The founder of Shaw Brothers Film Company is one of the people I admire the most

First of all, Shaw Brothers Film Company is a major film company that has been established for decades. Decades = there will be a lot of issues left over from history, and if they are not handled well, they may become irreversible; big = it is difficult to take care of many details without paying attention, and details often determine success or failure. At the beginning of the 1980s, Shaw Brothers' executives began to shift their focus from movies to TV series. Because at that time, the financial reports of Shaw Brothers Movies were deteriorating year by year, and the company happened to make a lot of profits when operating TVB, so it gradually reduced its investment in movies.

Secondly, Shaw Brothers’ production system, which has remained unchanged for decades, has long been unable to keep up with the times. This makes it difficult for Shaw Brothers to make movies as popular as before. Coupled with the unreasonable selection of actors, many outstanding actors left Shaw Brothers and established other companies. Many of these actors later became Shaw Brothers' powerful opponents. Such as Zou Wenhuai, Bruce Lee and Xu Guanwen. These are all actors and directors who later became very influential in the Hong Kong film industry, but they were all rejected by Shaw Brothers. However, if they were really accepted by Shaw Brothers, under Shaw Brothers' rigid system, it might be difficult for them to achieve their subsequent achievements.

Coupled with the rise of Tsui Hark, Huang Baiming, Mai Jia and others, the Hong Kong film industry has formed a three-legged situation of Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and New Arts City.

The most fatal thing is that because the local box office in Hong Kong has collapsed, Shaw Brothers executives have set their sights on the international market. Shaw Brothers Film Company began to enter Hollywood in the 1980s. The company invested in Hollywood blockbusters such as "Havoc on Earth" and "Blade Runner", but the box office results were not satisfactory, and they basically lost money and made a profit. This was the straw that broke the camel's back.

If they make the right decisions, Shaw Brothers may become a century-old film company like Warner Bros. It's a pity that there is no if, and the Shaw Brothers film industry, which missed the opportunity of the times, can only be gradually buried in the dust of history

Shaw Brothers' films were once a label for Chinese films in the 1960s and 1970s, and even in It has left an indelible mark on the history of world cinema. Movies such as Thirteen Taibos, Hong Fist Master and Fang Shiyu and Hong Xiguan are all classics of Shaw Brothers movies.

In the late 1970s, Shaw Brothers began to decline. I think there are three points:

First, the development trend of Hong Kong film and television. From the 1950s to the 1970s, movies were very brilliant at that time. , many excellent films from mainland China and Asia were imported from Hong Kong, and Shaw Brothers also pushed Shaw Brothers movies to a climax under the leadership of Run Run Shaw. At that time, the rapid development of Hong Kong's economy promoted the rapid development of the film industry. However, after the 1980s, with the slow development of Hong Kong's economy and the emergence of excellent films from neighboring countries, Hong Kong films moved forward.

The second reason is the internal reasons of Shaw Brothers Group. The outside world is developing rapidly, while the internal production system of Shaw Brothers is stagnant and has not kept pace with the times. In addition, some excellent directors and actors have established their own businesses, and The spiritual leader of Shaw Brothers has gradually aged. Especially after the 1980s, Shaw Brothers turned their attention to the television field and had no time to take into account the film field. However, television failed to bring Shaw Brothers glory, so Shaw Brothers followed Shaw Brothers. The decline of his movies gradually led to its decline.

Thirdly, when Shaw Brothers was on the decline, wrong overseas investments made Shaw Brothers, which was already at the end of its twilight stage, even worse. It played a devastating role and accelerated the decline of Shaw Brothers.

Shaw Brothers Film Company, known as "Oriental Hollywood", has experienced nearly 30 years from its establishment in 1958 to its peak period in the 1960s and 1970s, and then to its decline in the 1980s. This film and television empire is the largest in Chinese film history and the pride of Chinese films. Due to the rise of major film companies in the 1980s, such as Golden Harvest, and the progress of the times, Shaw Brothers' film style could no longer meet the needs of the audience. Run Run Shaw had a unique vision and quickly shifted his focus to the television business, which is now TVB (TVB). TV), after the transfer, it has a great influence and has received great benefits. Classic dramas have been born one after another, such as "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

This is the result of Run Run Shaw's foresight, because any industry will rise and fall. It is a miracle that Shaw Brothers' films have been dominant for more than 20 years. They cannot remain in decline for a long time. Although production was discontinued in the 1980s, it cannot be judged as a decline. It is just a transformation and the need of the development of the times, which shows that Run Run Shaw's approach is the right choice.

In 1957, 50-year-old Run Run Shaw came north from Nanyang to Hong Kong.

At that time, the Shaw Brothers were already well-known in the film and television industry. As early as 1925, the four brothers relied on their strong family property to establish the "Tianyi" film company in Shanghai. The eldest Shao Zuiweng served as general manager and director, the second brother Shao Cun was an accountant and screenwriter, the third brother Shao Renmei was responsible for distribution, and the sixth brother Shao Yifu While reading, I helped my brothers.

Under the joint efforts of the brothers, "Tianyi" once became one of the three major film companies in old Shanghai, and then developed its business to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and even Southeast Asia, becoming a multinational company famous overseas. .

In the 1950s, the Shaw brothers who went south encountered a once-in-a-century development opportunity in Hong Kong, where elites from all over the world gathered.

However, the second brother Shao Cunren, who was in charge of Hong Kong business, did not focus on production. Instead, he focused on building theaters. He was soon suppressed by his competitor Cathay Pacific.

The second year after the resolute and resolute Run Run Shaw came to Hong Kong, he established the Shaw Brothers Film Company. He then embarked on a large-scale construction project and spent money like water, showing his extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit.

He spent a huge sum of money to buy a land of more than 60,000 square meters in Clear Water Bay, reclaimed the land and built a movie theater, and purchased equipment from the United States. Shaw Brothers Studios, which he built by himself, had more than 1,300 employees in its heyday and was hailed as the "Hollywood of the East" by foreign media.

▲Shaw Brothers classic title sequence.

The conservatism of the people of Shaocun was quickly abandoned by Run Run Shao and his third brother Shao Renmei.

In order to completely seize the production rights of Lao Er, Shao Renmei and Run Run Shaw came up with a trick to "release their power over a glass of wine." On the 60th birthday of the people of Shaocun, they announced in public: "My second brother has worked hard and achieved great results. Now that he is old, it is better to retire and enjoy happiness."

The people of Shaocun were forced to go to the palace by their younger brothers, and they were unwilling to give in, even though they gave up. The production rights, however, were troubled by Run Run Shaw's drastic construction. He first sold the old Shaw Brothers Studio, and then acquired the Xinhua Theater to not show Shaw Brothers films but to premiere Western films.

It was not until 1961 that Shaw Village talents officially withdrew from Shaw Brothers, and the Shaw family business was divided into two.

In the ups and downs of Shaw Brothers Company, the struggle for power has persisted throughout, and the grievances and hatreds in the world have become an endless topic in the Hong Kong film and television industry.

The blue wisps of the road open up the mountains and forests. Shaw Brothers faced the separation of brothers when it was founded, and faced constant internal and external troubles.

Run Run Shaw leads the way and works conscientiously. Talking about his work, he said: "My attitude in doing things is to do everything well, even the smallest part, and do it thoroughly. I will never relax until something is perfect."

Director Chang Che, who came from the Shaw Brothers family, has personally seen Run Run Shaw's dedication. According to his memories:

"( Run Run Shaw has been doing this for decades. He goes to work at 9 o'clock every day and practices Qigong for two hours before going to work. When he goes to work, he writes down a note for each supervisor, one for each person, and the first one after arriving at the factory. To work, first watch the pornographic film that the director shot the day before. Stand and watch it while doing hand-waving exercises."

Shao Yifu once said that he has no entertainment. Watching movies is his job and his. entertainment. He claims that he is the most movie-watching person in the world. Before the age of 80, he watched six to seven hundred movies every year.

In order to ensure the quality of the film, Run Run Shaw strictly controls the film. He said: "The audience will be unhappy after watching a bad film. If they watch too much, they will lose confidence in you, so it is better to burn it than to make a bad film." ”

In the early days of Shaw Brothers, there were countless films that were killed by Run Run Shaw. The slogan "A Shaw Brothers film must be a good film" is by no means empty talk.

While Shaw was struggling to develop, the problems caused by the exodus of Shao villagers were quickly exposed.

A native of Shao Village has three sons. Among them, the second son, Shao Weiying, has outstanding talents and is deeply appreciated by Run Run Shaw.

After the people of Shaw Village withdrew from Shaw Brothers Company, Shao Weiying was still kindly retained by Uncle Six and served as general manager, becoming the early backbone of Shaw Brothers. Run Run Shaw intended to train him to be the successor of Shaw Brothers' film career.

However, the people of Shao Village were unwilling to be squeezed out by their younger brothers and did not want their sons to "work for others", so they ordered Shao Weiying to quit Shaw Brothers. Shao Weiying did not want to disobey her father, so she had to hand in her resignation letter to her sixth uncle, leave Japan, and remain unknown ever since.

When Shao Weiying left, Zhou Naiwen took over as general manager. Run Run Shaw was unwilling to entrust power to outsiders. Zhou Naiwen was only responsible for the distribution field. The company's large and small affairs were handled by Zou Wenhuai, who was single-handedly promoted by Run Run Shaw.

Zou Wenhuai has worked at Shaw Brothers for many years and made great contributions to it, but his positions have always been limited to publicity director and production manager, and at the highest he was only deputy general manager. During this period, the general manager changed several times, and even if he did not hold real power, he always had the pressure on Zou Wenhuai.

Zou Wenhuai was very depressed. No matter how hard he tried, he could not take charge alone, let alone become a shareholder. Shaw Brothers is a family business. As early as its establishment, it was written in the company's articles of association that the main shareholders could only be members of the Shaw family.

This arrangement paved the way for Zou Wenhuai to leave Shaw Brothers and set up his own business in the future.

At that time, Shaw Brothers' competitor Cathay Pacific had made many acclaimed and well-received masterpieces, which made Shaw Brothers a little anxious. Chow Wenhuai advised Run Run Shaw, poached people from Cathay Pacific, and hired Hong Kong's most popular actress Lin Dai from Cathay Pacific for twice the salary.

▲Lin Dai.

Lin Dai, whose real name is Cheng Yueru, whose father Cheng Siyuan is a big boss of the Guangxi clique, once helped Li Zongren run for "Vice President". Lin Dai was praised by director Li Hanxiang as a star that the film industry has not been able to find for decades. Unfortunately, she met an unkind person and married Long Wu, the son of Long Yun, the "King of Yunnan".

In 1964, Lin Dai committed suicide at the age of 30 due to a divorce. For many years since then, when Hong Kong people think of beautiful and unfortunate beauties, they will always mention Lin Dai.

After Lin Dai switched jobs to Shaw Brothers, she starred in the movie "Diao Chan" in 1958. This film won five awards at the 5th Asian Film Festival and was directed by Li Hanxiang.

Li Hanxiang studied art and was obsessed with drama. When he was young, he applied for college with a forged high school diploma. After being discovered, his student status was cancelled. In 1948, he actively participated in various student movements, but on the eve of the political revolution, he went south to Xiangjiang and escaped the cultural catastrophe that followed.

Li Hanxiang is one of Shaw Brothers' most respected directors, and his Huangmei-diao films became a major signature of Shaw Brothers at that time.

"Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" released in 1963, written and directed by Li Hanxiang, achieved great box office success. After being released in Taipei, it set a record of 62 consecutive days in Taipei, with a total box office revenue of more than 800 yuan. A record of NT$10,000.

When actress Ling Bo, who plays the role of Liang Shanbo, visited Taiwan, the streets were packed with thousands of people lining up to see her. She won the "Best Actor Special Award" at the 2nd Golden Horse Awards for this film. The reason why she received this award was because the judges at the time did not know whether to award her the Actor or Actress Award.

"Butterfly Lovers" made Taiwan the "City of Madmen". In the following 30 years, the Taiwan film market has always followed Hong Kong's lead. As Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chang said, Taiwanese film producers believe that as long as Hong Kong actors star in the movie, it will be a good movie.

Just as Li Hanxiang's career was booming, Cathay Pacific instigated him to rebel and supported him in setting up Guolian Company in Taiwan. Li Hanxiang originally wanted to make a career and made some good films in Taiwan. However, due to poor management, he was on the verge of bankruptcy within a few years. By 1971, he could only return to Hong Kong in embarrassment.

Hearing that Li Hanxiang wanted to return to Shaw Brothers, Run Run Shaw wanted to refuse, but his third brother Shao Renmei ignored the past and persuaded him, "Let's fight for wealth and not live up to expectations." Li Hanxiang returned to Shaw Brothers and made a comeback, pioneering new commercial films such as trick films, romance films, and Qing palace films.

Even when it comes to making pornographic films, many subsequent directors cannot compare to this veteran.

Li Hanxiang’s sworn brother Hu Jinquan also became famous in Shaw Brothers. Hu Jinquan was a man who majored in science. He later pioneered the use of spring beds to perform Qinggong jumps. It was the inspiration he got from studying science and engineering.

He introduced Chinese martial arts movies to the world and shot classic films such as "The Drunken Man" and "Dragon Inn". "The Drunken Man" is even called the pioneer of the new martial arts film.

However, Hu Jinquan and Shaw Brothers also had frequent disagreements.

In 1964, King Hu directed the anti-Japanese film "Children of the Earth" for Shaw Brothers. Due to the implementation of anti-racial laws in some Southeast Asian countries at that time, the film was deleted by Shaw Brothers before it was released. A large number of scenes of Japanese atrocities and confrontation between the Chinese and Japanese armies The scenes, especially the scenes with the national flag, were all edited out. Hu Jinquan was very dissatisfied with this.

Later, the movie "Red Beard" written by King Hu was originally expected to be filmed in Taiwan, and Zou Wenhuai had also signed a contract with the Taiwanese company, but was ordered by Run Run Shaw to stop filming. Later, it was filmed in Taiwan by other directors and renamed "Bandits", with Hu Jinquan as the nominal screenwriter.

Soon, King Hu left Shaw Brothers and went to Taiwan.

It was another Shaw Brothers general, Chang Cheh, who co-founded the martial arts film arena with King Hu.

Zhang Che was born into a Zhejiang warlord family. He entered politics in his early years. He first served as a commissioner of the "Cultural Games" in Shanghai, and later went to Taiwan to be promoted by Chiang Ching-kuo. In the officialdom, Chang Cheh always wanted to be addicted to officialdom, but he frequently lost in power struggles and had to quit politics. From then on, he indulged in sex and had an affair with actress Li Mei, so he became a director by mistake.

When he first arrived in Hong Kong, Chang Cheh worked at Cathay Pacific for a year before being poached by Shaw Brothers. When he was the director of screenwriting at Shaw Brothers, Chang Cheh would receive a small piece of paper from Shaw every day, writing down the tasks to be done. Except for Zou Wenhuai, there were only a few people who could enjoy this kind of treatment, which shows Run Run Shaw's expectations for Chang Che. .

Zhang Che did not disappoint him.

In the 1960s, the far-sighted Run Run Shaw adopted the differentiation strategy proposed by Chow Wenhuai. When martial arts novels by Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng and others became popular in Hong Kong, he intended to create a "martial arts century". During this period, Shaw Brothers finally surpassed its rival Cathay Pacific and its film career reached its peak.

Chang Cheh takes the lead with his martial arts films. The characters in his films are different from the female knights and Confucian knights that King Hu is good at, and more like the knights and assassins that existed in the pre-Qin Dynasty. "You must believe what he says. His deeds must bear fruit, his promises must be true, and he who does not love his body will go to the misfortune of a scholar."

"The One-Armed Sword", directed by Chang Cheh and released in 1967, became the first Hong Kong movie with a box office of over one million, establishing Chang Cheh's status in the world.

The screenwriter of "One-Armed Sword" is Ni Kuang, one of the "Four Great Talents in Hong Kong".

In 1957, Ni Kuang smuggled himself from Guangzhou to Macau, and then came to Hong Kong. At first, he just worked in a dyeing factory and accidentally contributed to the "True News". Unexpectedly, he wrote a famous article by mistake. became a writer.

Ni Kuang also writes martial arts. In 1965, Jin Yong was running "Ming Pao" while writing the novel "Dragon and the Eight Parts". He had to go abroad for a month for something else. If the serialization of "The Eight Parts of the Dragon" was suspended, it would be difficult for readers to accept it. However, Jin Yong was really incapable of doing anything, so he had to ask Ni Kuang to write for him.

Before leaving, Jin Yong told Ni Kuang not to write down the characters in the novel to death. As soon as Jin Yong left, Ni Kuang blinded Ah Zi in the novel. When Jin Yong came back, he found that Ni Kuang had completely let himself go and changed the plot beyond recognition.

Faced with the question, Ni Kuang smiled and said: "I didn't blind him, it was Ding Chunqiu who blinded him."

Ni Kuang has a relatively high level of achievement in martial arts movie scripts, but he wrote After finishing a work, you just take the money and leave it alone, so the content is often drastically modified by the director. He changed Jin Yong's novels, and others changed his scripts.

Ni Kuang didn't mind this at all. He joked that he only wrote the five words "Ni Kuang, the One-Armed Sword" in "The One-Armed Sword". After this film, he began a collaboration with Chang Cheh that lasted for more than ten years.

The heroes in Chang Cheh's films are handsome and unrestrained, and their simple ancient costumes show off their masculine temperament. There is often a look of depression between their eyebrows, and they staged tragic heroic stories one after another.

Li Xiuxian, Ti Long, Jiang David, etc. are all Zhang Che's proud disciples.

David Jiang comes from an acting family, and both he and his brother Jiang Changnian started out as child stars. Jiang Changnian later took the stage name "Qin Pei" and is also a famous actor in Hong Kong. Their mother remarried after their father died and gave birth to another son, named Er Dongsheng.

Brothers in the entertainment industry are not uncommon, but Qin Pei, Jiang David, and Er Dongsheng have completely different names, and they are still brothers, which probably surprises many people.

▲Chang Cheh plays the leading actor David Jiang.

Chang Cheh won the title of "Millionaire Director" for "The One-Armed Knife", but there is another director under Shaw Brothers who is called "Chu Millionaire".

This person is Chu Yuan.

Chu Yuan was obsessed with Shanghai movies since he was a child. After liberation, he went to university in Guangzhou and studied many film theory works of the former Soviet Union. In 1954, he fled to Hong Kong.

Chu Yuan originally wanted to be an actor, but he was too short, so he had to develop into a screenwriter and director. Perhaps because he could not let go of his persistence in acting, Chu Yuan made guest appearances in film and television dramas from time to time in his later years, such as Jackie Chan's "Police Story" The main villain in the movie is played by Chu Yuan.

Now when it comes to Hong Kong movies, many people still think that the Mandarin films they watched in video theaters and on TV when they were children were dubbed versions imported from the Mainland. In fact, in the 1970s, Hong Kong was dominated by Mandarin-language films. Bruce Lee's films were dubbed in Mandarin when they were released. It was not until the 1980s that they were re-released in Cantonese.

Chu Yuan's Gu Long martial arts film was also dubbed in Mandarin when it was released in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He said: "Gu Long's dialogue is the most interesting when read in Mandarin."

But Cantonese films have been brought back to life. Yes, it’s also Chu Yuan. In 1973, the Cantonese film "Seventy-Two Tenants" directed by him became a sensation in Hong Kong and became the box office champion of the year. This movie had a profound influence and spawned various film and television dramas in the future.

However, at this time, the Hong Kong film industry was no longer dominated by Shaw Brothers.

▲Stills from "Seventy-Two Tenants".

Zhang Che once wrote a poem for Zou Wenhuai: "A bosom friend has a thousand battles of wine, but a piece of paper is half a piece of paper; the world is like a chess game, the one who strikes first is the stronger."

In the Hong Kong film and television industry In the chess game, Zou Wenhuai did not hesitate to join Shaw Brothers. He worked for Shaw Brothers for N years. Although he was highly valued by Shaw Brothers, he was repeatedly hampered.

In 1970, Run Run Shaw, who was over sixty years old, was in a good mood and happy events came one after another. Cathay Pacific, an old rival for more than ten years, has finally stopped its production business. The "traitor" Li Hanxiang, who has left for Taiwan, is having a hard time running and will close down sooner or later.

Later, Run Run Shaw brought his confidante Fang Yihua to Shaw Brothers to take charge of the purchasing department. Fong Yihua, a former singer, was willing to be a "concubine" for many years, and she did not officially marry Run Run Shaw until she was 62 years old. She was known as the "Sixth Aunt". It is said that she was the one who called Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Lai Ming and Aaron Kwok the "Four Heavenly Kings".

Shaw Brothers re-constructed Greater Chinese culture in small Hong Kong. He said: "I produce movies to meet the needs and desires of the audience. The core audience is the Chinese." Because of the existence of Shaw Brothers, Hong Kong has become The center of Chinese cinema at that time.

At this moment, bad news came. Zou Wenhuai, Shaw's most capable minister, left with a group of old Shaw Brothers to establish the "Jiahe" company.

Zou Wenhuai said: "When people stay in one place for a long time, there will always be times when they want to change. Moreover, Shao Laoliu and I are actually the same type of people. There are two of us in a small world, It’s really too crowded.”

When Golden Harvest was established, it was not popular. The first movie Zou Wenhuai planned to produce was "The Blind Man vs. the One-Armed Sword", which he also invited " "One-Armed Sword" star Wang Yu continues to star, which is a bit of a gimmick.

Although the "One-Armed Sword" series was co-produced by Zou Wenhuai, this is not a copycat of Shaw Brothers. As soon as "The Blind Man vs. the One-Armed Sword" was released, Run Run Shaw sued Zou Wenhuai, accusing Golden Harvest of copyright infringement.

Shao and Zou, who turned against each other, went to court over this and spent millions of dollars in legal fees. They were still quarreling until the end of the film's release period.

However, Zou Wenhuai did not follow suit. He and his Golden Harvest soon found a weapon to deal with Shaw Brothers. It was also a big killer. He was Bruce Lee.

In 1970, Bruce Lee, who was developing in the United States, was interviewed by Hong Kong media and said that as long as the salary and script were suitable, he would return to Hong Kong to develop. Shaw Brothers was the first to contact him. As a result, not only was the salary low ($2,000), but his attitude was also very arrogant, which made the proud Bruce Lee very dissatisfied.

Shaw Brothers’ salary has always been a pitfall.

Although Shaw Brothers spent a lot of money to recruit famous stars such as Lin Dai when it was first established, it has always adhered to the family business model and implemented a monthly salary system. Employees who signed contracts with Shaw Brothers often had to endure Long-term contracts and low wages.

Chan Po-chu, who made Cantonese films in the 1960s, made dozens of films every year and had a net worth of several million, but his salary did not exceed 10,000.

At that time, the salary of actors was even lower than that of martial arts masters. David Jiang, who had been involved in martial arts, once told Zhang Che that he would rather be a stand-in than an actor.

Lee Xiuxian once talked about the management system of Shaw Brothers back then, saying that at that time actors were not allowed to go out at night.

When old employees of Shaw Brothers talk about their old employer, they often say, "Boss Shaw has supported a lot of people," but they rarely praise the benefits of Shaw Brothers.

Looking back today, the salaries of celebrities remain high, and there are so-called yin and yang contracts. Some people are sentenced to 800 million for tax evasion. If the Shaw Brothers actors at the time had known about it, they would probably have thought it was a fantasy.

▲Zou Wenhuai and Bruce Lee.

After the negotiation with Shaw Brothers collapsed, Brother Long was very angry and the consequences were serious, so he turned to talk to Jiahe.

Zou Wenhuai saw the value of Bruce Lee and generously offered him US$7,500 as salary and promised to meet his other requirements. Bruce Lee was very satisfied and signed two movies with Jiahe.

In 1971, Bruce Lee's "Brother Tangshan" set a box office record in Hong Kong as soon as it was released.

Bruce Lee is popular, Jiahe is alive, Zou Wenhuai is smiling from ear to ear, and Run Run Shaw can only sulk at home.

Shao Yifu, who has always been wise, was confused at this time and repeatedly missed good opportunities. When Bruce Lee was fighting for Hong Kong, Xu Guanwen, the "stolen comedian" who had worked for Shaw Brothers for many years, brought his own script and approached Shaw about cooperation. He wanted to direct and act himself, and even wanted to share the profits.

Dividends? There are no doors.

Seeing that Run Run Shaw was too stingy, Xu Guanwen also went to Golden Harvest to film the comedy "The Ghost Horse". This movie targeted the general gambling mentality of Hong Kong people and used local Cantonese slang to weave jokes. Naturally, it was very popular. . After it was released in Hong Kong in 1974, the box office reached 6.25 million, breaking the record again, which just made up for Golden Harvest's losses due to Bruce Lee's death.

By 1981, Xu Guanwen had created films for Golden Harvest such as "The Genius and the Idiot", "Half a Catapult", "The Affair", and "Modern Bodyguard", all of which won the box office championship of the year. People can reach it.

▲Poster of "Half a Category".

Some people have missed it for a lifetime. At this time, the Hong Kong film market is no longer within the control of Shaw Brothers. For film companies, the market is a source of revenue, and box office is king.

Hong Kong movies have entered a golden age. Companies such as New Arts City, Debao, China Star, and Emperor have emerged one after another, but Shaw Brothers' film career has been declining.

In 1987, Shaw Brothers Film Company announced the official suspension of production. Although it returned to the world in the 1990s with TVB's "Metropolis", it did not catch up with the last train of the golden age of Hong Kong movies. Return to silence.

Run Run Shaw did not retire, but took monopolizing the television industry as his main direction.

In 1967, Hong Kong Television Broadcasting Company Limited (TVB) was established, and Run Run Shaw was an important shareholder of TVB.

Since the 1980s, Run Run Shaw has gradually been unable to meet its expectations in the film market. However, TVB, which he carefully built, has entered the era of institutionalization and has triumphed in the ratings competition. It is extremely popular in TV dramas, music, and variety shows. Groundbreaking.

Classic TV series such as "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "Shanghai Beach" produced by TVB were introduced to the mainland at the beginning of reform and opening up, triggering a viewing frenzy. From then on, every Chinese audience will have a few of them in their memory. An impressive TVB drama.

▲Stills from "Shanghai Beach".

The wireless television artist training class launched by TVB in 1972 has continuously supplied a large number of talents to the Chinese film industry.

Chow Yun-fat, Ng Mang-tat, Simon Yam, Lam Ling-tung, Johnnie To, Chen Yulian, Lui Leung-wai, Wong Yat-wah, Andy Lau, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Ng Chun-yu, Lau Ching-wan, Sandra Ng, etc., all graduated from TVB's artist training class.

In 1982, two young people who were weak at the time applied for the wireless artist training class at the same time.

They are good friends. One of them has been determined to be an actor since he was a child, and the other was just dragged by him to accompany him in the exam. As a result, the young man who wanted to be an actor failed unfortunately, but the one who accompanied the exam was unexpectedly admitted as the 11th batch of students because of his handsome appearance.

The one who failed was Stephen Chow, and the one who was admitted was Tony Leung.

Stephen Chow, who refused to admit defeat, managed to squeeze into TVB through unremitting efforts. He has been playing small roles in TV series all year round. He is not the same as Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who became one of the "Five Tigers of Wireless" (the other four are Huang Rihua, Andy Lau, Miu Qiaowei and Tang Zhenye). And words.

It wasn't until he was discovered by Danny Lee that Stephen Chow's career got on the right track and he became the "King of Comedy" we know well.

In addition, TVB began selecting "Miss Hong Kong" in 1973. There are so many beauties in Hong Kong movies, and this beauty pageant covers almost half of them. Zhao Yazhi, Maggie Cheung, Qiu Shuzhen, Zhong Chuhong, Li Jiaxin, Zhou Haimei, Cai Shaofen, Anita Yuen, etc. have all participated in the Miss Hong Kong contest.

Whether they are training class students or Hong Kong sisters, these people have carried the imprint of Shaw Brothers since they debuted. Some people started from small roles and endured hardships and endured for many years. They have become the backbone of the Hong Kong film and television industry.

The legend of Shaw Brothers lies not only in film and television, but also in Shaw's philanthropy. In a century of life, Run Run Shaw's philanthropic deeds are worth learning from all Chinese entrepreneurs.

Since 1985, Run Run Shaw has set his sights on the mainland of the motherland. He said: "For China to be strong, the key is to educate and cultivate talents. Donate the money you earn to education and do some practical work. Things are my greatest wish.”

▲Shao Yifu.

One Shaw House in Hong Kong, how many Shaw Houses in mainland China? This was the question raised by some netizens when Run Run Shaw passed away.

A netizen posted a picture on Weibo showing that he searched for Shaw Towers through an online map and found nearly 30,000 buildings, almost all over China. Children from different areas can almost find a Shaw House in their local school.

According to statistics, since the 1980s, Run Run Shaw has donated 4 billion Hong Kong dollars to the mainland in more than 20 years and built more than 6,000 educational and medical projects in the mainland. , spread across 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

This centenarian who created a film and television industry can still move freely in his later years. When talking about the secrets of health preservation, he said that firstly, he must work hard, secondly, he must always smile, and thirdly, he must practice Qigong every day.

When Run Run Shaw retired to the mountains and forests to take care of his old age, Hong Kong movies were declining.

In the 1990s, a large number of Taiwanese capital entered the Hong Kong film market. Some filmmakers were determined to make a profit before 1997, so they obtained a large amount of investment from Taiwanese film producers and produced shoddy films. In 1993, Taiwan's eight major film studios negotiated with the Hong Kong Film Industry Association to lower actors' pay, mentioning that "more than 250 Taiwan-funded and Hong Kong films have not been delivered as scheduled." There were so many "unfinished" investments that Hong Kong films eventually lost the trust of Taiwanese businessmen and the Taiwanese market.

Around 1997, gangster capital that had played an important role in Hong Kong film and television also withdrew one after another, and Hong Kong films lost another major source of support. Hong Kong filmmakers are heading north to make money one after another. The local market is declining day by day, and it seems that there is no way back.

On January 7, 2014, Run Run Shaw passed away at the age of 107.

By that time, the glory of Shaw Brothers films had become history, and the golden age of Hong Kong films was long gone.

References:

Wei Junzi: "History of Hong Kong Film", Renmin University of China Press, 2013 edition

Chang Cheh: "Reviewing Thirty Years of Hong Kong Film" , 1989 edition of Sanlian Bookstore (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.

Zhao Weifang: "Historical Contribution of a Century-old Shaw", "Contemporary Film" 2014 Issue 05

Fu Baoshi and Liu Hui: "In Hong Kong Constructing "China": The Greater China Vision of Shaw Brothers Films", "Contemporary Film" 2014 Issue 05

Liu Qi: "On the Maturity, Evolution and Significance of Hong Kong Martial Arts Films in the 1960s and 1970s" , Shanghai Theater Academy Master's Thesis 2009

The two letters on the shield are bad for Feng Shui. We are not afraid of misunderstandings, but we are afraid of getting the wrong name.

Mainly because Mr. Run Run Shaw has passed away, TVB has lost its former glory

It is not called decline, but it is retreating from the middle. He has cultivated countless Hong Kong stars, isn’t he a star mother?

It’s difficult to stay in a corner even if you are in a corner