Chapter 22 Galaxy Memories

In modern society, movies have become an indispensable entertainment besides basic necessities of life.In fact, it is only 80 years since foreign films were imported into my country in the 29th year of Guangxu.Mr. Zheng Zhengqiu, a senior in the film and theater industry, told me that a Spaniard named "Remos" brought more than ten volumes of films without plots from Europe to Shanghai. A piece of white cloth was used as a screen, and a cabin big enough to accommodate a projector was built with wooden boards, and the screening was ready.Each screening lasted more than ten minutes, and the ticket price was four small copper coins. Although it was just some pictures of flowers, birds, insects, fish, and birds and animals, it was a novelty at that time.The person told me to go to see a foreigner's shadow play, based on two factors: curiosity and fashion, so the show was full, which actually made Remus a lot of money.He bought a lot of wasteland along Changbin Road, and the price of the land increased and he made a lot of money.Later, Hongkou Grand Theater, Wanguo, Summer Peak, Card, and Enpaia opened up one by one, and Remus became the "trust" of Shanghai Western Film in the early days.

Ever since Remus showed films in Qinglian Pavilion and made a lot of money with a small capital, the European and American film industry has discovered that China is the most potential good market, and Shanghai is the best foothold for development in China.First, a simple movie theater was built near the racetrack, named "Fantasy Theater".Each show starts with a newsreel, followed by a comedy film, and after a 10-minute break, a short detective film, or a multi-series film, with two episodes showing each time. Me"... Adventure and detective movies are always called early tomorrow when they are at a critical moment. Every time I change the movie, it will bring a climax.Although the ticket price is a little higher than that of Qinglian Pavilion, which is a small penny per person, the standard of audience is much higher than that of Qinglian Pavilion.Because Shanghai is a water and land port, there is a steady flow of customers in the past. Some passers-by open a foreigner to watch a foreigner’s shadow play, and they are already satisfied. There are plots in the movie but no plot, and they can’t understand anyway, so the two companies do their own business. They all make a lot of money.

In the first year of Xuantong, Americans "Briem" and "McDonald" organized Asia Film Company on Pike Road. They took the coup of 1898, the imprisonment of Guangxu, the Boxer Rebellion, the martyrdom of the concubine Zhen, and the dust in Xi'an as the latitude and longitude, and filmed the film. A "Queen of the West" film.Because some parts of the material were distorted, and some parts were perverse and insulting to China, the Qing court ordered the ban on the show after negotiating with the foreign consuls stationed in Shanghai.Bream and others had no intention of continuing to operate after this setback, and transferred it to Shanghai Nanyang Life Insurance Company to take over.The manager of the company, "Yi Xueer", in view of the previous mistakes, if it is completely handed over to foreigners who are not familiar with China's national conditions and customs, and the public opinion is not in harmony, it must be the fate of failure, so Zhang Shichuan was hired as a Chinese consultant to take care of the overall drama (that is, At that time, there were no names of screenwriters and directors).The first film is "Butterfly Dream Breaking the Coffin", the actors, scenery, costumes, and props are all taken from Wenming opera.Everyone is inexperienced in filmmaking, the lighting is strong and weak, and the expressions are sometimes too warm and sometimes too hot.The word-of-mouth from the audience and the reviews from the newspapers are not very good.I reluctantly made another "Unlucky Boy", and if it was really unfortunate, the Asia Film Company would die.

A few years later, Zhang Shichuan joined forces with Zheng Zhengqiu to organize a Xinmin company. The original plan was to invite "Sassoon" and "Hatong" to invest in it. The more they talked, the more they couldn't reach an agreement, and finally they all gave up participating.Zhang and Zheng also invited Du Junchu and Yingsan to join them. Of course, they are not as strong as Sha and Ha in terms of financial resources. They rented a piece of land on Yuanmingyuan Road, surrounded it with bamboo fences, built a few lead and iron sheds, and started filming. up.It is written by Zheng Zhengqiu and directed by Zhang Shichuan. Although the actors are first-class masters of civilized dramas, Zheng and Zhang both advocate that men play men and women play women. However, although the thinking of women in Shanghai is more open than that in the mainland, there is still no one Women dare to make movies.Under unavoidable circumstances, the heroine had to be played by a man.In a civilized play, it's not too unsightly for a man to pretend to be a woman, but when the light shines on it, the original shape is revealed, rough and coy, which is unbearable to watch.Fortunately, it's a silent movie, otherwise it would be even more disgusting to speak with a groaning voice.It is said that he also made four or five films in this way, including "Two Hundred and Five White Faces at the Town God's Temple", "Humpbacked Marriage", "Wrong in the Wrong", "A Blessed Marriage", "Wife Party and Evil Retribution" and several popular and funny movies.Some people are curious, some people don't understand Western movies, so the business is also very good.But not long after, the first European war broke out, and overseas film sources were not available, and the hard-working film company had to reluctantly stop.

In the 1960s and 1970s of the Republic of China, the American businessman "Smith" raised hundreds of thousands of yuan and brought a large number of parts and equipment to China, preparing to set up a factory in Xuanwu Lake, Nanjing, to start filming.Because I am not familiar with the place of life and the photographer is not good enough, I only shot "West Lake Scenery" in Hangzhou.Disagreements arose among their shareholders, and the source of funds was cut off, making it impossible to continue filming. As a result, all the equipment was handed over to the Commercial Press.The museum's board of trustees gave full support, and a film department was soon established.In the beginning, I only shot some documentary newsreels, because the photographer Ye Xiangrong studied film technology in the United States, so the films "Scenery of Peking", "Innocence Kindergarten", "Sheng Xuanhuai's Funeral", and "Snowy Night on Lushan Mountain" were all well-known. very successful.As a result, additional equipment was purchased and expanded, and Chen Chunsheng and Ren Pengnian were hired as directors and deputy directors to shoot Mei Lanfang's "Learning", "Dream", "The Heavenly Girl Scattering Flowers", "Supplementary Notes", "A Dream of Purity", Several short films, such as "Menghuihui", are both funny and cautionary. They were tried and sold in various places in Nanyang, and they were very popular with overseas Chinese. They established the reputation of Chinese films in Nanyang, and all parties competed to buy them.Later, Chinese films sold well in Southeast Asian countries, and the Commercial Press took the lead.

Afterwards, feature films such as "Filial Wife's Soup", "Lotus Falling", "Good Brothers", "Song Bai Yuan", "Great Justice" and "Gold from Barren Mountains" were shot. , and even more praised by the public, it was at this time that Zhang Huichong became famous as "Chinese Fan Punk". At the same time, Xu Xinfu and Gu Kenfu organized the "China Film Research Institute", but Du Yu founded the "Shanghai Film Company", Zhang Shichuan and Zheng Zhengqiu made a comeback, and together with Zhou Jianyun and Ren Jinping established the "Shanghai Star Film Co., Ltd."People in Shanghai have always been busy doing things, and the film industry has sprung up immediately.Xu Xinfu was quick-witted, and turned the sensational social news, the murder of Yan Ruisheng strangling Huaguo President Wang Lianying in the rice fields of Xujiahui, into a movie "Shooting Yan Ruisheng", which was shown in the Summer Peak Theater for 40 consecutive screenings. After seven days, the film was still unable to be released. Not only was the event unprecedented, it created the highest box office record for a domestic film, and it also established a bright and brilliant future for Chinese films in Shanghai.