New takes on film historiography. Republican cinema redux, an introduction

Abstract

Take One: 1905. A newsreel on the Russo-Japanese War was screened in Hong Kong consecutively for over six weeks, from June 21 to August 5, at a temporary outdoor space near the Central market (Chinese Mail 1905). Organized by a Japanese distribution company, this documentary short was quite possibly the longest running film show in the decade. Take Two: June 6 to December 4, 1917. YMCA in Tianjin held regular film screenings on Wednesday and Saturday night, eight o'clock (Social Welfare Tientsin 1917). Newsreels, scenes from Tibet, and features ranging from comedy to detective were screened. Most of these films were from the United States. Take Three: 1929, October. Education Bureau of Guangzhou maintained its censorship ruling against the screening of King of Kings (1927) at the local YMCA, despite YMCA's repeated appeals. The reason quoted for the prohibition was religious superstition (Guangzhou Mingguo Ribao 1929). These three takes or snapshots indicate distinct historical moments in Chinese film history and further, show the vagaries of movie exhibition during the Republican era. Movies during this time were international, sensitive to outside circumstances, and occasionally controversial.