Member Kwok Choi Posted December 10, 2011 Member Share Posted December 10, 2011 We know Golden Harvest is an offshoot of Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. We also know there was fierce competition between these two prominent rivals.Yet many veterans and bit players made a crossover at some point to either studio but quite a few didn't.Apart from the usual suspects, were there any other prominent stars/actors including character actors who never made a crossover even a cameo but stayed loyal to either of these two companies and was there any political or personal motivation behind their decisions? Also during the crossover which stars were more utilized in your view making better use of their talent or potential? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Three of Shaw's best character actors never appeared in a Golden Harvest movie (at least whilst Shaws was operative): Ching Miao, Ku Feng, and Yang Chih-Ching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 12, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 12, 2011 Three of Shaw's best character actors never appeared in a Golden Harvest movie (at least whilst Shaws was operative): Ching Miao, Ku Feng, and Yang Chih-Ching Yeah isn't it amazing that Ku Feng made 300 + appearances in HK movies but never starred in a Golden Harvest production I guess being Shaw Brother's best character actor was good enough and I doubt if he would have got the roles and command the type of respect he had at Shaws had he jumped ship. It is also fascinating that Chen Sing was undervalued at Shaw Brothers. He then went on to make classic independent films both as hero and villain and it is incredible that in my opinion Golden Harvest was the major studio to give him the role of a lifetime in The Himalayan which he executed with aplomb. Damn!!! what a role and what a character!!!!!. Strangely Liu Yung/Tony Liu was underused a Golden Harvest despite the good looks,fighting skills,persona and the appearances in the Bruce Lee flicks.Shaw Brothers beefed up his career by giving him fab roles.Wonder why GH couldn't see his potential.Regarding Shaws and Chen Sing I could understand a bit but Tony and GH baffles me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Yeah, it's curious that Chen and Liu had to move studios (in opposite directions) to become stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 17, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 17, 2011 It appears to me that the Golden Harvest film The Young Master is the equivalent of a Shaw Brothers movie that never was. In other words it is a film that could easily have been a Shaw production based on the stars involved and other parallels with movies like Coward Bastard, Martial Club, Monkey Kung fu, Fighting Fool, 5 Superfighters etc. Some forum members once asked why there is no dedicated section for Golden Harvest productions.Well that's the big question and its up to Admin;maybe its because SB and GH are 2 sides of the same coin therefore the " Original " company dominates as they compliment each other though this is mere speculation. I am more of a Shaw fan than the alternative but I have a lot of passion for the majority of the early GH films and the " classics " of the 80s to early 90s. I believe the forum could be a bit more livelier with discussions and contributions to these flicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted December 19, 2011 Member Share Posted December 19, 2011 Two heavily Triad backed studios. I believe Chow was even more powerful than Shaw.. Or, he grew to be very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 19, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 19, 2011 Two heavily Triad backed studios. I believe Chow was even more powerful than Shaw.. Or, he grew to be very quickly. Can you please elaborate a bit more on this information ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted December 20, 2011 Member Share Posted December 20, 2011 after WWII, The Shaws found they were still rich after the Japanese had confiscated the majority of their assests. They had plenty gold, which had been buried. In the late 50's they opened Movie Town. Chow came on board and Was Shaw' head producer until a certain young entertainer came along and captured his heart and Chow's position, Mona Fong. Lo Wei, Sun Yee On member, worked there originally. Chow's background was always suspicious, government connections and all. Jimmy Wang Yu was blackballed from working in HK after breaking his contract with Shaw and banished to Taiwan. Stars and directors couldn't just leave without compensation. Some entetainers, at the height of fame, were known to have commit suicide after troubles with the studio over contracts, obligations, etc. The writing is on the wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 24, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 24, 2011 Hmmmmmmmmmm this is interesting Wang Yu banished from working in HK after breaking his contract with Shaws even though he later worked at Golden Harvest and was rumoured to be a Triad. Perhaps he banished himself; who knows. Sources say Raymond Chow started working in the printing press then did radio then took a job in marketing at Shaw Brothers then later got into production. When you reflect it is fair to say Triads have always been involved in many types of business behind the scenes directly or indirectly but as far as the film industry goes Triad started taking interest in the 80s with major involvement in the 90s when the major studios were winding down. Lin Dai , Leslie Cheung and Chiang Sheng are the few to have died suddenly but the majority of the other stars did well in their own capacity so the maths doesn't quite add up here because the death rate based on your analysis would have been much greater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted December 24, 2011 Member Share Posted December 24, 2011 Lin Dai , Leslie Cheung and Chiang Sheng are the few to have died suddenly but the majority of the other stars did well in their own capacity so the maths doesn't quite add up here because the death rate based on your analysis would have been much greater Bruce Lee & Alexander Fu Sheng are another couple of names that could be attributed. I don't have an opinion one way or the other but the death rate wouldn't necessarily need to be higher as it would only take the word to get around about the suspicious nature of their deaths (not saying anything was suspicious but you never know) and it keeps everyone else in line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 24, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 24, 2011 Bruce Lee & Alexander Fu Sheng are another couple of names that could be attributed. I don't have an opinion one way or the other but the death rate wouldn't necessarily need to be higher as it would only take the word to get around about the suspicious nature of their deaths (not saying anything was suspicious but you never know) and it keeps everyone else in line Good point so wouldn't this threat have been extended to others in co-productions with SB and GH or was everybody just simply told to zip it or else ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted December 24, 2011 Member Share Posted December 24, 2011 I don't profess to have all accounts covered, however, after studying up on this industry, I am well aware that the customary way of doing things in the Western world as opposed to that region differ so great, the hidden truths would make your head spin. There are far too many untold stories we'll never know and that's just fine. There is no ridicule here. On Wang Yu: evidently his Taiwan experiences helped him a great deal. His career did stall on the Taiwan indie circuit for a few years. Chow was powerful enough for him to work a few films with... However, they were mostly shot outside HK. A couple like The Man From Hong Kong and A Man Called Tiger had scenes from HK but were shot primarily on location. He did save JC, who was well on his way following Lee's road. Good point so wouldn't this threat have been extended to others in co-productions with SB and GH or was everybody just simply told to zip it or else ? Sometimes you only need one example set to remind others to tow the line... Other exploitative devices may be used to discredit an individual through loss of face and embarrassment. Drug busts, contract hold-ups, public brawls, philandering, etc. Death is not the only option, however, is a most effective. Some studios have been know to have an entertainer under contract for several years and the person not meet one engagement... It doesn't mean their name and their brand doesn't take a hit though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 24, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 24, 2011 I respect your views I was very very emotional for weeks when Bruce Lee died, very upset about Brandon, Bob Marley, Princess Diana, Aaliyah etc but I do not believe Golden Harvest killed the goose that laid the golden egg. I do not believe that a certain director tried to kill Jackie Chan who was a flop actor at the time after he had given up hope of Jackie ever being the next Bruce.How many hit films had Jackie made at the time for Triads to be so interested in his box office draw ? Seasonal put Jackie on the map there was no looking back no Triad could stop that. There are laws in HK, Wang Yu was in breach, SB do not own the judiciary.Jackie Chan mentioned he did some films as a favour to Wang Yu not as a deal.Favours have been done to Chang Cheh and the Director's Guild Of Hong Kong but that hardly means they are the underworld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 24, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 24, 2011 Oh! I forgot to mention that I respect some badass called Hwang Jang Lee who had the guts to walk into a Shaw Brothers Executive's office, demand a nullification of his contract, threaten to disembowel or kick the crap out of whoever it was if his demands were not met,tear up the contract, make his exit and live to tell the tale with his reputation and future prospects intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Dragon Posted December 25, 2011 Member Share Posted December 25, 2011 You can read some accounts for yourself sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 25, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 25, 2011 You can read some accounts for yourself sir. ....................and here are some reviews of this glorious book sir. http://www.amazon.com/Hong-Kong-Babylon-Insiders-Hollywood/product-reviews/078686267X/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending Please lets be civil with our use of emoticons/smileys in these discussions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted December 27, 2011 Author Member Share Posted December 27, 2011 Growing up watching films from SB and GH has made me reflect on certain values in their approach to film-making. To me Shaw movies stood out because they had a special trademark & unique look which carried on till they stopped producing movies in the 80s. This is why I seemed to have difficulties with Hero (1997) and to some extent Drunken Monkey These films especially Hero as we already had the excellent Boxer From Shantung for reference did not feel like the Shaw movies of the past.The magic to me was lost somehow. The talent involved at Shaw Brothers also made that SB brand logo on the majority of the publicity material a force to reckon with in terms of entertainment and good value for money. The set design, art design,production design, costume design etc made production values seem higher and kudos in this regard should deservedly go to the uncredited unsung heroes in these collaborations. GH on the other hand shot mainly on location which is a harder task than controlled sets which gave their films authenticity but a bit in common with many other lesser known independent companies.That said, great shots were canned from these locations making the selected themes or plots of their individual movies accurate to the narrative. Redress an independent film was the first movie to have general release in my country of origin though earlier martial art movies had been released in the city and some large towns.On reflection the reason I believe the first GH productions where well recieved and cemented the appreciation of the latter movies was the adaptation of the " Western " theme. Westerns were very popular in my neck of the wood so when we started seeing movies like The Invincible Eight to The Stormy Sun it feels like you are watching a western without guns set in ancient China.It was not surprising to later see co-productions of Spaghetti Westerns and Hong Kong cinema or Spaghetti Westerns with an oriental as the main lead of part of the leading players. Though production design at GH was not at the same level as SB, costume and set design was good in some productions and the martial arts aspect and talent of the GH stars was very entertaining hence the passion for these stalwarts that introduced me to the magical world of the martial art movie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted December 27, 2011 Member Share Posted December 27, 2011 I do not believe that a certain director tried to kill Jackie Chan who was a flop actor at the time after he had given up hope of Jackie ever being the next Bruce. It may well have been a case of Lo Wei trying to keep Jackie from defecting after FEARLESS HYENA, and possibly the Triads trying to punish Jackie and Lo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted December 27, 2011 Member Share Posted December 27, 2011 ...There are laws in HK, Wang Yu was in breach, SB do not own the judiciary... Here's an important statement. If Jimmy Wang Yu would have finished off his contract first and then split nothing could have been done about it. The creation of Golden Harvest was a much bigger detriment to the Shaw Brothers than losing Wang Yu (though it would have helped SB if he had stayed). RE: Hong Kong Babylon: while this is much filler (plot summaries) in the book, there are some good interviews (the reason to get the book). Of course not everything said in the interviews is necessarily true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted December 28, 2011 Member Share Posted December 28, 2011 I saw this when i typed in Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest.on You Tube. A very interesting discussion folks. GD Y-Y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Kwok Choi Posted February 12, 2012 Author Member Share Posted February 12, 2012 459DUXKMDtg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Omni Dragon Posted February 12, 2012 Member Share Posted February 12, 2012 Very good interview Kwok Choi thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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