelphia as Altema- to operate in the British colony, seeking to semination. One of the purposes of my ac- Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1996. 98- tive Communication Practice." Unpub- enlist supporters, to acquire control over count is to produce an explanation of this 130. lished Ph.D dissertation/ Annenberg cinematic institutions, and sometimes to ex- fact. Leung, P.K. Heung Gong Diklawhan M.anfa School for Communication, University of press their partisan views in public forums. A full explanation of the activities of (Hong Kong Popular Culture). Hong Pennsylvania, 1997. This essay develops a broad institutional politicized film companies and film work- Kong: Joint Publications, 1993. Wong, Cindy and Gary McDonogh. "Con- analysis of the salient organizational ers in Hong Kong calls for a detailed exami- McDonogh, Gary and Cindy Wong. "Orien- suming Cinema: Space, Media and Ex- mechanisms that linked Chinese political nation of the socicultural environment of talism Abroad: Hong Kong Readings of perience in Hong Kong Audiences." parties with the Hong Kong film industry the territory during the period of colonial the World of Suzie Wong." In Classic Paper presented at the Society for Cin- from 1949 to approximatelyl970. administration. This environment included Whiteness. Ed. Daniel Bernard!. Forth- ema Studies, 1999. Although partisan cinema workers of- the depoliticization of public culture fos- commg. Yau, Esther Ching-Mai. "Ecology and Late ten endeavored to promote thematic con- tered by the British colonial government, Ma, Eric Kit-Wai. Dinsi Yumanfan Yingting Colonial Hong Kong Cinema: Imagina- tents congenial to their own ideological the patriotic sentiments of many Hong (Television and Identity). Hong Kong: tions in Time." In Fifty Years of Electric standpoints, the principal aims of political Kong people, the political interests of the Breakthrough Press, 1996. Shadows. Ed. Law Kar and Stephen Teo. activities in Hong Kong were fundamen- People's Republic of China (PRC) regime, Naficy, Harrud. The Making of Exile Cultures: Hong Kong: Urban Council, 1997. 100- tally organizational in nature, geared not and the profit orientation of Hong Kong's Iranian Television in Los Angeles. Minne- 114. only to the dissemination of propaganda commercial film industry, all of which fac- apolis: U of Minnesota P, 1993. Zha, Jianying. China Pop: How Soap Operas, messages but also towards the consolida- tors circumscribed the scope of political Salzman, Mark. Lost in Place: Growing up Ab- Tabloids, and Bestsellers are Transforming a tion of an enduring institutional presence in activities and to some degree influenced the surd in Suburbia. New York: Random Culture. New York: The New Press, 1995. the colony. While propaganda was hardly formulation of their objectives. I propose to House, 1995. an irrelevant concern, it was on the whole situate the impact of Chinese political par- Sinn, Elizabeth (ed.). Culture and Society in subordinated to the threefold tactical task ties on the Hong Kong cinema in relation to Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Centre for East of (i) securing managerial power over a this complicated societal arena. Asian Studies, 1995. range of cinema institutions, (ii) winning

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COLLECTIVISM ciples of a good society, Mao Zedong him- filmmakers thus helped to enhance the hu- lectuals their role within the proletarian Left-wing activities in Hong Kong dur- self had argued in 1919 that small com- man resources of the leftist film industry in revolution. ing the late 40s were sometimes underlain munes could not only provide small-scale conjunction with more formalized institu- Similar networks of associational pub- by a value orientation which may be de- models for the changes to be wrought on tional mechanisms. Although he would lie spheres helped to create artistic move- scribed as a broadly socialist rather than the entire nation but also help to initiate never become a member of the CCP/ Zhu's ments, organize seminars to criticize "poi- specifically Marxian framework. The Film such changes. The slogan "from small institutional connection to the mainland sonous" films and to promote social aware- Collectivization Movement of 1948 had groups to a great alliance" (xiao zuzhi da was intensified by his appointment as Spe- ness, promote, and publish artistic and po- aimed to establish a management structure lianhe) encouraged the formation of com- cial Delegate to the National Political Com- litical manifestoes in the Hong Kong film collectively controlled by the film workers munes as paradigms of a new socialist so- mittee (Sek 43). industry of the 30s and 40s. Membership in themselves. Underlain by an Utopian com- ciety as early as 1919 (Dirlik 180). The creation Leftist activities in the Hong Kong film those cultural movements was broadly in- munalist aspiration to bridge the gap be- of small anarchist communes was partly a industry may be fruitfully understood as a elusive. Many participants were filmmak- tween labor and management, the move- response to the deeply felt marginality of local manifestation of a broader social phe- ers without official Chinese Communist ment proposed that the people who actually scholars and artists in modern China. If it nomenon in modern China: the rise of Party affiliation or extensive knowledge of made films should also make key company was difficult to change the society at large, drama societies, student associations, study Marxist theory but with a general sympa- decisions, in order thereby to eliminate ex- the formation of local communes could at groups, political societies, and scholarly thy for progressive and patriotic goals. As- ploitation and individualism by encourag- least provide a concrete small-scale model journals in the universities and urban cen- sociational networks were not only or even ing the sharing of technical expertise and for a future world. In the case of Hong ters following the fall of the Qing dynasty primarily cemented by a shared commit- the rule of the majority. The Film Collectiv- Kong, communalism arguably provided a in 1911. These manifold groups, which may ment to Marxist or socialist ideals, but also ization Movement was therefore underlain Utopian paradigm of a future socialist soci- be defined as "assodational public spheres/' by interpersonal networks formed in drama by a political commitment to radical egali- ety for film workers in a colonial environ- were not so much centralized, disciplined societies and educational institutions. The tarianism (Lin 32). ment which severely restricted their oppor- organizations as loose groupings whose 1949 Association of Film Workers in China Perhaps the most important of the cin- tunities for free political expression. members would often join and leave de- was animated by the aspiration of promot- ema cooperatives inspired by the move- Hong Kong left-wing cinema activities pending on the evolution of their academic ing Chinese cinema interests against the ment was the Fifties Film Company (Wush- of the late 1940s and early 1950s incorpo- interests, political commitments, and per- economic imperialism of Hollywood cin- iniandai), headed by a key figure in the left- rated selective anarchist ideas, particularly sonal relations. They also tended to be ex- ema. Its roster included actors Wu Chufan, ist Shanghai film industry, Cheng Bugao, an emphasis on collective script-writing tremely eclectic and open to manifold, actress Bai Yan, writer Lu Dun, and others. who had directed the silent adaptation of and the sharing of expertise/ but the com- though almost invariably modern and fre- Although these film workers were largely Mao Dun's short story Spring Silkworms/ munist emphasis on party discipline soon quently radical, ideas (Dirlik 172-7). These of Cantonese origin, they had been born in Chuncan (1933). While the company's mem- asserted itself as the dominant principle of informal associations often helped to con- the Mainland rather than Hong Kong and bers were not necessarily anarchists, anar- organization in the leftist film industry. The solidate a progressive or radical identity for brought with them a strong commitment to chism exerted at least an indirect influence Fifties cooperative was reorganized in 1952 its members, create a sense of community, the fate of the modern Chinese nation: Wu's on their ideal of film production. The anar- as a Communist-financed film company, provide moral support during times of po- birthplace was Tianjin, but his parents were chist vision of free association had partly Phoenix (Fenghuang), after the decision of litical adversity, introduce European and both from Fujien province, and both Bai shaped the political outlook of many mod- several of its original members to move to North American literature and philosophy, Yan and Lu Dun had been born in the re- ern Chinese intellectuals. As historian Arif the People's Republic of China. One of interpret and discuss the socioeconomic gional capital of Guangzhou. Looking at Dirlik has put it, China's anarchists wanted Shanghai's most prominent directors, Zhu situation of China, and organize publica- Hong Kong from a patriotic standpoint, to abolish those institutions that "divided Shilin, remained in Hong Kong to supervise tions, strikes, speeches, demonstrations, these filmmakers had met one another dur- people from one another, and obstructed the transformation of the company, consoli- and other political activities. The groups ing various previous activities, building the creation of an organic society that de- dating a more rationalized management supplied an institutional context where in- personal contacts that provided the basis rived its cohesiveness not from coercion but structure and directing or co-directing sev- dividuals defined their identity as intellec- for their cooperation in the cinema. Direc- from the 'natural' tendency of humankind eral of its films (Rayns 1990, 57). Before his tuals and recognized each other on the ba- tors Li Chenfeng and Wu Hui, as well as to voluntary association" (Dirlik 80). Al- appointment in the Phoenix company, Zhu sis of a shared commitment to the "salva- scriptwriter and actor Lu Dun, were all though communists characteristically em- Shilin had already formed friendships with tion" or "strengthening" of China. One of graduates of the Guandong College of The- phasized centralized discipline rather than Chinese Communist Party members Qi the main pillars behind Mao's success in the atrical Arts who had formed a theatre group free federation as the basis of an effective Vyenshao, Bai Cen, and Lu Yu during their mainland was precisely his organizational during the Second World War to aid in the mass movement, many party leaders had work together in the Longma Film Com- ability to enlist the support of many mem- war effort and refused to work for the Japa- absorbed anarchist values in their youth. pany since 1950. Those interpersonal net- bers of these "progressive" cultural circles, nese film industry during the Occupation of Praising Kropotkin's ideals of "mutual aid" works probably played an important role in to transform their loose associational Hong Kong. Another prominent figure of and "voluntary labor" as fundamental prin- bringing Zhu within a communist sphere of spheres into more or less disciplined party the left was actor Wu Chufan, who had also influence. Informal contacts among fellow j organizations, and to interoret for the intel- been rlnsplv invnlvprl in snrh left-unnir a^- Pnrf <;rrint

tivities as the Clean-up Campaign. Many of of Marxist study groups coordinated di- stream publications-Sing Tao Daily, Wah where working class actions demanding them would eventually move to establish rectly or indirectly by Xinhua (cf Law 16-17). Yzu Kat Pao, and the Kung Sheung Daily - lower hours, better conditions, or higher an important cinema cooperative, Zhong- Those groups sometimes cued film workers also retained close management and per- pay also retained a strongly nationalistic lian, also known as the Union (Ltd.) Film to penetrate and reorganize the manage- sonnel contacts with the Guomindang and and anti-imperialist ethos. The colonial gov- Company. Although not officially funded ment struchire of private film companies. In adopted a more anti-communist political eminent itself often insisted that many in- by the PRC, the Zhonglian films sometimes 1948, for instance, Shanghai entrepreneur line. While the leftist political newspapers dustrial conflicts in post-war Hong Kong received distribution in the mainland. Zhang Shankun had established his own were officially registered both in Hong were connected to mainland-based commu- Many of these actors had also joined leftist Great Wall (Chang Cheng) studio but was Kong and the mainland, their right-wing nist organizations, describing them as trade unions like the Association of Can- forced to resign as early as 1950, when left- counterparts were registered in Hong Kong "labour disputes where politics dominates tonese Film Workers and the Hong Kong ist personnel effectively brought the com- and Taiwan (Chan 14-15). Supportive film economics," but it seldom considered the Travelling Mandarin Film People Associa- pany under pro-communist management reviews, articles/ and other forms of public possibility that those disputes may also tion and actively promised to promote only (Jarvie 29). Another strategy of organiza- exposure in partisan publications remained have been motivated (at least in part) by a educational films with a social conscious- tional hegemony was the establishment of an important form of linkage between po- genuine grass-root hostility towards colo- ness (Jarvie 29). These interpersonal net- mainland-backed exhibition venues de- litical parties and the Hong Kong cinema nial rule and economic exploitation (Leung works of associational public spheres com- voted to the screening of mainland films world. Critics in the leftist press often en- 1991, 21). An important reason behind the prised anti-imperialist and "progressive" and Hong Kong left-wing productions. couraged viewers to attend patriotic films initial success of communist organizational I sectors of the educated, urban middle Films produced by the "leftist" film compa- and sometimes to scorn Hollywood films, hegemony within the labor movement was classes who regarded film and literature as nies sometimes even enjoyed distribution particularly during the Korean War (Jarvie almost certainly the widespread perception instruments of social reform (Choi). rights in the mainland, which was other- 31). Ta Kung Pao also provided a forum that the CCP, which had achieved a re- wise largely closed to Hong Kong produc- where leftist filmmakers could publish ar- sounding success against the Guomindang tions since 1950. Occasional awards in the tistic manifestoes about, say, the collectiv- in the mainland, was uniquely capable of XlNHUA AS AN AGENT P.R.C. also served to communicate political ization movement (Lin 32). The cinema was strengthening the Chinese nation against OF ORGANIZATIONAL HEGEMONY approval of individual films. Thus even a thus incorporated into a larger communist foreign imperialism. Hong Kong labor activities were coor- Leftist activities in the Hong Kong film Hong Kong production not directly fi- organizational network. The FRC effec- nanced with mainland funds, the Zhonglian lively maintained an institutional system of dinated since 1947 by the pro-communist industry were to a large extent funded and Federation of Trade Unions, which received coordinated through the New China News company's Spring/Chun (Li Chenfeng,1953), vertical integration in Hong Kong film PRC funds via Xinhua ("Money from Chu-ia"). Agency (Xinhua). Since the official procla- was awarded an Honorable Mention by the circles whereby production, exhibition, and mation of the PRC in 1949, the Hong Kong Cultural Department of the PRC in 1957 (Yu criticism could be readily coordinated. Hong Kong's customary "contractor sys- tem" of employment enabled the Federa- Branch of Xinhua functioned as a represen- 44). Leftist Hong Kong productions re- leased in the Cantonese dialect were typi- tion to monopolize jobs in various trades tative of the new communist government in and industries to the exclusion of rival the British colony. Ostensibly a news orga- cally dubbed into standard Mandarin for THE LABOR MOVEMENT nization, only a small proportion of its staff mainland release, sometimes with a differ- This pro-China cinema sector was con- right-wing unions ("Nationalists"). Con- actually belonged to its news division. ent title. Another Zhonglian production, nected to the Hong Kong labor movement. trary to the widespread stereotype that Xinhua not only interacted with the colonial Father and Son/Fu Yu Zi (Wu Hui, 1954) was The penetration of local working class ac- Hong Kong workers are largely passive, the authorities but also funded, coordinated, probably distributed in the mainland as tivities by communist organizers facilitated territory's labor relations were anything but and supervised various leftist organizations Dream of Vanity ./ 'Fanhua lAeng. The title ! the formation of a pro-China network of peaceful: a staggering sixty-eight strikes in Hong Kong/ such as banks/ newspapers/ change undoubtedly helped to shift atten- film institutions. The communist influence took place between 1950 and 1960, and tion away from the film's genre links to the on the colony's organized labor had in- there were one hundred ninety-three strikes trade unions, schools, publishing houses, in the following decade (Young 146). The film studios, and movie theatres (Loong15 family melodrama and towards the didac- creased during the war of resistance against ff). The agency thus played a key role in the tie social messages of the film. Japan, when the main Chinese guerilla peaks of labor activism in Hong Kong took integration of Hong Kong cultural activities The Hong Kong press also played a key forces in Guangdong province were domi- place in the years that preceded and imme- role in the political polarization of the film nated by the left. Many people who had fled diately followed the 1949 establishment of within a centralized organizational net- the P.R.C, and also during the climax of the work. The so-called "left-wing" film indus- industry. Xinhua supervised the pro-com- Hong Kong to join the resistance effort out munist mainland-backed newspapers Ta of patriotic sentiments became convinced Cultural Revolution in 1967. An important try in Hong Kong largely comprised film incident that demonstrates the impact of companies directly funded with PRC capi- Kung Pao and Wen Wei Pao, both of which communists during the war and later en- tal and linked to Xinhua. took up a strongly anti-colonial and anti- gaged in labor activism back home (En- organized labor on the film industry in the Hong Kong pro-China personnel occa- imperialist standpoint, while the Guomin- gland 109-110). The experience of the anti- early 1950s occurred in the privately owned sionally was encouraged to adopt a com- dang established its own anti-communist Japanese struggle thus enhanced the human Yonghua company. Workers demanded munist value system through the formation publication. The Hong Kong Times, in 1949. resources and organizational penetration of back payments and brought about a costly In addition, several privately owned main- the CCP in the Hong Kong labor movement, strike in 1952, when the company was al- ready suffering heavy losses. The Hong and that many activists were in the process nial regime responded with mass arrests, sources of the leftist film industry and other Kong government deported more than of being deported precisely in order to seizures of weapons and suspected bombs, organs of the PRC in Hong Kong in a col- twenty striking workers, including such avoid a repetition of the events in Malaya and emergency regulations prohibiting any lective effort of mass activism which was communist directors as Shen Ji and Sima ("Communists in Hong Kong"). display of "inflammatory" wall posters suppressed by colonial authorities. Wensen, who were accused of plotting on The crucial motive behind government (Scott 96-106). Police raids targeted leftist The release of several political activists behalf of the People's Republic (Leyda 274; activities was to prevent the formation of schools, union halls, and movie theatres in from prison throughout 1968, however, Law 17). Despite their claim to political neu- independent networks of political actiyists order to wipe out agitational posters, quo- probably marked a conciliatory British ges- trality, colonial authorities had actually actively engaged in the subversion of colo- tations from Chairman Mao, and other sub- ture towards Beijing (/'Fu Chi"). The colo- worked to enhance the power of capitalist nial rule. Instead, authorities wanted to pro- versive displays, which sometimes were nial regime kept on making highly visible management by deporting the more active mate an apolitical public culture hostile to replaced with police posters ("Day-long film workers. There was in other words a efforts to accomodate pressure from the the formation of oppositional organiza- Operation"). Leftist cinemas often also PRC. Although its exhibition license had close alignment between the interests of tions. The inescapable reality of a commu- doubled as study centers or strategic posts been officially revoked on a permanent ba- private cinema entrepreneurs and the colo- nist victory in the mainland, however, for the labor movement, and the police re- sis in 1967, the Silver Theatre was allowed nial regime. forced Britain to temper its confrontational sponded accordingly (Ng). On June 13, to open again for business on May 23 of The Yonghua strike had taken place approach towards the new socialist govern- 1967, the Governor-in-Council cancelled the 1968. The venue's gala opening took place during a politically tense historical mo- ment. By 1952, London had effectively license of one pro-communist movie house in a festive mood that combined political ment. In 1949, the Hong Kong government abandoned preparations for a full-scale in Kuntong, the Silver Theatre, and sent riot assertiveness with show business glitter: had already built air-raid shelters, strength- defense of Hong Kong against a Commu- police to tear down offensive displays and ened the police force, and increased the decorated with prominent red flags and nist invasion, reducing the local garrison to close down the premises the following quotations by Mao Zedong, the gala pre- armed forces to more than 30,000. The Leg- those forces necessary for the maintenance night: "The audience, who were still inside, miere was attended by the most famous islative Council had also adopted new leg- of internal security and the supervision of were allowed to file out one by one" ("Po- leftist stars of the territory and included a islation that, in the name of public security, a potential evacuation. The Hong Kong lice Close Down Theater"). cocktail reception for 700 ("Back in Busi- required all residents over twelve years of government largely tolerated Communist Leftist film stars also played a highly ness"; "Gala Day"). According to newspa- age to carry an identity card, granted the Party activities in the colony, including the visible role during the riots by taking part per reports, the first film screened would police special rights to search private production of left-wing films, so long as in demonstrations, distributing food and houses and deport undesirables, and made not be "politically inclined", but rather the they did not in the government's judgment towels to striking workers, and making "swordfighting thriller" I Come Back Again/ the registration of societies a police affair pose a substantial threat to the basic colo- other public demonstrations of support Wo You Huilai, described in the press as "a (Young 136). The government's mood was nial situation. At the same time, the PRC ("Sympathisers"). Prominent actress Shek current hit in the Mandarin movie world" one of extreme anxiety over the potential government did not promote intense labor Wei and her husband Fu Chi joined a com- produced by the leftist Phoenix Company expansion of communism throughout confrontations throughout the rest of the munist umbrella group, the All Cirlces ("Back in Business"). The nature of this South East Asia, a region where the British 1950s and early 1960s, perhaps because it Anti-British Persecution and Struggle Com- choice exemplifies how commercial pres- empire retained considerable economic and continued to earn millions of pounds annu- mittee, and were arrested by the colonial sures tended to attenuate the encoding of political interests. In November of 1948, ally-up to one third of its total foreign ex- regime in July of 1967. The government's British representative in South-east Asia partisan messages even in "pro-China" pro- change revenues-through its own organi- initial plan was to deport them to the main- ductions, encouraging a certain thematic Malcolm McDonald had called for "stepped zations in Hong Kong ("HK: Static or land, but when the PRC authorities refused homogeneity that cut across the political up British diplomacy" in the region as a Storm"; Harris 9). to authorize their entry, the two stars were divide between left and right. Leftist films response to "the threat of communism"; his A challenge to this fragile balance be- imprisoned in the Victoria Detention Camp. often drew on a broadly "progressive" clus- stated objective was to promote "methods tween the colonial regime and its commu- Shek Wei was finally released only in Oc- ter of values derived from the New Culture of preventing the floodtide of Red success nist neighbor occurred during the social tober of the following year, while Fu Chi and May Fourth Movements in early mod- from spilling Southward" ("Red Danger"). "disturbances" which lasted from May to inexplicably remained in confinement for ern China. Those values emphasized the Anxiety over the fate of Hong Kong fol- December of 1967. Inspired by China's Cul- an additional two-month period ("Commu- oppressiveness of traditional superstitions lowed an explosion of communist "terror- tural Revolution, local Red Guards insti- nist Film Star"; "Fu Chi"). Husband and and family values while praising commu- ism" in Malaya in 1948, which had led Brit- gated against colonialism, while leftist trade wife continued their political activities af- nal solidarity and sometimes mildly critidz- ish foreign secretary Ernest Bevin to de- union activists engaged in strikes, work ter their long captivity, appearing in a ing landlords and rich businessmen in a nounce this putative "communist plan to stoppages, bomb attacks, street demonstra- highly publicized press conference together social realist vein. Proclamations and mani- drive every Western association out of tions, violent clashes with the police, and with Fei Yi-ming, publisher of the pro-com- festoes by pro-China filmmakers often Southeast Asia ("Communists Warned"). attacks against rightist personalities. munist newspaper Ta Kung Pao, to demand drew on what may be described as a dis- Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech-Jones Helped by a fresh injection of Xinhua funds, the release of all communist prisoners in noted that the activities of communists in course of quality, calling for a more profes- the Federation of Trade Unions often coor- Hong Kong ("Three Demands"). The events sional attitude towards filmmaking. Hong Kong were being closely watched dinated those activities, to which the colo- of 1967 therefore mobilized the human re- On the whole, the paucity of overtly

Volume 19, No. 1 112 Post Scrint 10 Mn 1 partisan agitation and propaganda films fully petitioned the Film Review Board,an estimate about the 1960s, the Hong Kong cemented by close economic and personal r appeal body technically independent of the studios derived about 60% of their com- was partly a consequence of the economic ties between the Guomindang regime and constraints of a capitalist cinema market Film Censorship Board, to overturn the bined total earnings from Malaysia, 30% the creative and managerial personnel of and the political pressures of British colo- decision ("Film Row"). The British authori- from Taiwan, and the rest from Hong Kong Hong Kong companies. nial censorship. But this situation was prob- ties' refusal to permit the screening of the and other areas in the region (Chang 15). The Guomindang also used economic ably also encouraged by the improvement films probably demonstrates their fear of iuch economic considerations compelled pressures for political ends by means of its in relations between the PRC government facing additional grass-root riots at a tune some private entrepreneurs to establish in- control over some trade associations. and Britain immediately after the Cultural when the 1967 protests had already come to timate ties with the Guomindang regime in Formed in 1957, the right-wing Hong Kong Revolution, a period of relatively low in- an uneasy end. Angry letters to English lan- order to secure stable access to the lucrative and Kowloon Cinematic Theatrical Enter- dustrial conflicts in Hong Kong (Leung guage newspapers claimed that the two and politically stable Taiwan market. prise Free General Association Ltd., also 1991, 24-5). By early 1968, Premier Zhou banned films would have anyway been Guomindang authorities in Taiwan known as the Freedom Association, has Enlai had reportedly called off all labor agi- shown without English or Chinese subtitles systematically manipulated the capitalist been described by Hong Kong filmmaker tation activities and agreed to foster a nor- and could therefore not possibly harm any- structure of Hong Kong film production for Ann Hui in the following terms: mal working environment in the colony one outside of the Pakistani community. political ends, securing the loyalty of many ("Hong Kong Communists"). In exchange, One Pakistani distributor observed that he private Hong Kong film companies through ... every film worker, including tech- nicians and especially directors and the colonial regime increased its censorship had previously handled three Indian and itrictly economic pressures: no politically of right-wing Hong Kong films and anti- Pakistani films with strong anti-imperialist offensive film would be granted a Taiwan- actors, has to join this society for a nominal fee of 30 Hong Kong dollars communist Taiwan-made productions po- messages, all of which had been passed by ese distribution license, thus effectively a year. If you do not enroll as a mem- tentially offensive to the mainland govern- the censors and provoked no violent clashes cutting off the picture in question from one ment (Loong 65-6; Teo 40; Miners 228-9). among viewers (Khan; see also Shah). This of the most lucrative Chinese markets in ber, your name cannot appear on the Perhaps the most famous case of political comment brings out the inconsistency with South East Asia. Direct Guomindang sup- credits of the movie. [It] is really a censorship concerned rightist director Long which the Censorship Board conducted its port for the right-wing industry in Hong political association, because you have to subscribe to the politics of Gang's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow/ work: as chief film censor William Hung Cong was institutionalized through a series Taiwan-of anti-Communist China. Zuotian, Jintian, Mingtian (1970), a film put it in a different context: "There are no >f activities that included loans, cash And you are not permitted by the which used the plot of Albert Camus' The hard and fast rules for censoring films" I awards, tax deductions, and festival prizes, society to go to China to shoot a film, Plague as a conservative allegory of the 1967 ("The Old Ban"). all of which were systematically used to not even an anti-Communist or non- labor conflicts. Censors held its release back reward loyal producers and directors. In political film. If you do, you are faced for two years and only approved a revised, 1956, the Guomindang's Ministry of Educa- heavily edited version. In a similar vein, THE RIGHT-WING FILM INDUSTRY I tion established a Committee of Motion Pic- with the prospect that not only will Taiwan not buy your movie, but that Tang Shuxuan's critical depiction of the In addition to the New China News [ture promotion and Development to allo- they also won't buy any of your fol- Cultural Revolution, China Behind/Zaijian Agency, the anti-communist Guomindang :ate subsidies to, and otherwise regulate, lowing movies. (Kennedy 47) Zhongguo (1974) and the Taiwan-made anti- regime also played a role in the politid- 'overseas (mainly Hong Kong) productions. communist film The Coldest Winter in zation of Hong Kong cinema circles. In this In March 1962, a set of Regulations Con- No Hong Kong filmmaker could obtain Beijing/Wangtian Houtu (Bai Jingrui, 1981) context, it is important to appreciate that all cerning Goverment Loans for Mandarin an entry visa into Taiwan without the Free- were banned initially, although they were local filmmaking organizations shared a [Film Production was put into effect in or- dom Society's approval (Liu 55). At the same all eventually released (Loong 66; Teo 41). crucial characteristic with almost the entire |der to govern a credit account established time, the Guomindang and the United States Movie censorship following the 1967 manufacturing sector in Hong Kong. The by the Government Information Office to government provided funding for sympa- riots not only affected the Chinese and Tai- small size of the local market simply could help "national" language producers, a defi- thetic companies. In addition to the ubiqui- wanese motion picture industries, but also not profitably absorb a large production [nition which covered Hong Kong compa- tous Voice of America radio broadcasts, US the local distribution of other Asian films. output. Local production therefore de- [nies working in Mandarin (China Yearbook funds backed the Asia Foundation-which In June of 1968, the Film Censorship Board pended on overseas markets which were 1962-3 581). Any Hong Kong studio film provided financial backing for the cultural banned two Pakistani films, Farangee and often highly volatile due to political up- ihot in Taiwan was considered eligible for activities of anti-communist intellectuals- Jaage Utha Insan, for the reason that "they heavals, changing protectionist policies, tax deductions. This measure not only en- as well as the Asia News Agency with its might incite public disorder and racial dis- and competition from other newly industri- couraged co-productions between the two publishing arm Asia Press and its Asia Film order," provoking ethnic conflicts between alizing nations (Leung 1996,4-6). When the [industries but also tightened the Guomin- Company, established in 1953 and closed the Indian and Pakistani communities in the mainland market was largely closed to [dang's political control because any over- down due to cut-backs in US aid five years territory ("Row over Ban"; "Film Man"). Hong Kong films other than a handful of ^eas filmmaker seeking Taiwan locations later (Law 18). Asia Film Company releases Mr. M. A. Baig, manager of Crescent Busi- leftist productions, local companies imme- |was required to submit a script in advance would receive extensive publicity in the ness International, the distribution com- diately turned to other areas with sizable |(Liu 56). The "right-wing" faction of Hong Asia Pictorial, a U.S.-sponsored publication pany which handled both films, unsuccess- Chinese populations. According to a rough |K.ong was an institutionalized phenomenon modeled after Life magazine. ration", adding that Love Eterne was seen by National Day festivities in Octoberof l964-| SHAW BROTHERS simultaneously, thus minimizing produc- almost two thirds of Taipei's population for instance, is an impressive roster of the The most efficiently rationalized film tion costs. Smaller companies in Taiwan and out-grossed even Ben Hur. The celebra- shidio's major stars, including Wang Lai, Le often lacked elaborate facilities and needed organization in the right-wing camp was tory tone with which the article described Di, Ivy Ling Po, and Li Lihua, whose pres- undoubtedly Shaw Brothers. The Shaw greater capital investments to produce simi- a Chinese film successfully competing ence was highly publicized in the official Brothers empire was characterized by an larly elaborate historical epics and period against US imports typifies an important musicals. press as a ceremonial demonstration of loy- intense concentration and centralization of discourse among Taiwan and Hong Kong alty ("Guo Qing"). The regime clearly ex- capital. Concentration occurs whenever in- In the mid-seventies, the coyipany filmmakers, which cannot be fully dis- tracted political capital out of the support dividual corporations or firms employ owned 143 theaters throughout South East cussed here: the struggle to conquer the lo- of popular actors and actresses, but its po- more labor power, own more industrial Asia and North America. Shaw's publicity cal market against foreign competition. As litical influence extended into the top-level machinery and premises, and otherwise department relentlessly published such well, the magazine emphasized that the management and creative personnel. One expand their absolute size relative to other periodicals as Southern Screen (Nanguo film had been well-received by both native- of the most commercially successful Shaw competitors. Centralization occurs when- Dianying) to promote upcoming releases. born Taiwanese and mainlander viewers, filmmakers was Zhang Che, who had lived ever fewer companies employ a relatively The magazine carefully reproduced a star thus highlighting the growing capacity of in Taiwan throughout the fifties, collabo- larger amount of the total labor force and system, including photos of new studio ac- the Mandarin cinema to cross over into a rated with authorities in the making of manage the production of relatively more tors, highlighting their fashions and hair local market previously dominated by Tai- Storm over Mt. Ali/Ahlishan Yunfeng (1949). profit (O'Connor 43). The Shaw economic styles, providing biographical information, wanese dialect films. The growth of a ratio- Another key figure within the company structure was based on a principle of verti- and summarizing their recent activities. An nalized studio system in Hong Kong mod- was actor and director Wang Hao, a main- cal integration inspired by the Hollywood important editorial strategy consisted in eled after, and meant to compete against, lander from Tianjin who had created the studios before the end of the Second World humanizing the stars by describing their the Hollywood paradigm was partly re- Haiyan Film Company in 1952 and directed War. The company controlled its own film feelings and hopes, sometimes in the form sponsible for the switch of a local Taiwan- the fiercely anti-communist prisoner of war production facilities, publicity networks, of a dramatic narrative. A January 1964 is- ese-speaking audience from Taiwanese dia- film 14,000 Witnesses (1962), produced and exhibition outlets (Ray ns ,60). Its ini- sue, for instance, included photographs of lect films to Mandarin films. jointly with Taiwan's Huaqiao Company. tial resources included the ownership over Shaw star Ivy Ling Po during a trip to Tai- The economic success of the Shaw The fact that he was invited to host the 16th 100 film theaters and nine amusement parks wan with a text presumably written by the Brothers studio in the Taiwan market was Golden Horse Awards and serve in the jury throughout South East Asia in addition to actress herself. Using a rather hyperbolic partly a political phenomenon made pos- of the 17th edition further evidences his a substantial family fortune that provided language, the piece described Ling Pc's feel- sible by the company's Guomindang con- institutional affinity with the Guomindang the necessary initial capital for its produc- ings as her plane approached the city nections. This political alliance was but- regime (The China Factor 130). tion and distribution facilities. In 1958, Run ("Would they like me? Would they give me tressed by the company's willingness to Despite the extensive political connec- Run Shaw had constructed several studios the cold shoulder?") and the enthusiastic publicize the Guomindang's own film pro- tions between Shaw Brothers and the and films theaters, set up acting schools to reception she encountered ("There they ductions in the pages of Southern Screen. The Guomindang, there is no evidence to sup- train the company's own contract stars came by the thousands. In swarms, droves, January 1964 issue, for instance, included a port the conclusion that every, or even (over 1,500), and brought film technicians like ocean waves, surging forward towards two-page report on the location shooting of most, of the films produced by Shaw Broth- from Japan and the US to act as instructors me. Every face was a cordial smile.") (Po the Taiwan-made wide-screen colour pro- ers and other "right-wing" film companies for his technical crew. The result of these 126). duction Oyster Girl generously illustrated consistently adhered to a pro-Taipei line. efforts was the monumental 46-acre Movie The Shaw production, distribution, with photographs of the main cast and pro- There were of course some political projects Town, which included ten studios and 16 and advertising strategies were to prove ducer Henry Kung ("Intended" 121-2). The with a patriotic content but, in general, the exterior sets, living quarters for the staff, as extraordinarily successful in entering the film was made by Central Motion Pictures Guomindang's Hong Kong activities seem well as dubbing studios and laboratories. Taiwan market: each year between 1961 and Corporation (CMPC), one of four studios to have more successful in establishing an The Shaw production policy in the late 1963, the top grossing Chinese film in Tai- owned by the Guomindang in Taiwan. The institutional presence in the territory's cin- 1950s and the first half of the 1960s empha- wan was a Shaw Brothers production. The political ties of large-scale Hong Kong stu- ema circles than in securing the production sized period films which required expen- most successful was of course Liang Shanho dios ran deeper than is normally acknowl- of policy films. Filmmakers very often sive sets, thus driving many smaller com- yu Zhu Yingtai/The Love Eterne (Li Hanxiang, edged. In February of 1968, for instance, strove to ensure wide audience appeal panics out of business by augmenting film 1963), a period film with songs which sold executives of the Shaw Brothers and Cathay rather than advance the political agenda of over 720,000 tickets in Taiwan (Cai 19). The production costs. Period films were rela- studios signed a pact in Taibei in pledging any given organization. Even a more tradi- tively inexpensive for the Shaw studio to rightist regime rewarded Shaw Brothers by not to distribute or exhibit films made in tionalist Shaw production like Love Eterne, produce because the company owned bestowing its "Golden Horse" annual Mainland China ("Red Movie Ban"). for instance, contained a politically ambiva- 80,000 costumes of different historical peri- award on the film. Southern Screen gleefully In addition, the Shaw management and lent plot-a young woman disguises herself ods as well as exterior sets which could be reported that "never before in China's his- its creative personnel often attended official as a man in order to enter a Confucian reused in different productions, sometimes tory has a picture-Chinese or foreign- celebrations in Taiwan. The guest list for the school but then falls in love with a young been welcomed with such fervor and ado-

Volume 19, No. 1 117 Post Script Voliimfi 19 Nn 1 11,, Pnct <;rrint 'J scnolar-that can be interpreted from dif- Works Cited ferent social and political perspectives. The "Hong Kong Communists Betrayed." Hong "The Old Ban Stays." Hong Kong Standard "Back m Business." Hong Kong Standard (May Kong Standard (February 6,1968). (July 12,1969). dialogue, which explicitly affirms the equal- 23,1968). "Intended for Asian Festival." Southern Screen ity of men and women, puts forth a progres- Po, Ivy Ling. "The Unforgettable 50 Hours m sive denunciation of "feudal" patriarchy Cai Guorong. Lishi Niandai Guopian Mingdao 71 (January 1964): 121-2. My Life." Southern Screen 71 (January that can accommodate both a communist Mmgzou Xuan [Celebrated National Direc- Jarvie, lan. Window on Hong Kong (Hong 1964): 126. and a Guomindang framework. On the torsofthe 1960s]. Taipei: Republic of China Kong: University of Hong Kong, 1977). "Police Close Down Theatre." Hong Kong Film Development Foundation, 198^. Law Kar. "The Shadow of Tradition and the Standard (June 15,1967). other hand, the young woman Zhu Yingtai Chan, Joseph Man. Shifting Journalistic Para- finally emphasizes her filial respect for her Left-Right Struggle." The China Factor in Rayns, Tony. "The Redirected Embrace." The father and maintains her chastity, thus re- digms: Mass Media and Political Transition Hong Kong Cinema. Hong Kong: The Ur- China Factor in Hong Kong Cinema. Hong affirming a certain traditionalist element. in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Chmese ban Council, 1990.15-20. Kong: The Urban Council, 1990. 49-57. University of Hong Kong, 1987. Kennedy, Harlan. "Boat People." Film Comment .. "La Veritable Histoire des Freres Shaw." Chang, Tsuh-chuan. "New Look in Asian 19.5 (October 1983): 41-47. Cahiers du Cinema 351 (September 1983): CONCLUSION Movies." Free China Review 4.7 Khan, N. "The Banning of a Film." Hong Kong 59-60. 1964): 15. The linkage between the Hong Kong Standard (September 5,1968). "Red Danger in South-east Asia." South China China Yearbook 1962-3. Taipei: China Publish- Leung, Benjamin K.P. Perspectives on Hong Morning Post (November 30,1948): 7. film industry and Chinese national parties ing Corporation, 1963. can be described in terms of five institu- Kong Society. Hong Kong: Oxford UP, "Red movie ban pledged by film bosses." Choi Po-kmg. "From Dependence to Self-Suf- 1996. tional mechanisms: (i) the funding of and Hong Kong Standard (February 27, 1968). fidency: Rise of the Indigenous Culture -. Social M.ovement as Cognitive Praxis: The "Row over Ban on Two Films." Hong Kong managerial control over cinema organiza- of Hong Kong, 1945-1989." Asian Culture tions, (ii) critical support in either the left- Case of the Student and Labour Movements Standard (June 30,1968). 14 (April 1990): 161-77. ist or rightist Hong Kong press; (iii) awards in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Univer- Scott, lan. Political Change and the Crisis ofLe- and other forms of financial assistance "Communist Film Star Shek Wei..." Hong sity of Hong Kong, 1991. gitimacy in Hong Kong. Honolulu: U of Kong Standard (October 13,1968). Leyda, Jay. Dianying: An Account of Films and Hawaii P, 1989. given by either Beijing or Taipei; (iv) par- 'Communists in Hong Kong." South China tidpation by creative personnel in cultural the Film Audience in China. Cambridge: Sek Kei. "Zhu Shilin: A Critique." A Compara- Morning Post (November 26,1948): 1. MIT Press, 1972. movements, labor disputes, or trade and tive Study of Post-War Mandarin and cultural associations with political affilia- 'Communists Warned: Ugly head of civil war Un Nien-tung. "Some Problems m the Study Cantonese Cinema: the Films ofZhu Shilin, tion, and (v) distribution rights in either the will be stamped out." South China Morn- of Cantonese Films of the 1950s." Can- Qinjian and Other Directors. Hong Kong: Chinese mainland or Taiwan. The politics ing Post (September 17,1948): 1. tonese Cinema Retrospective (1950-1959). The Urban Council, 1983. of film culture was not, however, only 'Day-long Operation Against Leftists." The Hong Kong: The Urban Council, 1978. Selznick, Philip. The Organizational Weapon: A based on the political or social convictions Hong Kong Standard (July 21, 1967). Liu Hsien-cheng. "Interacting Cinema Develop- Study of Bolshevik Strategy and Tactics. of participants but also on networks of in- Dirlik, Arif. The Origins of Chinese Communism. ment between Taiwan and Hong Kong: Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1960. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. terpersonal relations among fellow film The Past and the Fuhire." A Perspective of Shah, Badri. "Banning of a Movie." Hong Kong workers who had collaborated in film and England, Joe. Industrial Relations and Law in Hong Chinese Cinemas of the 90s. Taipei: Golden Standard (September 9,1968). drama projects. These institutional mecha- Kong. Hong Kong: Oxford UP, 1989. Horse Film Festival, 1994.53-58. "Sympathisers Give Moral Support." Hong "Film Man will Petition Censor Board's Verdict." nisms worked in a sociocultural environ- Loong Sin. A Shadow Government of Hong Kong Standard (May 11,1967). ment that included at least the following Hong Kong Standard (September 2, 1968). Kong. Hong Kong: Hai San, 1985. (in Teo, Stephen. "Political and Social Issues m characteristics: (i) efforts by colonial au- "Film Row Going On." Hong Kong Standard Chinese) Hong Kong Cinema." Changes in Hong thorities to forge a depoliticized public cul- Ouly21,1968). Miners, Norman. The Government and Politics Kong Society Through Cinema. (Hong ture; (ii) the changing relationship between "Fu Chi, 4 Top Reds Are Freed." Hong Kong ofHongKong. Hong Kong: Oxford UP, 1995. Kong: The Urban Council, 1988. 38-41. Beijing and London in a cold war context; Standard (December 12,1968). "Money from China." The Hong Kong Standard "Three Demands." Hong Kong Standard (De- and finally (iii) the economic realities of a "Gala Day for Reds." Hong Kong Standard (August 1,1967). cember 21, 1968). capitalist film market, which encouraged (May 24,1968). "Nationalists in the Limelight." The Hong Young, John D. "The Building Years: Main- the alignment of some "right-wing" compa- "Guo Qing Qun Xing Hui" (All-star gather- Kong Standard (June 2.8,1967). taining a China-Hong Kong-Britain nies with the Guomindang regime. ing for the National Day). Central Daily Ng Ho. "Anecdotes from Two Decades of Equilibrium, 1950-1971." In Precarious News (October 13,1963). ' Hong Kong Cinema: 1847-1967." A Com- Balance. Ed. Ming K. Chan. Armonk: E. Harris, Peter. Hong Kong: A Study in Bureau- pamtive Study ofPost-War Mandarin and M. Sharpe/1994.131-148. cratic Politics. Hong Kong: Heinemann Cantonese Cinema: the Films ofZhu Shilin, Yu Mo-Wan. "A Study of the Zhong Lian Asia, 1978 Qingjian and Other Directors. Hong Kong: Film Company." Cantonese Cinema Ret- "HK: Static or Storm." The Hong Kong Standard The Urban Council, 1983.139-146. respective (1960-69). Hong Kong; The ' (June 6,1967). O'Connor, James. The Corporations and the Urban Council, 1982. 41-45. State. New York: Harper and Row, 1974.

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