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Abstract
This paper traces the rise and fall of the Great Wall Film Company, a company that had its own unique philosophy of film production and exerted a great influence in the first years of Chinese cinema. Its authors have unearthed many primary archival materials related to the company. Adopting the perspective of the history of film companies and overseas Chinese studies, it undertakes a preliminary discussion of the establishment, development, and end of the Changcheng Film Company as well as its business philosophy and lessons. Finally, it puts forward some new explanations for the establishment of the ‘Changcheng School’.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Professor Jane M. Gaines at Columbia University, Professor Yi-wen Wang at Beijing Normal University, and Researcher Ning Xue at China Film Archive (Beijing).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 In the records of the New York City Municipal Archives, the English name of Changcheng Film Company is ‘The Great Wall Film Co’, which can be translated into ‘Changcheng yingpian gongsi’. In most Chinese historical research, however, this company is called ‘Changcheng huapian gongsi (the Great Wall Pictures Company)’. Thus, we will refer to Changcheng Film Company ‘Changcheng huapian gongsi’. Also, the Great Wall Manufacturing Pictures Company (Changcheng zhizao huapian gongsi) in the first section of this paper also refers to Changcheng Film Company. Changcheng’s original registration records are held in the Brooklyn Kings County Clerk’s Office, Certificate File (filing date: 4/16/1921).
2 The name ‘Changcheng’ has caused confusion leading to the misattribution of titles such as The Peerless Beauty (Juedai jiaren), Three Charming Smiles (San xiao), The Jade Bow (Yunhai yugong yuan), Romance on the Bus (Bashi qiyu jie liangyuan), and White-haired Devil Lady (Baifa monü zhuan), none of which were made by the ‘Changcheng’ company discussed here but by Changcheng Movie Enterprises Co. Ltd.
3 The 7 volumes of the Biography of Chinese Filmmakers were published by Zhongguo dianying chubanshe in April 1982, June 1984, June 1985, September 1985, and September 1986 with two volumes sometimes published in a single year.
4 Tr: The History of Development of Chinese Film is one of the most authoritative reference books for Chinese film history researchers.
5 Tr: New York State Archives records show that Funeral of Doctor Sun Yat Sen was exported to New York in 1927.
6 Eight Beauties in Jiaxing appeared in many advertisements for Changcheng films. For example, in the Changcheng Special Issue (Changcheng tekan) of Joys and Sorrows of Lovebirds (Kule yuanyang), the film trailer of Eight Beauties in Jiaxing was mentioned along with two other film trailers–A Flapper’s Downfall (Langnü qiongtu) and Shadow within Shadow (Ying zhong ying). See “Changcheng’s New Film Trailer,” Changcheng Special issue on Joys and Sorrows of Lovebirds, October 1926. The production of Eight Beauties in Jiaxing can also be found in historical books. See Junli Zheng, “Xiandai Zhongguo dianying shilüe” (A Brief History of Modern Chinese Film), in Zhongguo wusheng dianying (Chinese Silent Films), ed. China Film Archive (Beijing: Zhongguo dianying chubanshe, 1996), 1411. Tr: The authors use company advertisements as sources. However, the fact that a company advertises a film does not constitute evidence that it was finally produced and released or exhibited.
7 In the Changcheng Special Issue, many advertisements for this film can be found. In no. 12, Changcheng Special Issue on Huang Tianba zhaoqin, Shi Xiu sha sao, and Wu Song xuejian yuanyang lou, for example, advertisements state that the film was ‘directed and produced by Mei Xuechou, adapted and edited by Zhang Weitao, photography and lighting by Li Wenguang, setting and costumes by Wan Guchan’. In addition, it also points out that ‘The costumes of each person in the film have been specially designed, and the quality is way too excellent for those dumb costumes in other films to compare with’. It also says succinctly that ‘The film is being shot currently and will be released soon’. See Changcheng Special Issue, no. 12 (January 1928). In addition, in Yinxing one finds that ‘How Shui Bingxin Thrice Played Tricks on Guo Qizu (Shui bingxin san qi Guo Qizu) is a famous stage drama adapted from the Guangdong folk tale…. Changcheng has been preparing to film this drama for a long time. Written by Zhang Weitao and directed by Mei Xuechou, it was filmed at the same time as Kan The Great Knight Errant. Two-thirds of the film has been shot so far’. See “Recent news from Changcheng,” Yinxing, no. 18 (March 1928): 47.
8 See Changcheng Special issue on Joys and Sorrows of Lovebirds, October 1926. See also in Yinguang Magazine that ‘Changcheng has been greatly expanded, and the sales department has been relocated to No. 1 Ningbo Road. The new film Shadow within Shadow will be distributed soon’. See “Silver News,” Yinguang Magazine, no. 1 (November 1926): 36.
9 See the twelfth production preview of Changcheng in the Changcheng Special issue on A Flapper’s Downfall: ‘Kick in with One Foot is written by Sun Shiyi, directed by Li Zeyuan and Sun Shiyi, photographed by Li Zeyuan, and starring Li Huitang, the Chinese football king’. The advertisements for Little Buddy can be found in the Changcheng Special issue on Nezha is Born (Nezha chushi) and The Mountain of Fire (Huoyan shan) published in 1928.The introductions of the rest films appear in the fourteenth production preview of Changcheng in the Changcheng Special issue on A Flapper’s Downfall. None of these films appear in the appendix to Volume I of The History of Development of Chinese Film.
10 Ed: Xu (Citation1996, 85) claims that these two films stirred up the anger of overseas Chinese people in the spring of 1920. See Chihen Xu, “Hushang ge zhipian gongsi zhi chuanglishi ji jingguo qingxing (Establishment and Development of Film Companies in Shanghai),” in Chinese Silent Films, ed. China Film Archive (Beijing: Zhongguo dianying chubanshe, 1996), 82–96. However, The First Born was released in Jan 30, 1921 according to The Exhibitors Herald and Variety. See also Kenneth White Munden, The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Feature Films (1921–1930) (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), 248. Daisuke Miyao, Sessue Hayakawa: Silent Cinema and Transnational Stardom, Durham: Duke University Press, 2007, pp. says that although Hayakawa’s company name was on the film the Japanese actor lost control of the production.
11 Ed: The Red Lantern opens with the Alla Nazimova character, bi-racial Mahlee, attempting to cut her feet to satisfy the wish of her dying Chinese grandmother. See essays in the catalogue To Dazzle the Eye and Stir the Heart—The Red Lantern, Nazimova, and The Boxer Rebellion (Brussels: Cinematek, 2012).
12 Tr: See also Xu, “Establishment and Development of Film Companies in Shanghai” (1996, 85).
13 Tr: ‘Alovinne’ can be found in Filmdom in China with blurry printing. See Chihen Xu, Zhongguo yingxi daguan (Filmdom in China) (Beijing: Dongfang chubanshe, 2015, 38).
14 Some Chinese film history books assume that Mei Xuechou and Liu Zhaoming held positions in the Mun Hey (Minqi bao). According to our surveys conducted in the Harvard-Yenching Library and the New York Public Library, however, there were seven Chinese newspapers in New York in the 1920s and Mun Hey Daily (Minqi ribao) was one of them. Also, we did not find any record of Mun Hey. Thus we propose that When Mun Hey Daily was translated into Chinese, ‘Daily’ was eliminated by mistake.
15 Urban Motion Picture Industries Inc. operated various film-related businesses and in 1920 the company had up to 10 million U.S. dollars in capital when it was registered. See NYCMA Business Registry. Tr: A news story published in The Hartford Courant in 1921 reports that these two short films made by Changcheng were entitled ‘Chinese Customs’ and ‘Self Defense’. See “Chinese ‘Fourth of July’ Celebrated,” The Hartford Courant, October 10, 1921: 16.
16 Tr: See also Xu, “Establishment and Development of Film Companies in Shanghai” (1996, 85). The year Changcheng moved to China is said to be the summer of 1923. See Yubao Sun, “Changcheng huapian gongsi kuahai shijiankao (A Textual Research of the Exact Time When Changcheng Film Company Move to China),” Movie Literature, no. 2 (January 2010): 21–22.
17 Tr: ‘The director’ here refers to Li Zeyuan, the director of The Abandoned Wife (1924).
18 Changcheng preferred young and enthusiastic people who had good writing skills and a theoretical mindset. According to this preference, it hired some creative talents such as Hou Yao, Sun Shiyi, Chen Zhiqing, Zhang Weitao, and Cheng Bugao.
19 See Hanwen Xin, “Wei dianying qiantu nahan (Scream for the future of yingxi),” Changcheng Special issue on A String of Pearls, October 1926: 27–28. Xin Hanwen continued to attack those ‘Heimupai dianying’ that specifically exposed the dark side of Chinese society, calling them ‘the fatal wound of the film’ and ‘parasitic germs’. See Hanwen Xin, “Yingxi de zhimingshang (The Fatal Wound of Film),” Changcheng Special Issue on The Hypocrite (April 1926: 29–30).
20 Wang Hanlun, who starred in the first few Changcheng Film Company films, recalled (1996, 1476): ‘Changcheng promised me a monthly salary of two hundred yuan, with an extra reward of one thousand yuan for each film. They said so just because they wanted me to quit the job I had before and work with them. However, they did not want to pay me after they had released The Abandoned Wife and asked me to film the second one. I thought, all right, why not? They have to pay me some day. Then when The Lover’s Dream and Between Love and Filial Duty were done, the company told me unexpectedly that they had no money to pay me. I sued them soon after I received that response. Finally, the court decided that the company should pay me as the contract had agreed on. I never got the money, and the bank told me that for a long while there had been no money in the account. The money I deserve has never showed up. I have been deceived again and again’. See Wang, Hanlun, “Wode congying jingguo (“My Experiences in Films”).” in Chinese Silent Films, ed. China Film Archive (Beijing: Zhongguo dianying chubanshe, 1996), 1471–1477. Wang Hanlun’s recollection suggests that Changcheng profits were disappointing. Also, the company had been investing its capital in the construction of film infrastructure. More specifically, after its arrival in China, Changcheng was devoted to the construction of a state-of-the-art studio in the Xujiahui district of Shanghai. Although sparing no expenses to enlarge their business, their profit did not turn out to be as large as Changcheng leaders had expected.
21 Tr: Shenzhou Film Company was founded by Wang Xuchang and Yang Naiqing in Shanghai in October 1924. The company was known for its production policy of ‘subtlety (qianyi mohua)’ by exerting a subtle influence on the audience by the appeal of film art. Therefore, films made by Shenzhou attach great importance to artistic expression. As a result, the films were well received by the audience of intellectuals and young students at the time. Shenzhou closed its business due to lack of funds in 1927.
22 Tr: Shin Tu is a silent film script in 1925. It was written by Hong Shen, a well-known playwright and one of the pioneering figures of Chinese cinema. Being published in the first to third issues of the twenty-second volume of Oriental Magazine (Dongfang zazhi), Shin Tu is considered as the earliest relatively complete and formal film script published in China. The publication of Shin Tu marks the formation of Chinese film scripts, and the entry of Chinese film dramas from the initial stage into a new era.
23 Tr: ‘unsympathetic’ and ‘disloyal’ are translations of Chinese names.
24 Tr: ‘member of the social elite’ and ‘a person with brand new mindset’ are translations of Chinese names.
25 In Hou Yao’s works, Chinese students in America are symbols of an advanced society and the hopes of the nation. Take Chen Shiying and Lin Guojie for example. In The Lover’s Dream, Chen graduated from Meiguo lujun daxue (the U.S. Military Academy) and Lin in The Hypocrite is a Ph.D. candidate at Yale University. The reason that Hou used such characters is worthy of consideration: Was it because the majority of the founders and leaders of Changcheng were members of the overseas elite and outstanding Chinese students? Or did he regard those social elites as being the best hope for social reform in China?
26 Ed: It is not clear what feature film screenwriting conventions from what era or part of the world is referenced here. See the introduction and Jane M. Gaines’ article in this issue that take up the question of the models available to aspiring Chinese filmmakers in 1920s Shanghai as well as the Leftist commitments to social change.
27 Tr: Although propaganda has negative Cold War associations in English, propaganda is a neutral word in Chinese—xuanchuan; it simply means ‘to distribute ideas via mass media’.
28 Tr: Chuanfang Wan holds a similar opinion to explain the popularity of wuxia pian at that time. See Chuanfang Wan, “Chinese Film Genre and Film Industry in the 1920s,” Contemporary Cinema, no. 6 (June 2001): 94–99.
29 Chen published an article discussing Neo-heroism films, which aroused the interest of many people. See Lu Mengshu, “Xin yingxiongzhuyi (Neo-heroism),” Yinxing, no. 3 (1926): 16–18. Lu Mengshu and Yi An participated in discussions of Neo-heroism by publishing two important papers–’Neo-heroism’ and ‘Heroes of the new age’. These papers made the concept of Neo-heroism–which calls for bravery, willingness to fight, rebellious spirit, traditional moral ideals, in tandem with modern humanistic values–popular, and a cultural trend that could not be ignored. See Yi An, “Xin shidai de yingxiong (“Heroes of the new age”),” Yinxing, no. 4 (1926): 12–13. In response to these articles, Chen Zhiqing published ‘Another study of the Neo-heroism of films’ in 1927. See Chen Zhiqing, “Zailun xin yingxiong zhuyi de yingju (“Another study of the Neo-heroism of films”),” Yinxing, no. 8 (May 1927): 10–13.
30 Zhang and Cheng obviously made a mistake by saying that Uproar in the Studio was made by Shanghai Commercial Press in 1926. See Zhang and Cheng, Chinese Film Dictionary, 147.
31 The Date of Ne Zha’s Birth and A Letter Sent Back are listed in the Changcheng filmography. See Cheng, History of the Development of Chinese Film, 552. Further research has proven that The Date of Ne Zha’s Birth was released, while there is less supporting research to prove that A Letter Sent Back has ever made; names of the other five films have never appeared in History of the Development of Chinese Film as mentioned earlier in note.
32 The author classified the fashionable family-ethics film Poor Daddy (Erzi yingxiong) as being a mixture of ‘costume, wuxia, and fantasy’ and mistakenly wrote it as The Father and Son Are Heroes in Chinese probably because ‘Er’ and ‘Fu’ look alike in printing.
33 Tr: The United Photoplay Service was one of the three dominant production companies based in Shanghai, China during the 1930s, the other two being the Mingxing Film Company and the Tianyi Film Company. It was incorporated from four major film companies, Huabei, Minxin, Dazhonghua baihe, and Shanghai yingxi. Many shareholders of the United Photoplay Service are distinguished. For example, its chairman is a British nobleman and giant gentry He Dong. Among the trustees are Zhang Xueliang’s wife Yu Fengzhi, former prime minister, former minister of justice and finance. In addition to its strong economic and political background, the United Photoplay Service also hired a group of talented filmmakers at the time, such as famous directors Sun Yu, Fei Mu, Shi Dongshan, Bu Wancang; famous actors Ruan Lingyu, Jin Yan, Li Lili, Wang Renmei, Chen Yanyan, Gao Zhanfei and the list goes on. In August 1937, the company closed its business due to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.
34 Tr: According to Sun’s research mentioned earlier, it should be seven years here because the company moved to China in the summer of 1923. See Sun, Movie Literature, 21–22.
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Notes on contributors
Mo Chen
Mo Chen is a Researcher at China Film Art Research Center, China Film Archive. His research focuses on the History of Chinese Cinema and Chinese Wuxia Literature.
Zhiwei Xiao
Zhiwei Xiao is a Professor Emeritus of History at California State University San Marcos. His research field is Modern East Asian History.
Yan-fei Song
Yan-fei Song is a Ph.D. in Theater, Film & Television Studies in the School of Arts and Communication at Beijing Normal University and a former visiting scholar at Columbia University in the city of New York in 2019–2020 academic year. Her research focuses on Chinese film export, media industries, and digital entertainment. Her articles and chapters have been published in major refereed academic publications, such as Film Art, China Television, Journal of Shanghai University (Social Sciences Edition), and influential newspapers, such as Chinese Social Sciences Today and China Women’s News.