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Sum Hun

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Sum Hun
Directed byFrank Tang
Produced byBruce Wong
Esther Eng
StarringBeal Wong
Kim-Fong Wei
CinematographyPaul Ivano
Production
company
Cathay Pictures
Release date
  • 30 June 1936 (1936-06-30) (Hong Kong)
LanguageCantonese

Sum Hun (Chinese: 心恨; Jyutping: sam1 han6, or Chinese: 鐵血芳魂,[1] a.k.a. Xinhin[citation needed] or Heartaches) is a 1936 Cantonese-language drama film produced by an American production company in 1936 for a Chinese audience. The film was advertised as the first Cantonese-language film made in Hollywood.[2][3] The film is believed to be lost.[4]

Plot

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A Chinese-American aviator (Beal Wong) falls in love with an opera star named Fan (Kim-Fong Wei) in San Francisco.[5] Unfortunately, a jealous theater manager named Jung intervenes, threatening to send the opera star back to China.[4]

Cast

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Production

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In 1936, a young San Francisco woman named Esther Eng (who would later become a well-known director) joined forces with a young actor Bruce Wong to try and tap into the Chinese movie-going market.[2] Together, they managed to raise the money they'd need to get the film made, and then they set to work studying the taste of Chinese audiences. The film was shot in eight days in Los Angeles and San Francisco under Bruce Wong's Cathay Pictures production company.[6][7] He cast his brother Beal in one of the lead roles.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "伍錦霞". 香港記憶 | Hong Kong Memory. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  2. ^ a b Yin), Nangaen Chearavanont (Tse; Ho (歐荷), Au; Shui (歐臻水), Ou Chiu (2014-01-18). Movie Stories: เรื่องราว ภาพยนตร์. H.M. Ou. ISBN 9789881590954.
  3. ^ Bettinson, Gary (2012). China. Intellect Books. ISBN 9781841505589.
  4. ^ a b Kar, Law; Bren, Frank; Ho, Sam (2004). Hong Kong Cinema: A Cross-cultural View. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810849860.
  5. ^ "Movie Stars' Wastebasket". The Quad-City Times. 15 Dec 1935. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  6. ^ Keavy, Hubbard (31 May 1936). "Oriental Picture Completed". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  7. ^ "All-Chinese Film Made". The Los Angeles Times. 15 Dec 1935. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  8. ^ Staff, America Film Institute; Gevinson, Alan; Afi, American Film; Institute, American Film (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520209640.