June 04, 2008 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF A SHAW THING : Run Run’s illustrious legacy.

June 04, 2008

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF A SHAW THING : Run Run’s illustrious legacy.

By the time I relocated to Hong Kong from England, the Shaw Brothers movie empire seemed like mythical kingdom from yesteryear. Its Clearwater Bay office remained, but the once prolific production rate had slowed to almost nothing. The studio back lot still stood, but was used entirely for filming TVB series, or else rented to Shaw’s former rivals. The massive library of Shaw Bros movies (over 700 titles) existed, but the vast majority of these had never been released (officially) in any home entertainment format. Though this insubstantial pageant may have faded, the master of this domain, Sir Run Run Shaw, seemed to be enjoying his twilight years, and, as he reached his century this year, proved capable of hitting the headlines again, with stories of the impending sale of his iconic Hong Kong entertainment company.

100 years ago, Sir Run Run was born Shao Yi-fu in the seaside city of Ningpo, to the south of Shanghai. There were five other ‘Shaw’ brothers, and two of them, Runji and Runme, began distributing silent movies in Shanghai cinemas. At 19, Run Run was sent to Singapore to expand the family entertainment business there. The impact of World War 2 devastated the industry, and Shaw sets his sights on Hong Kong, where he bought what would become his studio space from the colonial government for 45 (Hong Kong) cents a foot. That land is now worth billions, and, tragically, the back lot is to be demolished to make way for yet another soulless, up market housing block. (The same fate has already befallen the old Golden Harvest studios.)

Once established at Clearwater Bay, the Shaw Bros studio redefined Asian action cinema. Realizing that the local industry lagged behind the Japanese, Run Run didn’t hesitate to hire Tokyo-trained directors, actors and cinematographers to work on his films. He missed out on both Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, but succeeded in creating several generations of action icons, including Jimmy Wang Yu, Cheng Pei Pei, Ti Lung, David Chiang and Alexander Fu Sheng. The company name and logo owed more than a little to those other cinematic brothers, the Warner’s, and, like that studio in its heyday, Shaw’s set the bar in terms of production and entertainment values.

When I first became aware of Shaw Bros films, my exposure was limited to the dozen titles released on video in the UK (by the aforementioned WB) and to countless bootleg videos (of varying quality). In London, the Shaw Brothers fan fraternity took on a cult like quality. I remember asking a purveyor of these pirated kung fu classics if I could buy a copy of Lau Kar-leung’s ‘Martial Club’. He thought for a moment, then shook his head. ‘You’re not ready…,” he observed, sagely.

Today, Celestial Pictures, who now control the rights to the library, are distributing the films on DVD in Hong Kong, and operate a 24-hour TV channel that shows only Shaw Bros classics. Celestial have licensed the films throughout Asia and are now making significant inroads into the international market. It’s been our privilege at Dragon Dynasty to bring you a string of classic Shaw Bros titles. Among the films we’ve chosen from the huge library are many that revolutionized the genre, movies that we’re proud to bring to the North American audience.

So far, Dragon Dynasty has released the following Shaw Bros films:

King Boxer: The film which, when released in 1973 as ‘Five Fingers Of Death’, introduced the kung fu genre to America. (This very Chinese-themed film was actually directed by a Korean, and, despite its success, the star, Lo Lieh, played mainly bad guys for most of his long career.)

The One-Armed Swordsman: the film that single-handedly defined a new sub-genre of bladed combat flick, and took its star Jimmy Wang Yu to new heights to stardom. (Wang later jumped ship to create the One-Armed Boxer for Golden Harvest.)

36th Chamber Of Shaolin : the demystification of Shaolin kung fu training directed by one bona fide kung fu master, Lau Kar-leung, and starring another, Gordon Liu. (The film borrows a couple of elements from the US TV series ‘Kung Fu’, and omits the challenge of the ‘dummy’ hall, which had been done to death in Jackie Chan’s ‘Shaolin Wooden Men’.)

My Young Auntie: the launch of a new female fighting star, Hui Yin-hung, in a masterful blend of kung fu and comedy. (Hui’s later artistic efforts included an erotic photo book, shot in Paris, and a starring role in the Jackie Chan produced Inspector Wears Skirts, alongside Cynthia Rothrock.)

Heroes Of The East : the apotheosis of cinematic clashes between Chinese and Japanese fighting styles. (The film’s towering judo player, Hitochi Omae, turns in an even more impressive performance in the final reel of an entertaining Shaws potboiler, ‘Five Tough Guys’.)

Come Drink With Me : King Hu’s finest hour (and 31 minutes), the sine qua non of the subsequent swordplay genre, it both inspired ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, and provided the film with its villainess, in the formidable presence of Cheng Pei Pei.

A few years after moving to HK, I found myself providing security services at a friend’s wedding. To my delight, Sir Run Run Shaw was among the guests. “I just wanted to say,” I told him, “how much I’ve enjoyed your films over the years,” and he beamed. Now we’re bringing some of those films to the west. I guess we’re ‘ready’ at last…