In April 1955, Shao Luo-hui, who had been martial arts director for films in Japan, with the Tu-ma Taiwanese Opera group as his crew, and using the stages they toured in as the set after their performance had ended, spent more than a month filming the sixteen millimeter film Six Prodigies in the West Chamber.

That June, this first ever Taiwanese movie filmed after retrocession opened in the Takuan theater in the Wanhwa district of Taipei. Because the film was not matched to the generally used 35 millimeter projectors, the effect of its showing was not very great. It closed after three days, and didn't get much attention.

In fact, people had tried making Taiwanese films as early as the Japanese occupation era, but they were compelled to dub in Japanese. For the local audience to appreciate them, they needed a person on the side giving a translation back into Taiwanese.

After retrocession, Taiwan theaters were filled with films from the major U.S. studios and a few Mandarin or Amoynese films from mainland China or Cantonese films from Hong Kong. Only with the appearance of Six Prodigies in West Chamber did the era of Taiwanese films open.

The film that must really be seen as having brought Taiwanese movies into their golden age has to be Hsueh Ping-kuei and Wang Pao-chuan directed by Ho Chi-ming. The acting was done by the Mailiao Entertainment Women's Taiwanese Opera Troupe. It was filmed in black and white on 35 mm, using a camera which was made to film news.

Many of the older generation of Taiwanese films recall that before the film came out in January, 1956, the Entertainment Troupe artists circulated around the city on little chartered buses, advertising the film to the accompaniment of all sorts of musical instruments. The advertising was a success--the film swept theaters for 24 days. One box office alone showed more than NT$300,000. This naturally attracted many people to invest in Taiwanese films, and they developed from there.

Lee Hsing, chairman of the ROC Directors' Association, points out that in the heyday of the Taiwanese Opera films they produced one film in less than ten days. The theater was turn ed into a studio. They shot non-stop; actors and workers lived in the studio tent. They shot indoors if the scenery was ready, and outdoors as soon as it got light.

The main reason for the urgency was that there was profit to be made. Tai Chuan Li, a graduate of the Law Department at National Taiwan University, began investing in Taiwanese films in 1958. He spent NT$400,000 to film Three Wandering Siblings. The payoff was more than NT$4 million, with a four story building on Nanking West Road going for half a million in those days. "Director Lee Hsing said I was 'out of my profession,' but I figured, why not? Being a lawyer wasn't as profitable as making movies."

Chang Ying, who became a section chief in the Ministry of Education in 1950 in charge of the movie industry, and later set up a studio himself later, says that in 1961 he spent NT$270,000 to film The Tien-tzu Number One. "At five dollars a ticket, in only one Taipei box office they brought in 1.5 million. Because ticket sales were so good, five sequels were filmed at once.

"At that time film was an imported product impossible to buy even if you had money, so it was used preciously, with lots of scrimping. Scenes were rehearsed often before shooting, to avoid reshooting as much as possible," Chang Ying adds. If a company wanted to import film, they first had to clear the script with the Ministry of Education.

The shooting periods were hectic. It was necessary to do 100 shots a day to reach the tenday work period. Add to this that the film quality wasn't like it is today, and many films were rough. The famous Taiwanese Opera director Li Chuan-hsi remembers that once he wanted to get the moon going into the clouds to forecast a bad turn of events in the story. But he was afraid the film wouldn't have enough light, so he ended up shooting a piece of cotton being slowly drawn across in front of a light bulb.

At that time private studios didn't have simultaneous audio equipment, and sound had to be dubbed in after. In order to save sound-track, no errors were permitted. The cast had to rehearse over and over for days until everyone got it right. Then the sound was recorded at a series of ten-minute sessions. The dialogue, effects, and music were all recorded at once. Because no NG was permitted, the sounds didn't closely match the mouths moving in the film, and not knowing who was saying what was a constant problem. And, says Fu Ch'ing-hwa, the scripts weren't as detailed as they are now. There were often gaps, and then the actors could only make do with what they had.

Thinking back on those "heroic anecdotes," Fu can't help but laugh: "It was one thing after another, but thinking back it's still amusing."

From 1962, Taiwanese films began to decline with the rise of more well-produced Mandarin films and the opening of TV stations. Hu To, a star in Taiwanese dramas, analyzes that most theaters were in the villages. It was a long trip for most farmers and their families, and people couldn't just wear anything to the theater. "But then came television, with Taiwanese dramas all the time, and you sit around watching without your shirt on--who still wanted to go to the theater?

"Films can serve as witnesses reflecting society. Watching films of the past, you can generally understand what past society was all about, and from where one has developed," says Ching Ying-jui, who believes getting on with the work of film historical data is imperative.

But he discovered collecting materials to be tough. For one thing he could find very few films, and for another the hot humid weather on Taiwan caused old films to fade or stick together. When Ching learned that Lai Kuo-tsun, boss of the old Tailien Movie Company, had kept many films, he immediately rushed over. Helped by Lai's son Lai Tsung-you, they went to the warehouse and found the films covered with dust or oil, brittle with age, and rusted. Some had been thrown out.

Li Yung-chuan indicates that the earliest Taiwanese film found is the 1958 Snake Gentleman. It's a blank before then. "Right now the main work is to prevent the films in hand from deteriorating any more, and to look everywhere for others," says Ching, who wants to organize material on Taiwanese films. "Anyway, we'll do however much can be done."

[Picture Caption]

Old films, covered with rust and dust, have their chance to see the light of day again.

Colleagues from the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation are helping to organize Taiwanese language films at the Shihlin movie studios.

A photo from the filming of the Taiwanese film Spotted Deer Superhero: d irector Chang Ying (right) gives instructions to actors. (photo courtesy of Chang Ying )

Because ticket sales were so good, the film The Tien-tzu Number One saw five sequels rushed into production. (photo courtesy of the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation)

The Beggar and the Geisha atarred Pai Hung and Ai Tzu-tsai. (photo courtesy of the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation)

The antagonists Wu Ping-nan and Tien Ching play opponents in the film Dr ip-Drop. (photo courtesy of Wu Ping-nan)

(photos courtesy of the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation and Li Chuan-hsi respectively)

You can get an idea of the themes of the old movies from their poaters.

A yellowed script and time schedule for a Taiwanese language film can no w be taken as "antiques."

Colleagues from the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation are helping to organize Taiwanese language films at the Shihlin movie studios.

A photo from the filming of the Taiwanese film Spotted Deer Superhero: d irector Chang Ying （right） gives instructions to actors. （photo courtesy of Chang Ying.

Because ticket sales were so good, the film The Tien-tzu Number One saw five sequels rushed into production. （photo courtesy of the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation）

The Beggar and the Geisha atarred Pai Hung and Ai Tzu-tsai. （photo courtesy of the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation）

The antagonists Wu Ping-nan and Tien Ching play opponents in the film Dr ip-Drop. （photo courtesy of Wu Ping-nan）

（photos courtesy of the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation and Li Chuan-hsi respectively）

（photos courtesy of the Film Library of the Motion Picture Development Foundation and Li Chuan-hsi respectively）

You can get an idea of the themes of the old movies from their poaters.

A yellowed script and time schedule for a Taiwanese language film can no w be taken as "antiques.".