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SHAWS ON DVDs Article Year: April 18, 2003 |
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A veritable dragon of the Hong Kong film industry, the Shaw Studios not only made films but local movie history. Started by Tan Sri Runme Shaw in Shanghai in 1924, the movie studio first produced silent films then Cantonese and Mandarin films that swept not only Hong Kong but the whole of Asia in the 60s and 70s. As influence goes, the studio is also credited for bringing the era of colour' to Hong Kong cinema. At its peak in the mid-60's, the Shaw Studios produced a whopping 40 films a year � a prolific output that earned the studio the title of ''The World's Busiest Film Producer''. By the 70s, Shaw would also become the best known and most lucrative movie studio in Asia, boasting its own star system, production line and world distribution channels. It was, in analogical terms, a vertically integrated Hollywood of the East. Still, movies wouldn't be movies without the stars. And the studio was as mindful of cranking out celluloid personalities as they were with films. The Shaw starlets and leading men came to define glamour and style to a population captivated by the silver screen. These screen idols-cum-household names (Linda Lin-dai, Ivy Ling-po, Wang Yu and David Chiang, to name just a few) are still considered by many diehard film lovers as the only real Hong Kong �stars' - a dying breed missing in today's fluffy entertainment business. From Friday April 4 to Sunday June 1, Shaws on Screen - a programme of 36 Shaw films - will show as part of The 27th Hong Kong International Film Festival at the HK Film Archive Cinema and the HK Science Museum Lecture Hall. Aside from these screenings, all the films in the Shaw archive are being re-mastered and released as VCDs and DVDs. Below is but a sample of what is (and will be) available so you can indulge yourself in the fantastic melodrama and martial arts world of these classic films. Below are a short list of films: * The Bastard * Family Light Affair * The Killer Snakes * The Three Smiles * The Happiest Moment Source: http://hk.bcmagazine.net/cgi-bin/output.cgi?issue=134&&id=18 |